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NEW Website to Check for the Deadliest Roads by Your Home in Ham Lake, Minnesota or ANYWHERE in the US!

By
Real Estate Agent with Boardman Realty Minnesota License#90858

Last week a driver's education car was broadsided on Highway 8 in Chisago County. The student driver was making a legal left hand turn and was hit by another driver who ran a red light. The instructor was killed. (Link to the Story) In the spring, two drivers perished in a head-on crash just a few miles east of this same intersection.

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. (Link to the Story) 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!

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.

Copyright 2008 Teri Eckholm  http://www.terieckholm.com/

Posted by

Teri Eckholm. REALTOR with Boardman Realty, is a native Minnesotan who has lived and worked in the Minneapolis St Paul metro all of her life. She specializes in lakeshore homes, acreage properties and first time home buyers but assists anyone making a move in the north and east Twin Cities metro.

If you are buying, selling or relocating to Minnesota and need help from a professional REALTOR®, give Teri , a call or visit her website for a FREE Home Buyer Success Guide or FREE Home Value Report She 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.

Copyright 2019 terieckholm.com

 

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Comments (12)

Gary Woltal
Keller Williams Realty - Flower Mound, TX
Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth

Teri, there's nothing like real world statistics plotted on a geographic map to show the public the tendencies of where safety hazards related to driving are. Thanks for finding this information out and presenting it. You are an angel.

Aug 08, 2008 09:45 AM
Lynda Eisenmann
Preferred Home Brokers - Brea, CA
Broker Associate ,CRS,GRI,SRES, Brea,CA, Orange Co

Hi Teri,

What an interesting find, thanks.  I check it out myself. We've got a few rough ones here in SoCal.

Aug 08, 2008 11:59 AM
Kristina Leone
Lionheart Home Staging, LLC - Minneapolis, MN

This one IS an eye opener!  I wonder if it is the road design or the crazy drivers that makes them so dangerous?

Aug 08, 2008 01:40 PM
Mesa, Arizona Real Estate Mesa Arizona Realtor
Homes Arizona Real Estate LLC - Mesa, AZ
AzLadyInRed

Teri, this is very cool.....hopefully you dodge those dangerous roads as much as possible. Crazy people!!! ;-)

Pepper

Aug 09, 2008 01:12 PM
Steve Scheer
Realty Oasis - Metro Brokers - Highlands Ranch, CO
Highlands Ranch Real Estate - Denver Real Estate

Teri - You are always fining such interesting local resources.  I think most of our roads around here are relatively safe, minus speed issues.  Once you head up to the foothills and beyond, that is another story at times.  

Aug 10, 2008 01:54 AM
Teri Eckholm
Boardman Realty - White Bear Lake, MN
REALTOR Serving Mpls/St Paul North & East Metro

Gary--I thought that it was a great way to let people who are new to an area, check out how safe the roads are. It is good all across the US!

Lynda--Scary when you see all those little tags around your home isn't it?

Kristina--Two lane roads are notoriously unsafe because when someone errs and crosses the line, it is head-on. Now add in cell phones and texting drivers and the results are very frightening!

Teri--I will try! Check it out...I will work or AZ addresses too!

Steve--This one was developed locally so it was publicized on our local tv stations but it is a national site so you can check out dangerous roads in Denver, CO too!

Aug 10, 2008 01:14 PM
Laura Warden Nordin
Century 21 Camco Realty - Albuquerque, NM
30-year Top Producer in Greater ABQ Real Estate

Teri, I can't get the site to give me anything but a page with a logo, the navigation bar (which doesn't work) and a blank white page

Aug 11, 2008 01:04 PM
Teri Eckholm
Boardman Realty - White Bear Lake, MN
REALTOR Serving Mpls/St Paul North & East Metro

Laura--It takes awhile to load up the maps if you are not on highspeed. I just checked it and it works for me...Maybe something is blocking it on your computer???

Aug 11, 2008 01:20 PM
The Bartley Group SouthEast MN Real Estate
Coldwell Banker Home Connection - Owatonna, MN

Teri, thanks for the resource.  I think a huge issue is just getting people to slow down and PAY ATTENTION to their driving.

Brian Bartley

Aug 12, 2008 05:32 AM
Susie Roscoe
Signature Realty Associates - Brandon, FL
Real Estate Specialist | Brandon, FL

Teri - THIS is a terrific site!  There are some intersections I would swear have had more fatalities and now I can see for myself.  We don't have many country roads in my area but when I travel outside of town it would be nice to know where I need to be extra careful.  THANKS for sharing this website!

Aug 19, 2008 09:36 PM
Lynn Johnson
Coldwell Banker Home Connection - Owatonna, MN
Owatonna, MN Real Estate

Teri - Thanks for letting us know about this resource.  I'll be sure to check this out.  As someone who drives many of the 2 lane highways in our area, I'd like to be aware of the more dangerous areas to look out for. 

Sep 02, 2008 03:48 AM
Robert Zuniga
United American General Services LLC - Charlotte, NC

Thanks for the information. On the best of days, there are roads that need the drivers full attention. Great knowing there is a source for road safety.

 

 

Jul 10, 2009 01:16 AM