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A closer look at local accident rates
The numbers for 2001 have been tallied and the roads with the most accidents in
Crawford County were determined. According to the Wisconsin Department of
Transportation (DOT), Highway 18 in the township of Bridgeport had the highest
frequency rating for car crashes. In second, was a rural road outside of the
Utica township. Highway 27 in the Prairie du Chien township was third. The
frequency rating is determined by using a math formula devised by DOT. They
looked at the statistics of injury, fatal and property damage crashes. Sheriff
Robert Ostrander of Crawford County said that this section of highway was
probably higher because of the amount of traffic to all the businesses.
"When you increase the volume of cars, you're going to get more
crashes," he said. DOT uses the frequency rating to help determine where
officers should be placed and during what time periods. Their Law Enforcement
Report even breaks down what month, day of the week and time of the day most
accidents occur. October had the most accidents in 2001, followed closely by
December. Ostrander said this is because of bad road conditions when winter sets
in. "You get a snow storm or an ice storm, you're going to get more
accidents," he said. Of course, some years are worse than others because
some winters are mild, like the last year. Ostrander said that people just need
to slow down in the winter. "People kind of forget how to drive," he
said. The weekends were the worst days of the week, with Sunday being the
highest. Ostrander said this was because people are coming home from their
weekend breaks. Accident frequency increased at noon and continued to rise
through the afternoon and the evening rush hour, before plummeting at 6 p.m.
There are many factors that go into why accidents occur. Sergeant Tom Floyd of
the Wisconsin State Patrol said that there are nonhuman factors such as deer
accidents. Then there are three forms of human-related accidents. The main
human-related factor in car crashes is the people themselves. State Patrol
Inspector Lorie Floyd of Crawford and Richland Counties, said that there would
be less accident injuries and fatalities if people buckled up more. She said
that she remembers one person who was killed in a car crash. His head was pinned
between the vehicle door and the pavement. Floyd said that if this person had
been wearing their seat belt, he would have lived. Other factors that cause
crashes are excessive speed and alcohol. Increased enforcement can help lower
crashes, said Sergeant Floyd. There are less accidents now then there were 10
years ago in Crawford County. There are eight county officers on duty over a
24-hour time periods. There were six officers 10 years ago, said Ostrander and
they finished at 3 a.m. "Just being out there could help lower accidents
over time," Ostrander said. According to Sergeant Floyd, Highway 151
outside of Dickeyville would be a good example of how more enforcement could
lead to fewer crashes. Floyd said that when he started working in this area in
1997, Highway 151 was the worst road in Grant County. He said that the
department made a point to make that section of road safer by increasing
enforcement. Their plan worked. That section of highway went from worst on the
list to around the middle in Grant County. The increased enforcement was not
limited to Highway 151, but all over Grant County. Improvement took place. In
1998, the amount of accidents in the county dropped below 1,000 for the first
time in the 1990s. Poor infrastructure is another human-related factor that can
cause accidents. It is the smallest factor. This is a problem caused by humans
because if a highway was poorly designed, the road would be more dangerous. A
bumpy road with potholes can also be a hazard. An example of how improving
infrastructure can help lower crashes would again be Highway 151 in Grant
County. Engineers looked at this highway and determined that increasing the
number of lanes from two to four would lower the number of accidents. With the
increased patrolling of Highway 151 and with the infrastructure improving,
changes were imminent. The last type of human-related crash would be due to
equipment trouble. "If a person has bald tires and they hydroplane, it is
their fault for not replacing them," said Sergeant Floyd.
The Crawford County Dive Team practices breathing techniques at Lake Wazee
during a recent training session. Crawford County dive team gets off the
ground The Emergency Government of Crawford County has established a dive
team, whose members have been plunging forward to get certified for Open water
and to get the program up and running. "Crawford County has needed a dive
team for years," said Crawford County Sheriff Robert Ostrander, who noted
that the Mississippi River borders the county for 37 miles and the Wisconsin
River for 25 miles. The Kickapoo River runs through the county for 32 miles. In
addition, there are 40 miles of trout streams in the county and more than 1,000
ponds. Ostrander said that there have been five drownings in Crawford County in
the last 10 years and five drownings in Grant County in the Wisconsin River in
the last two years. In addition to serving Crawford and Grant counties, the team
will be available to Vernon County and Clayton and Allamakee counties in Iowa.
"We're going to help anyone we can, that's our goal here," said
Ostrander, who is the director of the team. The team is made up of law
enforcement personnel from the Crawford and Grant County sheriff's departments.
The 17 team members include administrative personnel, line tenders and seven
certified divers, including five divers from Crawford County and two from Grant.
The team's finance officer is Crawford County Emergency Government Director
Roger Martin and the public relations officer is Scott Hurda. The team's unit
director, Frank Kozelka, said that the team held its first meeting on Jan. 16
and has been through several training sessions in recent months. The seven
certified divers will have under taken more than 90 hours of training before
they gain their open water certification. Kozelka said that in addition to
academic training, the team has had several training sessions in the Hoffman
Hall swimming pool and at Lake Wazee in Black River Falls. The team will also be
training in the Mississippi River. In order to help keep the divers in Swimming shape
the Bridgeport Inn has donated pool time for the team's workouts. In addition to
performing rescues, the team will be used to recover drowning victims, vehicles
and stolen items that have been thrown into the water. The team could possibly
assist in the event of a train derailment, Ostrander said. Ostrander said that
the dive team is being run strictly on donations from throughout the county and
other funds that the team can raise. "We want to get the team off the
ground first before we consider expanding," he said, noting that it will
take a minimum of $20,000 for equipment and training. Kozelka said that it costs
approximately $2,400 for a dry suit for one man. The dive team has raised $7,000
so far and will be holding a fundraiser at Withy's Resort in Lynxville on June
22. A few years ago, Ostrander saved owner Mark Withey's young son from drowning
in a pond.
The fundraiser will be held from 2 p.m. to midnight and will feature musical
entertainment all day and night, food, duck races and a raffle drawing at 7 p.m. |
