Washington ranked 7th in fatality rates compared to the rest of the nation, according to the Reason Foundation’s 19th Annual Highway Report. The foundation, a nonprofit organization that has been studying state highways since 1984, ranked states in 11 categories, including rural interstate condition, urban interstate condition, rural interstate congestion, deficient and functionally obsolete bridges, unsafe narrow rural lanes, and fatality rates. Our state placed 33rd in the nation for state highway performance and cost effectiveness, explains Jason Epstein, a Seattle personal injury lawyer, and our lowest rankings were for unsafe narrow rural lanes (49th) and maintenance disbursements (40th).
Highways are also less congested in Washington than in many other states, explains the Seattle car accident lawyer: While Washington placed 14th in urban interstate congestion, Connecticut ranked 46th, Michigan 47th, Maryland 48th, and Minnesota 49th. California took 50th place for worst traffic.
“Californians were not surprised when they received the news,” notes a California auto accident lawyer. “We all dread the daily freeway commute here.”
Despite California’s traffic problems, its fatality rates were not high, explains the California auto accident lawyer. The state placed 13th for fatality rates per 100 million miles driven. Minnesota, Michigan, and Connecticut also received low fatality rankings despite having congested highways: Minnesota placed 2nd, Michigan 8th, and Connecticut 5th.
The statistics presented in the 19th Annual Highway Report illustrated some interesting patterns in the highway performance, cost effectiveness, and safety in each state. Hopefully, state officials will utilize this information to create and implement programs to improve road conditions and safety.
