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By simply paying attention when you drive, you can considerably decrease your chance of being in a crash.

That appeared to be the primary message last week in a public meeting which focused on the safety of roads in Sibley County.

County commissioners, township board members and area law enforcement attended the July 31st meeting which was held at the courthouse in Gaylord.

Karen Sprattler, of SRF Consulting Group, led the meeting and reviewed a Sibley County road safety audit and crash profile. This study was funded by a grant through the Department of Public Safety and Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Central Safety Fund.

Sprattler said the goal of the study was to provide a comprehensive analysis of crashes in the County over the last ten years. The consultants also looked at what intersections are bad and why.

According to the road safety audit, driver inattention was the most often cited contributing factor in crashes on every roadway system.

Because of the design of vehicles these days, there are more ways a driver’s attention can be diverted, Sprattler explained. Failure to yield and unsafe speeds were also listed as top causes of accidents.

Sprattler reported that two-thirds of crashes involving fatalities occur in rural areas. A lot of driver complacency is to blame, she said.

“Familiarity kills a lot of people,” state trooper Scott McConkey said referring to drivers who frequent a certain stop sign. “I have seen too many deaths from people rolling through stop signs.”

In 2005, Sibley County was one of nine counties in Minnesota with zero traffic fatalities. There was an average of two fatalities per year the previous five years in the County.

There were 184 crashes last year. Sixty-five of the accidents involved injuries while the others included property damage.

According to the audit, the estimated economic impact of crashes in the county in 2005 is $5.8 million. The per capita cost was estimated at $379, $52 higher than the state average.

More than one-third (35%) of the drivers involved in crashes in Sibley County are 15-24 years of age. That is higher than the state average. Contributing factors in these accidents, according to the audience, included cell phones, music, inexperience and inattentive or showing off driving.

Of the injury crashes in the County, 13% were alcohol related, 3% higher than the state average. Alcohol was not a factor in any of the ten crash fatalities in Sibley County from 2000-2004.

When do most accidents happen in Sibley County? According to the report, 27% of the fatal crashes occur in December. Half of the injury crashes occur on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 21% of the accidents are between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

“This is some really good information and hopefully it will make people aware of what is going on,” Sibley County Public Works Director Darin Mielke said. “The goal is to find low cost solutions to improve safety.”

Mielke said the County will look at upgrading areas that currently do not meet compliance. High impact locations will also be addressed, he explained.

Areas used in the audit included:

• TH 22/CSAH 8 intersection;

• TH 19/CSAH 2 intersection;

• TH 5/CSAH 9 intersection, TH 5/CSAH 34 and CR 69 intersection, TH 5/CSAH 12 intersection;

• TH 5/CSAH 13 intersection;

• TH 19/CSAH 13 intersection, following TH 19 east to the TH 19/CSAH 17 intersection;

• TH 5/CSAH 15 intersection, TH 5/CSAH 11 intersection, TH 5/TH 25 intersection;

• CSAH 8 north curve (east of CR 63), CSAH 8 south curve (east of CR 63), CSAH 8/CSAH 9 (south) intersection;

• CSAH 6/CSAH 19 intersection, following CSAH 6 to include the intersection north of the CSAH 6/CSAH 19 intersection;

• CSAH 6/CSAH 12 intersection;

• CSAH 12 curve (intersection with CSAH 19), following CSAH 19 east to the next intersection with the roadway between CSAH 12 to the south and CSAH 19 to the north.