Equity is integrated into everything that Lane County does. At Lane County, we strive for a just and equitable community where every resident has access to the resources and opportunities they need to live, work and play. We believe that equity is not a stand-alone initiative, but a fundamental principle that must be embedded and integrated into every aspect of our work. Our commitment to equity is woven into our policies, practices, and decision-making processes, and we actively work to dismantle systemic barriers and promote inclusion and belonging for all.

Learn more about Lane County's commitment to equity here.

Most fatal and severe-injury crashes are preventable by reducing risky driving behaviors, such as speeding, intoxication, and distraction. Lane County has been working to create a safety culture in which personal and community safety is a personal and community responsibility. The emphasis on prevention has resulted in a change in terminology replacing “accidents” with “crashes.” As a preventable death, crashes should not be an inevitable cost of our mobility. Education is essential to creating this safety culture.

Making a road safer means designing it to account for inevitable human error. Most of our rural roads were built a long time ago and are very narrow and windy. There is little room for error. Driving too fast around a curve or taking your eyes off the road to look at your cell phone for just a moment can lead to deadly consequences. A more forgiving road has features that help people self-correct, such as speed feedback signs, wider roadway shoulders, and rumble strips, and then as a second layer of prevention, reduce cash severity with guardrails or gentler roadside slopes that are free from fixed objects like trees and utility poles.

Visit our Safety Engineering Implementation storymap to learn more about where we've implemented traffic safety measures. This project is undergoing updates; please check back for more information.

More frequent enforcement is the single most effective short-term way to reduce traffic crashes in safety corridors. A shortage of officers due to lack of funding limits traffic enforcement. Safety grants providing reimbursement of officers working overtime to provide enforcement has enabled some traffic enforcement.

Learn more about traffic enforcement here.

Our ability to save lives does not end when a crash occurs. Appropriate medical care for people injured in a crash to prevent their injuries from becoming fatal is critical.

The timely arrival of emergency responders and well-trained Emergency Medical Services (EMS) clinicians is a major factor ensuring an injured person receives the medical care they need to survive a crash. This is especially critical in rural and Tribal communities, where response times are longer and EMS resources more limited.

Learn more about post-crash care here.