Local representatives from oil and gas companies met earlier this month to develop plans of action for better transportation safety practices. The goal is to reduce arguably the leading cause of death in the industry, vehicle accidents.

When looking at the numbers, work deaths within the oil and gas industry surpass the national average in all industries. During 2011 to 2014, almost half of the recorded deaths in the oil and gas industry were due to fatal transportation crashes. These numbers only account for workers killed, however, and not other people killed in car accidents or those workers killed in crashes on their way to work. This implicates that the actual number of individuals who die as a result of a car crash is significantly higher.

Last week, transportation officials met in Midland to propose a program that would spend an estimated $1.8 billion dollars on road improvements in energy production areas such as the Permian Basin over a five year period. Another projected $1.25 billion would be spend to lower priority projects over a period of approximately 8 years. To cut down on major crashes, TxDOT lowered the speed limit from about 75 mph to 65 mph on a 38-mile stretch of the highway, which includes Midland and Odessa.

The Texas Transportation Commission is expected to vote on the

program at the end of August. If granted, the Permian Basin's share would be about $676 million for road upkeep in addition to projects such as passing lanes.