Road ownership and safety outcomes in North Carolina

Fatalities and serious injuries on America&rsquo;s roadways have risen in recent years, with sharp increases following the COVID-19 pandemic. North Carolina is no exception to this trend, experiencing an increase in fatalities between 2023 and 2024, even as national fatalities declined. This paper examines the North Carolina Department of Transportation&rsquo;s (NCDOT&rsquo;s) approach to road safety, the relationships between municipalities, metropolitan planning organizations, and NCDOT, as well as the distribution of fatal and serious injury crashes across state- and locally owned roads. The analysis includes two primary components: comparisons of fatalities and serious injuries and road ownership in selected municipalities and statewide, and interviews conducted with NCDOT staff and local entities. <br />The findings show that state-owned roads account for the overwhelming amount of fatal and serious injury crashes across the state and within many communities, due to factors including the high-speed, high-volume nature of many state roads and the inconsistent implementation of safety interventions across NCDOT Divisions. Meanwhile, a lack of sufficient funding leads to maintenance deficits for municipal roads, and municipalities are therefore unable to seriously consider pursuing ownership of state-owned roads. The final section offers recommendations to NCDOT, state policymakers, municipalities, and metropolitan planning organizations to improve safety outcomes and navigate difficult questions of maintenance funding and road ownership.