Ohio Turnpike has its safest full year in history

[exit322]

http://www.indeonline.com/newsnow/x123111506/Ohio-Turnpike-has-its-safest-full-year-in-history

Not sure why this is news in Massillon, but (this story seems to be the same as other stories elsewhere).

BEREA – The Ohio Turnpike says six traffic fatalities last year made it the safest full year in the toll road's history.

The safety mark came as the 241-mile turnpike raised the speed limit to 70 mph last year. The traffic death toll was seven in 2010.

Last year's traffic deaths matched the six fatalities in the turnpike's debut year of 1955. That year the turnpike was partially opened for nine months, and its full length opened in October.

More than 49 million vehicles used the turnpike last year.

Turnpike patrol commander Capt. Chris Zurcher says troopers can help, but safety depends on motorists. He says they need to pay attention, obey the speed limit and avoid driving while fatigued.

Gotta love it, the road's safer with the higher speed limit.  Whodathunk.

[vdeane]

How long do you think it will be before the speed kills crowd yells "LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU"?

[exit322]

Well, Ohio still has the split limits on non-interstates, so I'm sure that's already happened somewhere.

[surferdude]

Also do not forget that the Ohio turnpike also is a 6 lane facility. 

[Brandon]

Also do not forget that the Ohio turnpike also is a 6 lane facility. 

Only in part.  West of Toledo it's only 4 lanes.

[signalman]

It also returns to 4 lanes when I-80 leaves it near Youngstown east to Pennsylvania.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Something is amiss here. Back in January, the Ohio Turnpike was trumpeting their fortune of having their safest year ever (see links up thread).
Now, yesterday comes this article saying that crashes have increased in the last year. 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/04/17/crashes-pile-up-since-turnpike-went-to-70-mph.html
Crashes pile up since turnpike went to 70 mph
By  Robert Vitale, The Columbus Dispatch Tuesday April 17, 2012 7:05 AM

In the year since officials increased the legal speed limit on the Ohio Turnpike to 70 mph, the number of crashes along the 241-mile highway has increased 5.5 percent, the State Highway Patrol said yesterday.

Although she wouldn't link the raised limit to the crashes, a patrol spokeswoman noted that the number of crashes elsewhere in Ohio declined by about 3.5 percent in 2011.

"We know as speed increases ... the likelihood of crashes increases,"  said Lt. Anne Ralston.

The increase comes as Ohio lawmakers consider a proposal to raise speed limits on all of the state's highways from 65 to 70 mph. A House committee endorsed a bill in February that was introduced by Rep. Ron Maag, a Lebanon Republican.

The full House has yet to weigh in.

Maag has dismissed fears about increased speed limits and more-dangerous highways, saying cars and roads are built better than they used to be.

According to the patrol, there were 2,539 crashes on the turnpike in the year since the 70 mph speed limit took effect on April 1, 2011. There were 2,405 crashes between April 2010 and March 2011.

The April-to-March average since 2008 was 2,282 crashes on the turnpike, patrol numbers show.

The six deaths on the turnpike from April 2011 through the end of March matched the total from the previous 12 months. Injuries, however, increased to 484 from 414 in 2010-11 and were above the average of 419 since 2008.

Ralston said patrol officials didn't analyze the cause of turnpike crashes that were listed on reports, but noted that the increase in crashes occurred despite a mild winter across Ohio.

Turnpike Executive Director Rick Hodges attributed the increase in crashes to an increase of more than 500,000 cars and trucks on the highway last year.

The turnpike, with gentle curves and hills, is built to handle 70 mph traffic, Hodges said.

The patrol hasn't come out against the legislation to raise Ohio's speed limit, but Ralston continues to say that officials have concerns about its impact.

When the Ohio Turnpike Commission voted to raise the speed limit to 70 mph, officials with the agency cited a decrease in crashes and deaths following a 2004 speed-limit increase to 65 mph.

Thirty-three states have raised interstate speed limits to 70 mph or higher since Congress repealed a national speed limit entirely in 1994. Texas lets people drive 85 mph on some highways.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says speed is a factor in about one-third of all crash deaths. High speeds also increase the severity of crashes, the insurance-industry group says.

[agentsteel53]

abolish the speed limit.  install a minimum speed of 60.  cite reckless driving as appropriate.

[Alps]

abolish the speed limit.  install a minimum speed of 60.  cite reckless driving as appropriate.

Requires sufficient wording. Ask montana. Reasonable and prudent isn't enforceable.

[agentsteel53]

abolish the speed limit.  install a minimum speed of 60.  cite reckless driving as appropriate.

Requires sufficient wording. Ask montana. Reasonable and prudent isn't enforceable.

works just fine.  ask several states before 1973.  ask Germany.  

then again, I believe that 96mph (or whatever the citation speed was; I recall it being under 100 by a little) on a typical good-weather day on I-94 near Miles City is very much reasonable and prudent.  that ticket should've been thrown out, and the cop given a warning about wasting taxpayer time and money.

[vdeane]

Something is amiss here. Back in January, the Ohio Turnpike was trumpeting their fortune of having their safest year ever (see links up thread).
Now, yesterday comes this article saying that crashes have increased in the last year. 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/04/17/crashes-pile-up-since-turnpike-went-to-70-mph.html
Crashes pile up since turnpike went to 70 mph
By  Robert Vitale, The Columbus Dispatch Tuesday April 17, 2012 7:05 AM

In the year since officials increased the legal speed limit on the Ohio Turnpike to 70 mph, the number of crashes along the 241-mile highway has increased 5.5 percent, the State Highway Patrol said yesterday.

