Res-2019-082 Road Safety Plan - Laserfiche WebLink

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TABLE 1 2013 through 2017 Collision Comparison Kittitas County All Counties -Co. All Public Roads Maintained Roads Collision Type # % of # % of % of # Crashes Crashes Crashes Crashes Crashes Crashes Fatal 4 14.8% 654 24.5% 2,402 21.2% Serious Injuries 23 85.2% 2,020 75.5% 8,911 78.8% Alcohol -Related 9 33.3% 706 26.4% 2,482 21.9% Total # Fatalities 4 702 2,587 Total # All Injuries 230 32,982 15,651 Total # All Collisions 630 -- 71,219 239,597 The 2013-2017 WSDOT provided collision data was further evaluated to determine the predominant crash types and contributing factors. As shown in Table 2 below, the predominant causes of fatal and serious injury collisions in Kittitas County are "hitting a fixed object" and "overturning." Crashes involving fixed -object hazards, or non -traversable roadside slopes within clear zone accounted for 40.7% of all fatal and serious injury collisions. Additionally, 29.6% of the fatal and serious injury collisions were caused by vehicles overturning. Unprotected roadside slopes steeper than 3HAV are considered non - traversable and contribute to overturning accidents. The predominant conditions where fatal and serious injury collisions occurred included higher speed roadways with less than desirable lighting conditions and where roadway curvature was a factor. This accident data seems consistent for a county like Kittitas where the majority of the roadway network is rural without lighting features. Accidents tend to be more severe when speeds are higher and where low light conditions hinder driver acuity, especially in horizontal curves where drivers are more likely to leave the roadway. Non - intersection related collisions accounted for 74.10% of the fatal and serious injury collisions, which is also consistent with the amount of roadway lane miles versus intersections existing within the Kittitas County roadway network. For the fatal and serious injury collisions accident report details please see Appendix A.