There were two fatal accidents Thursday
MARQUETTE -- Two fatal crashes in one day prompted some of our Facebook viewers to ask: are some U.P. winter roads more dangerous than others? If so, where are they?
We've all heard it before, but law enforcement says they're still waiting for the message to sink in: slow down.
They say every U.P. road is dangerous in the wintertime, especially when people don't drive appropriately for conditions.
There's just two major factors nearly every serious injury or fatal car crash in the U.P. has in common: they happened in poor weather conditions or were alcohol-related.
Although many of us in the U.P. may consider ourselves veterans on an icy and slushy road, law enforcement said we simply aren't as skilled as we think.
"There's no doubt in my mind that people are overconfident in their driving abilities," says Sergeant David Kent with the Marquette County Sheriff's Department. "They may feel that they've gone though these things. The first major snowstorm leads us into about 20 to 30 crashes."
The most common mistake is driving too fast for conditions, and our Facebook viewers weighed in on the areas they think the logistics of the road may make that habit deadly.
The Glasses Curve area on M-553, the rock cut on US-41 between Marquette and Harvey, and County Road 424 in Iron County were mentioned most frequently.
Facebook fan Pete Frecchio writes the most dangerous roads are "Only the ones without snow, ice, deer and moose on them!"
It might seem like a logical plan to avoid notorious roads and seek alternative routes, but law enforcement said that's not always a good idea.
"There are not a lot of alternate routes, usually quite often you're better off sticking to the main roadways, but that also means there's more traffic," Kent says.
The Michigan Department of Transportation does study crash history reports, especially on roads involving serious or fatal accidents. If they find an improvement that can be made, they'll apply for funding.
"Funding is very scarce, very limited in this day and age," said Ishpeming MDOT Traffic and Safety Engineer Aaron Johnson. "But all we can do is, if warranted, try to seek funding."
MDOT said they've continued to monitor and study the area, adding that it is tricky because it runs through a curvy, mountainous stretch of land.
It's key for all drivers to take personal responsibility of maintaining control of their vehicle, and use caution.
There aren't any changes for M-553 currently in their five-year plan, but they say that could change.
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