News

This news page features news about the Center for Excellence in Rural Safety, and about rural safety issues in general.

2009

Danger spots on U.S. 113 overhauled
The News Journal (Wilmington, DE), November 8, 2009
Lee Munnich, CERS director, and Keith Knapp, CERS director of transportation safety engineering, are quoted in this article about why more traffic fatalities occur in rural areas and how current research will improve the safety of rural highway intersections.

Rural Roads Are More Dangerous Than They Look
New York Times - Wheels Blog, October 9, 2009
With foliage season about to start and the Columbus Day weekend here, many people will be heading to the country and driving on back roads... "While most travel occurs in urban areas, there are more fatalities in rural areas," said Thomas A. Horan, research director at the University of Minnesota's Center for Excellence in Rural Safety.

More motorists die on rural roads
USA TODAY, October 6, 2009
Lee Munnich, director of the Center for Excellence in Rural Safety at the University of Minnesota, is quoted on how many more traffic fatalities (56% in 2008) happen in rural rather than urban roads.

Drivers and their toys: Unsafe at any speed?
Star Tribune, September 30, 2009
Federal officials, transportation experts, and academics are convening in Washington, D.C., for a first-ever summit on how to combat distracted driving.... "This is not a new topic," said Michael Manser, who's attending the Washington summit in his role as director of the HumanFIRST program at the U's Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute.

State report: "Rumble strips" on state highways cut accidents by nearly 60 percent
The Seattle Times, September 18, 2009
An analysis of state highways has found that centerline rumble strips, the grooves cut into pavement on 2,000 miles of the state's two-lane highways, has reduced serious injury and fatal crossover collisions by 57 percent.

Engineers take a new line on road safety
Minnesota Public Radio, September 13, 2009
A statewide effort to reduce fatalities on rural roads is emphasizing simple, low-cost solutions, such as wider stripes on the edge of roads, angled pavement dropoffs, and reflective signs on curves.

Road Warriors: State and local engineers join forces to lower fatalities in rural areas
Public Works Magazine, May 1, 2009
Freeborn County Engineer Susan Miller took it upon herself to establish and lead Toward Zero Deaths initiatives and help create a regional effort in southeast Minnesota and in her county.

Lots of deer. Lots of crashes. What to do?
Pioneer Press, June 19, 2009
Minnesota has so many deer, MnDOT is abandoning those ubiquitous yellow warning signs and looking for more effective ways to keep drivers safe.

New law will enforce seat belt use
Minnesota Daily, May 26, 2009
Starting June 9, police can pull people over for simply not wearing a seat belt.

Stepped-up patrol efforts help save lives
USA Today, February 4, 2009
Nearly every state that recorded a drop in traffic deaths last year attributes part of the decline to Americans driving less. But highway patrol chiefs, traffic safety directors and independent experts say other factors also contributed.

2008

Safe Cab Program Cutting Down On DWIs
WCCO, December 30, 2008
In the past year, Isanti County has cut its DWI arrests by nearly 40 percent, with the help of its Safe Cab program.

Rumble strips are raising grumbles
Star Tribune, November 9, 2008
Seen as a way to improve safety along rural highways, they have instead sparked noise complaints from residents and fixes by the counties that installed them.

Newest Source of Teen Ire: Webcams in Their Cars
Washington Post, October 24, 2008
Maryland study involving webcams for teen drivers yields similar results to a prior Minneapolis study.

University Launches Rural Safety Partnership with Isanti County
Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs Regionalities Blog , October 23, 2008
The partnership is the first of its kind and represents a new approach to bringing the policy, technical and outreach expertise of the University of Minnesota to support state and local government in tackling high fatality rates in rural areas.

County joins national effort promoting safety on rural roads
Isanti County News, October 22, 2008
The University of Minnesota’s national Center of Excellence in Rural Safety (CERS) announced a partnership with Isanti County to promote rural road safety locally and nationally.

County chosen as pilot site to promote safety
Isanti-Chisago County Star, October 21, 2008
Isanti County has been selected as a pilot to promote rural road safety by the University of Minnesota National Center of Excellence in Rural Safety (CERS).

A cell phone call, then a scream, then silence
Star Tribune, October 15, 2008

A 21-year-old motorist getting directions over her cell phone was killed when she rolled her vehicle in Stearns County.

The state reports that distraction played a role in at least 15 percent of all fatal crashes during 2005-07, resulting in 240 traffic deaths. Another 1,163 motorists suffered life-altering injuries as a result of distracted-driving crashes in this same period.

Teen lives cut short on the road
By Alison Knezevich, Staff writer, The Charleston Gazette, September 28, 2008

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Between 1996 and 2006, West Virginia's fatality rate for both young drivers and all drivers has been above the national average. In 2006, that rate for young people was 70 percent higher than the national average, according to federal statistics.

