Connecticut had one of the deadliest years for car accidents in 2024, according to the University of Connecticut Crash Data Repository. As of Dec. 23, there were 314 fatalities in state because of car crashes.
Eric Jackson, executive director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute (CTI) at UConn attributes most of these tragedies to reckless drivers. But highway infrastructure issues can play a role as well.
A project involving the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and CTI aims to identify which roads need more reflective markings and to work on repainting those roads.
According to Jackson, difficult-to-see lane markings, coupled with issues of aggressive driving and speeding, make a recipe for disaster on roadways.
"That plays a bigger role when it's dark outside," Jackson said. "The faster you travel, the more you need to be able to see down the roadway, that's where the retro reflectivity really comes into play. If you can't see that curve coming up because the lane markings aren't reflective enough, that could lead to a crash or a collision."
The cause is hard to pinpoint, but the state is trying to act.
"The Connecticut DOT approached UConn saying we have this issue on our roadways and said we'd love to be able to figure out where the problem is and how we can address it," Jackson said. "We worked with the DOT to purchase a vehicle that's called a retro reflectometer. It's very specifically looking at the pavement markings that are on the roadway. How much retro reflectivity is actually making it back into the cameras?"
The project is going to span every mile of state road, with the goal of reporting back to the DOT with their findings so they can go out and repaint those roads that are lacking in retro reflectivity.
Jackson and his team had to put a pause on the project, but he said they plan to finish collecting their data by spring of 2025.
Source: WTIC, FOX 61
