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4.13.1 Transportation Accident History

Valley County has experience with transportation accidents which is has largely been focused on motor vehicle accidents.

The Montana Department of Transportation provided data on crashes per county in Montana for the years of 2005-2014. One can see from the data in the tables below that 2006 had the highest number of fatalities with a total of 4. During the year of 2006, there was a total of 13 serious injuries, which was the highest of all the years. The year of 2006 also had the highest number of serious injury crashes, with a total of 9. There was a total of 149 crashes in 2014 in Valley County. The highest number of crashes in Valley County was in 2006, with a total of 127 crashes.

Table 67: Crash Data for Valley County

Injury Severity	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Fatality	2	4	1	1	3	3	2	3	2	3
Serious Injury	3	13	10	8	9	3	6	10	7	6
Other Injury	50	50	36	42	27	45	25	33	25	36
No Injury	174	166	140	163	171	108	138	68	109	103
Unknown/Other	6	7	5	8	3	3	3	2	3	1
Total	235	240	192	222	213	162	174	116	146	149
Crash Severity	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Fatal Crash	2	3	1	1	2	3	1	3	2	3
Serious Injury Crash	2	9	7	7	3	2	6	6	6	5
Other Injury Crash	33	31	20	30	18	30	19	22	16	19
No Injury Crash	93	83	77	80	91	60	54	42	51	56
Unknown/Other Crash	0	1	3	1	1	0	2	2	3	1
Total	130	127	108	119	115	95	82	75	78	84

Other Transportation Incidents

There were no records of railway or airplane accidents in Valley County during the 2009-2014 timeframe.

4.13.2 Transportation Accident Risk

The overall probability that a transportation accident will occur each year in Valley County is highly likely but its relative impact is low, and thus the overall risk for Valley County is little to none. The risk for a transportation incident for each of the cities is the same because data was only available at the countywide level. In assessing transportation incident data for the 2015 update, data from 2009 to 2014 was used to determine the risk. The table below provides the name of each of the cities in the county, the probability that a transportation incident will have an impact on that jurisdiction, the impact potential, as well as the overall risk calculated by the determined probability and impact ratings.

Table 68: Transportation Accidents Hazard Risk Assessment

Transportation Accidents
City/Town	Probability	Impact	Risk
Glasgow	Highly Likely	Low	Little to No
Fort Peck	Highly Likely	Low	Little to No
Nashua	Highly Likely	Low	Little to No
Opheim	Highly Likely	Low	Little to No
Valley County*	Highly Likely	Low	Little to No
Total	Highly Likely	Low	Little to No

The previous Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan for Valley County included a separate risks analysis for aircraft accidents. For this update, aircraft accidents included indicated to be low to moderate and factored in the analysis for Transportation Accidents Risk Assessment.

4.13.3 Mitigation Actions in the Past Five Years

During the last five years, the Valley County Road Department has maintained and repaired roadways which help to reduce roadway accidents.
This iteration of the mitigation plan has been expanded to include mitigation actions for all transportation incidents

4.13.4 Vulnerability to Residents

Any resident who uses the various transportation methods in Valley County including highway, railway, and air are potentially vulnerable to a transportation incident. In addition, residents who live closer to a roadway have the potential to be the victim of someone driving while impaired and potentially driving off the road. `The cities of Glasgow, Nashua and Opheim are located near highways in Valley County. Residents, who reside near a railway, such as in the cities of Glasgow and Nashua, are at an increased risk. While the previous iteration of the plan focused solely on aircraft accidents, this iteration of the plan has been expanded to account for all incidents. This new focus is a direct result of the county’s proximity to the oil fields and the increase in traffic, machinery and hazardous materials being transported through the Valley County.

4.13.5 Traffic Accidents and Climate Change

The Climate Variability and Change with Implications for Transportation Report, published by Transportation Research Board, indicatedthe U.S. transportation system was built for the typical weather and climate experienced locally. Moderate changes in the mean climate have little impact on transportation. However, changes in weather and climate extremes can have aconsiderable impact on transportation. Transportation relevant measures of extremes have been changing over the past several decades and are projected to continue to change in the future. Some of the changes are likely to have a positive impact on transportation and some negative.
As the climate warms, cold temperature extremes are projected to continue to decrease. Milder winter conditions would likely improve the safety record for rail, air, and ships. Warm extremes, on the other hand, are projected to increase. This change would likely increase the number of roadbed and railroad track buckling and adversely impact maintenance work.
Weather continues to play a significant role in a number of aviation accidents and incidents. While National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports most commonly find thehuman error to be the direct accident cause, theweather is a primary contributing factor in 23 percent of all aviation accidents. The total weather impact is an estimated national cost of $3 billion for accident damage and injuries, delays, and unexpected operating costs.

4.13.6 Relationship to Other Hazards

Hazardous material incidences are generally associated with transportation accidents or accidents at fixed facilities. All highways and railroads associated with transport, and anywhere that hazardous material is used or stored, is susceptible to a spill.
Tornadoes, windstorms and winter storms all have the potential to cause high winds or damage to infrastructure, which could make roadways impassable. Winter storms also have the potential to make roadways slippery with ice and snowy conditions. Whiteout conditions are also a possibility with winter storms, which could lead to increased transportation incidents. Natural hazards, such as tornadoes, windstorms, winter storms, hail, and lightning could cause an increase in railroad or air accidents because of conditions, which make it difficult to navigate or cause hazardous conditions.

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