PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — With transportation-related injuries and fatalities on the rise, Oregon health officials have released a dashboard that tracks trends throughout the state, and across different counties and demographics.
The new Oregon Transportation Safety Dashboard was developed by the Oregon Health Authority’s Injury and Violence Prevention Program.
Currently, the dashboard shows transportation-related emergency department visits, hospital visits and deaths dating back to 2010 and through last year.
From 2010 to 2022, data shows that fatalities grew from 351 in a single year to 606. Within that same time frame, the rate changed from nine deaths per 100,000 residents to 14 deaths per 100,000 residents.
Dagan Wright, senior injury epidemiologist and informaticist for OHA’s Public Health Division, says Oregon communities need to raise awareness for the increase in transportation deaths and injuries.
“Data dashboards like these help us monitor trends and better anticipate where to direct resources so we can reduce the burden of these injuries on individuals, communities and agencies,” Wright said.
The statistics featured on the dashboard stem from sources like the Center for Health Statistics and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Those sources also helped OHA distinguish the different types of injuries, whether they happened to a motorcycle rider, motor vehicle occupant, pedestrian or cyclist.
According to the data, the number of cyclist fatalities almost doubled from 11 in 2010 to 21 in 2022.
A similar trend is seen for motorcycle deaths, with 45 recorded in 2010 and 87 in 2022.
In December of last year, the Portland Police Bureau noted that traffic fatalities were at ‘epidemic levels.’ The agency’s Traffic Division officially returned to the streets of Portland this summer after a two-year hiatus due to understaffing.
Since then, city officials have also begun to focus on Vision Zero — the Portland Bureau of Transportation and PPB’s joint effort to “end traffic deaths.”
With the program, PBOT said it will install 20 more safety cameras throughout Portland by the end of 2024.
