Given 17 AZ Road Deaths Over Thanksgiving Last Year, ADOT Stresses Safety
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Seventeen people died in 16 fatal crashes during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend last year on Arizona’s state and local roadways, according to ADOT. Impairment was a factor in five of those crashes. And last Thanksgiving, a rollover crash on I-17 near the New River exit caused a multi-hour backup in the right lane that extended back to the Daisy Mountain Drive interchange.
in 2017 caused a long backup. Image: ADOT
ADOT will take multiple steps, as it does each year, to encourage and foster safety and smooth travels now through the new year:
- Closures Highway closures for construction and maintenance will be limited now through the start of 2019. No new closures will be slated for from Wednesday, Nov. 21. through Sunday Nov. 26.
- Safety Corridors ADOT will emphasize safety in three high-traffic corridors: I-17 from North Phoenix to Flagstaff; I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson; and State Route 87 between Mesa and Payson. As they’ve done on past holidays, the agency will strategically equipment in the corridors to respond more quickly to stalled vehicles and crashes.
- Signs Electronic signs will display safety messages through the holiday travel season. If history is any guide, you can expect some humor.
Most crashes on I-17 and other roadways are caused by drivers, not road conditions, ADOT statistics show. The agency encourages motorists to slow down, avoid busy travel times, and wear seat belts.
- I-17 Construction Begins at Happy Valley & Pinnacle Peak Road Interchanges
- I-17 to Get 3rd Southbound Lane from Black Canyon City to Anthem
NoPho resident Robert Roy Britt has written for In&Out publications since its inception in 2005. Britt began his journalism career in New Jersey newspapers in the early 1990s. He later became a science writer and was editor-in-chief of the online media sites Space.com and Live Science. He has written four novels. .