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Greensboro is the state's second-safest large city for people traveling in motor vehicles, on bikes or by foot, according to AAA Carolinas' annual traffic safety review.

So is Greensboro really a safe place to travel? Join the discussion at the new Debatables blog.

Greensboro finished behind Charlotte in traffic safety among communities with more than 100,000 residents but way ahead of other cities across the Triad, according to the motor group's tabulations for 2006.

"Cities were chosen based on crash statistics, number of law enforcement officers per capita, presence of a formal traffic safety program and existence of a special traffic safety division," AAA said in announcing the results.

The results indicate the value in human terms of investing substantially in projects that reduce traffic congestion, an area where Greensboro stands out among other North Carolina cities.

AAA's statistics, developed by the Center for Transportation Policy Studies at UNC-Charlotte, showed that Greensboro had one of the report's best ratings for number of accidents per thousand in population.

Compared with High Point, for example, Greensboro had about 25 percent fewer accidents but more than double High Point's population.

Specifically, Greensboro logged 6,422 accidents involving motor vehicles, bikes or pedestrians in a population of about 232,000. High Point had a total of 8,420 accidents among a populace of just more than 95,000.

High Point was ranked 20th among North Carolina's 22 larger cities.

Winston-Salem, which ranked 17th among North Carolina's larger cities, also lagged well behind in traffic safety. With a population about 16 percent smaller than Greensboro, it suffered 11,404 accidents in 2006, or about

78 percent more accidents.

Among other Triad cities listed in the study, Burlington finished 19th in traffic safety among the state's larger communities.

Eden finished fourth in traffic safety among 47 cities across the state with populations between 10,000 and 30,000, a category that included five other Triad communities: Asheboro, 19th; Reidsville, 23rd; Thomasville, 29th; Graham, 31st; and Kernersville, 38th.

Safety for time change

The state Department of Transportation is urging drivers to take precautions and use common sense now that daylight-saving time has ended and evening commuters are driving in less light.

DOT traffic-safety specialist Cliff Braam makes these suggestions for motorists:

lCheck all vehicle lights to make sure they work properly, including properly aimed headlights.

lUse the night setting on your rearview mirror to avoid glare.

lSwitch off your high beams for oncoming vehicles.

lBe alert for bike riders and walkers on the roadside and at crosswalks.

lAvoid "highway hypnosis" by keeping your eyes moving side to side while driving instead of focusing solely on the center line or road ahead.

Confronting shortfall

North Carolina Democrats and Republicans agree the state has a big problem with a $65 billion shortfall in money available to meet the state's transportation needs over the next 25 years.

Legislators of both parties are planning to confront the issue, starting in the General Assembly's short session next year.

Republican leaders Sen. Phil Berger of Eden and Rep. Paul Stam of Apex said in a statement last week that North Carolina must stop diverting money from highway accounts to the general fund, a practice that consumes hundreds of millions of dollars per year otherwise available for transportation projects.

State Rep. Nelson Cole, a Democrat from Reidsville, said that proposal makes sense but said several other of the Republicans' suggestions are not comprehensive enough.

Cole, who is chairman of two House committees focused on transportation, agreed the General Assembly must grapple with the transportation issue soon because it is crucial to the state's continued prosperity.

A study panel, the 21st Century Transportation Committee, will submit a preliminary report to the General Assembly next spring and a final report by the end of 2008.

Among other things, Berger and Stam suggest issuing

$2 billion in road bonds to pay for projects that would fight traffic congestion primarily in urban areas and repair bridges, two issues that have earned the state low marks in a number of nationwide studies.

The state should repay the bonds with the transportation money it saves by ending the practice of using money from highway accounts to cover deficits in the general budget, they said.

Cole said he, too, wants to end misuse of highway money in the general fund and has introduced legislation to do that in the past. It's a short-term step North Carolina can take and would help somewhat, he said.

But he said $2 billion in road bonds is not enough money to make a dent in North Carolina's gigantic backlog.

Cole said state government needs a comprehensive rethinking of its approach to transportation funding; for example, looking at toll collection on such roads as Interstate 95 that gets 60 percent of its use in North Carolina from out-of-state motorists.

Interstate repaving OK'd

Cash-strapped or not, North Carolina transportation officials found $7.1 million in the kitty to repave nearly nine miles of Interstate 40/Business 85 through Greensboro.

At its November meeting recently, the state Board of Transportation awarded the contract to the local Thompson-Arthur Division of APAC-Atlantic, with the project set to start this month and completion expected in July 2009.

The resurfacing project extends 8.9 miles from the I-85 bypass east of town to High Point Road. Transportation officials found the bucks by issuing so-called GARVEE bonds, a form of financing recently approved for state government that pledges repayment from transportation money the state will receive in years ahead from the federal government.

Supporters say that approach allows DOT to make necessary improvements at today's cost instead of waiting until it has the money in hand, by which time inflation would make the project much more expensive.

But skeptics say that approach also means that in the future, state government will have less flexibility in spending federal transportation money because significant amounts will be tied up in past GARVEE projects.

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