USDOT Awards $14.7 Million for Rural Roads Safety
August 27, 2008

FHWA's Office of Safety's Guidance Memorandum on Consideration and Implementation of Proven Safety Countermeasures
July 10, 2008

This guidance memorandum from FHWA lists safety measures with proven effectiveness, and includes information about where and when to apply them, as well as current FHWA technical contacts for each topic.

CERS Director of Training and Outreach Robert Johns testifies at Senate Environment and Public Works Committee

New online road safety mapping tool: SafeRoadMaps.org

CERS researchers have developed a new, visually innovative tool that maps out roadway fatalities across the nation... and in your community.

The new Rural Highway Safety Clearinghouse provides information about safety on our nation's rural roads

The Rural Highway Safety Clearinghouse is a new, easy-to-use starting point for information about safety on our nation's rural roads.

CERS Director Lee Munnich on the Rural Transportation Safety Clearinghouse
AgriTalk, July 7, 2008

Buckling up
Alabama Times Daily, January 21, 2008

State statistics show about 50 percent of drivers use seat belts on Alabama's rural county roads. In a study by the University of Minnesota Center for Rural Safety, 57 percent of fatalities occurred on rural roads, even though only 21 percent of the nation's population is generally considered rural.

2007

U of M study says safety attitudes behind the wheel are vastly different between rural and urban drivers
University of Minnesota video news release, December 18, 2007

University researchers have found that rural drivers are more complacent when it comes to common safety practices on the road than their urban counterparts. Research fellow Mick Rakauskas, with the HumanFIRST Program in the ITS Institute, discovered that drivers in rural areas practiced riskier driving behaviors and were less aware of the danger in doing so, especially when it comes to driving while under the influence and not using a seatbelt.

During Biggest Travel Weekend, Be Aware of States Lacking Strong Seat Belt Laws (2 MB PDF)
CERS news release, November 20, 2007

Thanksgiving marks the heaviest travel weekend of the year and that means large increases the number of fatal car crashes particularly in rural areas. The national Center for Excellence in Rural Safety (CERS) at the University of Minnesota today released an analysis showing a strong connection between states lacking strong seat belt laws and states with a high proportion of fatalities on rural roads.

CERS Institute explores public health aspects of rural transportation safety
From CTS Report, September, 2007

Speakers explored the connections between rural transportation safety and community health at the Center for Excellence in Rural Safety's annual Summer Institute, held at the University of Vermont (UVM) in Burlington on July 30 and 31.

Where is the most dangerous place to travel over the holiday?
CERS news release, June 28, 2007

Just in time for the most dangerous days of the year to drive—July 3 and 4—the national Center for Excellence in Rural Safety (CERS) at the University of Minnesota today released a list of the states where Americans are more likely to die in a traffic crash on a rural road.

2006 Minnesota highway toll lowest in 60 years
From Star Tribune, June 20, 2007

Minnesota recorded 494 traffic-related fatalities in 2006, the fewest number deaths on state roads in more than 60 years, according to a report released by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

Eagan Students Participate In New Driving Study
From WCCO, May 28, 2007

(WCCO) Some Twin Cities parents have a high-tech way to see what their teen drivers are doing on the road. A couple dozen students at Eagan High School will be part of a first of its kind study of teens driving in an urban environment.

Less jail for fatal DWIs spurs anger, fuels debate
From Star Tribune, April 29, 2007

Despite protests, some judges say intervention - instead of straight jail time - has helped keep more DWI offenders from driving drunk again.

Improved deer signage being tested
Minnesota LTAP Exchange newsletter, Winter 2007

New safety information resource: Real-Time Projected Annual U.S. Vehicle
Related Fatalities and Crashes
Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Site

16 states see road deaths slashed
From USA Today, January 30, 2007

Police: crackdown on speeding helped reduce traffic fatalities
From The Boston Globe, January 8, 2007

Star Tribune Editorial: Continue to reduce state's traffic deaths
From Star Tribune, January 4, 2007

Legislature should push for tougher seat-belt enforcement.

2006

Center for Excellence in Rural Safety presentation (2.4 MB PDF, page 18)
From 2006 Toward Zero Deaths Conference Proceedings

Danger lurks on rural roads
Duluth News Tribune, September 19, 2006

Summer Institute addresses themes, strategies for rural safety center
CTS Report, September 2006

Experts Address Rural Highway Safety, Research Needs (112 KB PDF, page 3)
The AASHTO Journal, Weekly Transportation Report, July 28, 2006

2005

State and Local Policy Program to study rural safety (PDF)
Humphrey Institute News, November/December 2005

SAFETEA-LU: CTS to receive $16 million; Rural Safety Center established at Humphrey Institute
CTS Report, October 2005

Oberstar hears rural safety research at special briefing
CTS Report, April 2005