A common refrain I’ve heard from people since I became involved with Newsday’s Dangerous Roads project is: "It’s not the roads that are dangerous. It’s the drivers."

It’s true that most crashes can be attributed, at least in part, to driver behavior — including speeding, violating traffic laws, being intoxicated, distracted or just reckless. But let’s not let the roads off the hook that easy.

Because roadways have to meet minimum requirements set by government officials, their designs, however inadequate, rarely shoulder much blame for crashes — even if those same officials are quick to accept credit when design improvements lead to a reduction in crashes. The U.S. Department of Transportation, on its website, lists "consistent improvement of roadway design" as a key factor in the reduct

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