Maricopa has more car crashes than 5 entire AZ counties

The Arizona Department of Transportation today released its comprehensive car crash data from last year and the numbers answer a question many residents have been asking: Do other cities suffer as many crashes as Maricopa?

According to the 68-page report, there were more car crashes inside Maricopa city limits last year (505) than there were in five entire Arizona counties — Santa Cruz (450), La Paz (435), Apache (427), Graham (297) and Greenlee (110).

That doesn’t even include crashes on State Route 347, one of the state’s most crash-prone highways just outside city limits.

“I think that is a sad but very true statistic,” Rep. Teresa Martinez (R-Casa Grande) told InMaricopa today. Martinez represents Maricopa in the state House and is perhaps the capital’s most outspoken advocate for road safety.

Maricopa did not lead Pinal County in crashes last year, coming second to only Casa Grande (1,131), but that’s explained by the stretch of Interstate 10 that bisects the city. Meanwhile, there are no major highways that go through Maricopa.

But why so many crashes in Maricopa?

Martinez explains: “It is too much traffic. Too many people on the road. And it has to change.”

According to the new ADOT report, Maricopa was also second to only Casa Grande in road fatalities and injuries, and second to only Apache Junction in DUI deaths.

“I think it’s horrible that we contribute to people’s death because our roads are not safe,” Martinez said. “It’s horrible, but this is something that we can fix.”

This post Maricopa has more car crashes than 5 entire AZ counties appeared first on InMaricopa .