According to a recent article in the DeSoto Times Tribune, DeSoto County drivers should be happy to hear that their daily drives will become somewhat safer as the Mississippi Department of Transportation announced it’s cable barrier project will continue making its way down I-55.
Each year a certain percentage of MDOT’s budget must go to public safety projects. This year the department decided to spend $3.32 million to put 34 miles of cable barrier along I-55 and U.S. Highway 78.
The money is definitely needed and should be well spent creating a safer driving environment for Mississippians. Over a five year period, 375 vehicles veered off I-55 into or across the median in the barrier recommended locations in MDOT District 2, resulting in 26 fatal crashes, 32 fatalities, 13 life threatening crashes and 244 total injuries said MDOT Safety Engineer Jim Willis. “We’re trying to install this systematically throughout Mississippi,” Willis said. “We recommended these areas because they are where we feel the public will benefit the most.”
In the recommended areas of U.S. 78, 168 crashes resulted in five fatalities, 6 life-threatening crashes and 119 total injuries.
The cable rail that will be used by MDOT is designed to the same safety standards as guardrails but can be more versatile. “The cable rail can be installed cheaper and guard rail requires a flatter area to be installed,” said Rihanna Mayoral, special projects engineer in MDOT District 2. “The cable rail lends itself to be installed in smaller areas and is capable of absorbing impact on either side so it doesn’t need to be installed on each side of the road.”
The data for the recommendations was collected through MDOT’s accident history database, a database that local policing agencies report crash statistics to. The Mississippi Highway Patrol also made recommendations according to their observations of traffic patterns and accident information found in the same database. The barriers will be installed in DeSoto, Marshall, Panola, Yalobusha and Carroll counties.
If you’ve been injured in a car accident along a Mississippi roadway, it is critically important that you hire the right lawyer to handle your case. If you are in need of an experienced Mississippi car accident lawyer, please call us today at 833-536-5656 for a free consultation.
Source: “Protective barriers prevent head on collisions,” by JB Clark, published at DeSotoTimesTribune.com.
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