A powerful reason to work for wider lanes and wider shoulders on Missouri roads

Here is a powerful reason to give Missouri's roads wider lanes and wider shoulders:

"Missouri’s traffic fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles of travel (VMT) is 1.72, while the national average is 1.52. Studies show that roadway conditions are a factor in an estimated 30 percent of traffic fatalities nationwide.

"A variety of roadway improvements have been found to improve safety, including widening lanes and shoulders, adding or improving medians and upgrading roads from two lanes to four lanes. Widening a lane by one foot can reduce accidents by 12 percent. Widening a lane by two feet reduces accidents by 23 percent. Widening a shoulder has been found to reduce fatal accidents by 20 percent. Also, adding intermittent passing lanes to two-lane roads have reduced fatalities by 30 percent."

Just coincidentally, wider lanes and wider shoulders are two of the most important items in making the road network safer and friendlier for cycling. This might be worth bringing up next time someone asks why we should "waste" money making the roads safer for cyclists . . .

Read the full study and recommendations on the TRIPnet web site.