Gotta Know The Denominator -- December 30, 2014

This must be a fact. I read it elsewhere. Bakken.com is reporting:

There have been 25 traffic crash fatalities on the U.S. Highway 85 corridor in the past two years. The Department of Transportation this month launched a safety review that officials say will continue into January and February.

The review will include an evaluation of the portion of the highway between Williston and Watford City, which officials are spending about $300 million on to make it four lanes. The review will be done by a team of local law enforcement officials and local, state and federal highway officials.

“The recently constructed portions of the US 85 corridor were designed to meet all federal safety requirements."

I can't recall if the $300 million includes the four-lane bridge that will have to be built across the wide Missouri southwest of Williston. 

It would be interesting to know the number of crash fatalities per passenger mile traveled in the two years between Williston and Watford City and compare it to the crash fatality data between Bitburg, Germany, and Trier, Germany.