Driving toward safety

A concerned reader called the newsroom the other day to inquire about a traffic accident they’d seen on the Glenn Highway. The incident appeared to be severe, the caller reported, with a vehicle rolling over on its top.

A check with local authorities found that there were no “serious” injuries, which is why it hadn’t already been brought to our attention.

The reader was understandably concerned, but perhaps a bit naïve about the state of serious traffic accidents in the Valley. Here in the newsroom, we’re not – a macabre fact that can give reporters a rather blasé attitude toward wrecks that “only” result in someone getting a bloodied face or broken leg.

The fact is that crashes like the one described above are basically everyday affairs. They’re so frequent, in fact, that we’ve started putting push pins in a map of the Palmer Wasilla Highway just of crashes we hear on the emergency scanner while someone is in the office. The map has been up for about four days; already it’s got four pins.

Usually these crashes are relatively minor, with air bags and seat belts helping lessen the damage to people even when vehicles are destroyed. But not always. Twice in two days last week a helicopter had to be brought in to airlift seriously injured people to Anchorage for crashes that took place on local roads. Both crashes took place in good driving conditions and were blamed by authorities on inattentive driving.

A recent Frontiersman Facebook post about traffic in the Mat-Su generated a large volume of response from people concerned with the state of traffic in the Valley. Many provided good, common sense ideas for how people can lessen the danger to themselves and others on the roads: don’t text and drive, slow down, obey traffic laws, leave sooner.

It’s no secret that many roads in the area – the Palmer Wasilla Highway being the most notorious – are high accident areas. This is due to factors both in and out of drivers’ control, but one key reason is the design of our major arteries.

The aging, two-lane road between Palmer and Wasilla was never intended to handle the volume of cars that use it each day, and accidents are almost a foregone conclusion when people are traveling at 55 MPH – and higher – in such close proximity to each other.

Some measures are being taken to lessen congestion – the Trunk and Bogard Road projects, for example, or planned improvements to the Palmer Wasilla Highway – but those aren’t going to help much unless drivers and authorities both acknowledge something more needs to be done.

The first and most important thing drivers can do is slow down. There is no destination that’s so important it’s worth risking your life or those of others on the road. Following too close is a frequent and easily-avoidable cause of many accidents that occur in the Valley. Getting up on someone’s bumper doesn’t get you where you need to go any faster, it just increases the chance you might not get there at all.

Second, pay attention. Although we’re all seemingly connected 24/7, we need to put the mobile devices away when we’re driving. Lock it up in your glove box if you have to, or turn the darn thing off. One moment of inattention can lead to a lifetime of pain and suffering. No text is worth a trip to the emergency room.

Finally, be courteous and set a good example for other drivers. Nothing is accomplished when motorists get angry with one another except to heighten the danger to all.

The only thing Mat-Su motorists need to be rushing toward are safer, more friendly roads.