A few days prior to school ending this past June, a mother and son heading north on Highway 61 through White Bear Township to a graduation party. They were hit in a head-on accident and died at the scene. Unfortunately, these two were not the only fatalities on Hwy 61 this past year.
While there is no doubt that two-lane rural roads are deadly, as a REALTOR ® living in Anoka County and working the north and east metro, I have to drive several rural roads that are known to be unsafe. Unsafe, not for any other reason but that they are two lane roads with narrow shoulders and careless drivers. These are well-traveled two lane roads where deer run through the fields and jump into traffic. Busy commuters have no patience for a slower drivers and farmers on these roads and pass without care. There are no hands free laws in Minnesota so texting and talking play a role in unsafe driving. There are some roads known to be more deadly than others and now there is a tool to pinpoint which ones carry the most risk.
The University of Minnesota in cooperation with the Center for Excellence in Rural Safety has just developed website that shows just how safe our roadways are in Minnesota and across the United States! With a half of all fatal accidents occurring on two lane rural roads, this unique website is worth checking out to see just how dangerous country roads can be. Put in your address and see how many fatalities have occurred on roads within 10 miles of your home. Click the link and see if people were driving carelessly, under-the-influence and whether seat belts were worn. It gives additional specifics on the occupants in each accident with details including age and sex taken from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System.SafeRoadMaps.org is a geographic information system based Mashup with Google Maps used to identify rural and urban road transportation safety issues and statistics through a publicly accessible website. In a nutshell, it is an important new tool to plan a safe commute not only when I have to be showing homes throughout Ham Lake, Columbus, Lino Lakes and Forest Lake but when I have commute safely home from baseball games and speech meets with my family in tow!
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If you are buying, selling or relocating to Minnesota and need help from a professional Realtor, give me a call or visit my website for a FREE Relocation Packet. I specialize in acreage and lakeshore properties in the north and east Twin Cities metro area including Ham Lake, Lino Lakes and all communities in the Forest Lake School District! Serving Anoka, Chisago, Ramsey and Washington Counties in Minnesota.
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