Safety Action Plan
Safety Action Plan
In the United States over 40,000 people lost their lives in motor vehicle crashes in 2023. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), rural fatalities account for 40 percent of all fatalities across the Unites States, yet less than 20 percent of the population lives in rural areas. In addition, the fatality rate on rural roads is 1.5 times higher than the fatality rate on roads in urban ares, resulting in a focus on rural road safety.
In Iowa, while county roads account for 17% of the total statewide vehicle miles of travel (VMT), they account for 78% of the mileage and 35% of the fatal and serious injury crashes. These serious crashes are overrepresented based on VMT and are spread over an extensive roadway network. County road crash patterns are typically characterized by similar types of crashes that occur at unique locations. In Adams County, their was an average of 1.8 fatal and serious injury crashes per year on approximately 700 miles of county roads between 2019-2023. Therefore, Adams County, in consultation with partners, prepared this Comprehensive Safety Action Plan (SAP) to present a holistic, well-defined strategy to reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries in the county. Consistent with strategies included within Iowa's Five-Year Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) 2024-2028, this SAP identifies high-risk locations and prioritizes strategies to address them, allowing for the proactive implementation of safety countermeasures. The County has also pledged their commitment to a goal zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries by 2050.
This Safety Action Plan identifies both engineering and driver-related countermeasures intended to reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries within the next five to ten years. Adams County Safety Action Plan was created in partnership with 96 other Iowa Counties funded through an Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grant.
