Metro staff have released an in-depth report on road safety in the Portland metro region.

Heralded by local leaders and ODOT, the report made six key findings:

• Arterials have the highest crash rates for all modes of travel.
• Alcohol and drugs are primary contributors factors to fatal crashes.
• Speeding and aggressive driving are the leading contributing factors toward serious crashes.
• Serious pedestrian crashes are disproportionately represented after dark.  
• Serious nighttime pedestrian and bicycle crashes occur disproportionately where street lighting is not present.
• Multi-lane roadways have particularly high rates of pedestrian crashes per mile and per vehicle mile traveled.

If you are walking and biking, a couple messages are clear: choose low traffic local street alternatives over busier streets and be lit and visible, especially if you're traveling at night.

The report also found transit to be the safest mode for traveling within the region. There were zero passenger deaths during the 2007-09 study period and the death rate per 100 million motor vehicle miles motor was nearly double that of transit.

Read the full report (23 megabytes) here:

http://library.oregonmetro.gov/files//state_of_safety_report_043012.pdf