On Sept. 22, The Republic published a story about an Interstate 65 construction project between Columbus and Seymour, and accidents related to the construction. The stretch of interstate is being widened from two to three lanes in each direction.
Citing data provided by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, the story said that from March 2018 to Sept. 15 there were 1,052 accidents related to construction or backed up traffic caused by construction, in addition to 240 injuries and four fatalities. Those figures would have equaled nearly two accidents per day related to construction along that stretch.
The figures seemed high, but ICJI stood by the data despite a Republic reporter questioning ICJI’s data during the interview.
Days later, though, ICJI said the figures were calculated incorrectly for the specific mile markers (50 and 64) serving as the boundaries for the stretch of construction. However, revised figures didn’t include two fatal accidents in the construction zone this year that resulted in four deaths. Again, the numbers didn’t seem correct.
When the Indiana State Police searched the same data base the ICJI used, it came up with 336 crashes, 96 injured motorists and five fatalities for the stretch under construction for the 18-month period. That averages roughly one accident every other day, which seems like a more realistic number.
This raises the question, “What data can be believed?”
The Indiana Department of Transportation relies on data from the ICJI data base to share with the governor’s office and Indiana General Assembly. They use that information to shape policy, and introduce and pass bills for projects that require substantial funding. We would hope that such decisions are based on accurate data.
We encourage those in charge of this data base to review who is examining and extracting data, and how that is being done. Those seeking information and basing decisions on it should need to be reassured they’ll receive reliable data.
