How Busy Is It in The Bakken?

According to The Dickinson Press:

North Dakota Department of Transportation figures show that about 6,000 vehicles traveled on a stretch of U.S. Highway 85 west of Watford City to the junction of U.S. Highway 2 near Williston in 2011, compared to 2,300 vehicles on the same stretch in 2006.

The vehicle count on U.S. Highway 2 north of Williston to the junction of U.S. Highway 85 went from approximately 5,000 per day in 2006 to 12,000 in 2011.

How dangerous is it?

Well it's pretty dangerous if you're not wearing your seat belt, are driving drunk, or unlucky enough to be driving when others around you are driving drunk.

One can control two of those variables, and significantly reduce the risk of the third variable.

Again, it would be nice to see denominators in these stories. We have numerators (number of deaths) but not denominators (number of drivers). And lots of other data, most importantly, when highway deaths most likely to occur.

But with 6,000 vehicles vs 2,300 vehicles on one stretch of road, increased accidents is not a surprise.

But this is the big story: these vehicles are driving in an industrial park at 65 mph.

Measured in square miles, the Williston Basin is the biggest industrial/construction park in America. Perhaps this is an even better link.

(Note: Some cities/counties make it difficult for new taxi companies to operate; again, this is not rocket science.)