Although she wouldn't link the raised limit to the crashes, a patrol spokeswoman noted that the number of crashes elsewhere in Ohio declined by about 3.5 percent in 2011.

"We know as speed increases ... the likelihood of crashes increases,"  said Lt. Anne Ralston.

The increase comes as Ohio lawmakers consider a proposal to raise speed limits on all of the state's highways from 65 to 70 mph. A House committee endorsed a bill in February that was introduced by Rep. Ron Maag, a Lebanon Republican.

The full House has yet to weigh in.

Maag has dismissed fears about increased speed limits and more-dangerous highways, saying cars and roads are built better than they used to be.

According to the patrol, there were 2,539 crashes on the turnpike in the year since the 70 mph speed limit took effect on April 1, 2011. There were 2,405 crashes between April 2010 and March 2011.

The April-to-March average since 2008 was 2,282 crashes on the turnpike, patrol numbers show.

The six deaths on the turnpike from April 2011 through the end of March matched the total from the previous 12 months. Injuries, however, increased to 484 from 414 in 2010-11 and were above the average of 419 since 2008.

Ralston said patrol officials didn't analyze the cause of turnpike crashes that were listed on reports, but noted that the increase in crashes occurred despite a mild winter across Ohio.

Turnpike Executive Director Rick Hodges attributed the increase in crashes to an increase of more than 500,000 cars and trucks on the highway last year.

The turnpike, with gentle curves and hills, is built to handle 70 mph traffic, Hodges said.

The patrol hasn't come out against the legislation to raise Ohio's speed limit, but Ralston continues to say that officials have concerns about its impact.

When the Ohio Turnpike Commission voted to raise the speed limit to 70 mph, officials with the agency cited a decrease in crashes and deaths following a 2004 speed-limit increase to 65 mph.

Thirty-three states have raised interstate speed limits to 70 mph or higher since Congress repealed a national speed limit entirely in 1994. Texas lets people drive 85 mph on some highways.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says speed is a factor in about one-third of all crash deaths. High speeds also increase the severity of crashes, the insurance-industry group says.

Looks like an anti-speed group trying to bury the earlier results.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

abolish the speed limit.  install a minimum speed of 60.  cite reckless driving as appropriate.

Requires sufficient wording. Ask montana. Reasonable and prudent isn't enforceable.

works just fine.  ask several states before 1973.  ask Germany. 

That's like asking South Carolina about slavery prior to 1863. Insignificant to the current norms and proceedure.

[NE2]

Looks like an anti-speed group trying to bury the earlier results.

Typical political reaction. Accept something that agrees with you unquestioningly (fewer deaths, which given the low number seems statistically inconclusive) but yell "LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU" at anything that disagrees (more crashes).

[vdeane]

It's the anti-speed group that's away from reality.  Just ask the NMA.

[agentsteel53]

That's like asking South Carolina about slavery prior to 1863. Insignificant to the current norms and proceedure.

procedure has changed, but norms have not.

driving safely at high speeds in low-traffic rural areas is miles away from enslaving other human beings, as far as social norms go. 

one was once viewed as reasonable but is now odious; the other was once viewed as reasonable and legal, and now it is reasonable but made illegal for reasons which made sense at the time as a temporary measure, but are getting gradually reversed as society realizes that, indeed, its norms have not changed. Maine has gone up to 75mph, Texas 85mph, etc etc... I think it's only a matter of time before some states repeal the rural speed limit entirely.

[Sykotyk]

abolish the speed limit.  install a minimum speed of 60.  cite reckless driving as appropriate.

Requires sufficient wording. Ask montana. Reasonable and prudent isn't enforceable.

works just fine.  ask several states before 1973.  ask Germany. 

then again, I believe that 96mph (or whatever the citation speed was; I recall it being under 100 by a little) on a typical good-weather day on I-94 near Miles City is very much reasonable and prudent.  that ticket should've been thrown out, and the cop given a warning about wasting taxpayer time and money.

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/mt-supreme-court/1110919.html

It was 85mph and it was on Montana State Route 200 just west of Route 24 (near Jordan). I've driven MT-200 many times. That is a tight road with no room for error due the lack of an adequate shoulder and a rather elevated roadway from the surrounding terrain. And the frost-heaving mentioned can make the road like a washboard the faster you travel.

[Super Mateo]

Having recently driven the Ohio Turnpike, the problem isn't the 70 zones where everyone is more or less going at the same speed.  The problem is the 50 mph construction zones.  Few people there care about the safety of construction workers.  Most people didn't slow down for them at all, even with police enforcement scattered within them.  This divides people into two ways of thinking:  go with the majority and speed; or go with the minority and do the speed limit.  I had to go with the latter, as I had been ticketed before in Ohio, and I felt like I was getting run off the road.  Where it was 70, I was going with the flow of traffic.

[vdeane]

Well, it doesn't help that most workzone speed limits are set up for the fines and not because of worker safety.  Otherwise you'd see workzone speed limits that were only in effect if workers were present near traffic; at present work zone speed limits are the same regardless of whether the workers are 2 ft from the road or 200, or even when their are no workers at all.  In fact, I even had one time going through a "work zone" that had no workers present, not even any construction going on, just a state trooper with a radar gun.  Yes, that's right: NY had Thruway traffic slow to 45 from 65 just for ticket revenue.