Given the number of accidents on the Jones Falls Expressway in recent weeks that have seriously delayed rush hour traffic, it comes as no surprise that Baltimore officials see the trend as worthy of investigation. The $65,000 study commissioned by the city's Department of Transportation is expected to look at a variety of contributing factors, particularly in the vicinity of the landmark Pepsi bottling plant sign in Hampden where so many accidents seem to take place.

Some of the highway's most fundamental problems are known, and, unfortunately, there's not much to be done about them. The sharply curving nature of the interstate that roughly follows the meandering Jones Falls (an inconvenient “geometry” set six decades ago) and its long elevated stretches have always slowed traffic while also making the city's busy North-South central artery especially dangerous in bad weather. Recent increases in traffic congestion point to an improved downtown economy (which is good) — as well as a failure of the parallel light rail system to lure commuters out of their vehicles (which isn't).

But here's a tip: Analysts might want to spend less time testing highway surfaces for friction levels (city workers say they haven't found the road any more slippery anyway) and more time looking at irresponsible driver behavior. It doesn't take an engineer to observe JFX motorists, whether in rush hour or not, falling prey to the usual suspects of unsafe highway travel — too much time staring at their cellphones and not enough observing posted speed limits and providing reasonable stopping distances.

Could the Jones Falls be engineered to be safer? Absolutely — with a billion or so dollars. Could it also be made safer by assigning a detail of police officers to patrol the road and pull over speeders, aggressive drivers, the texting teens and others who are wantonly violating the law? Yes, and for a much, much lower price. No doubt that's why the City Council this week passed a resolution asking Maryland State Police to patrol the highway. City police, council members argue, are focused on reducing violence and homicides, and given the number of current vacancies on the force the department can ill-afford to put a lot more on traffic duty.

But that might also be the wrong way of looking at the problem. There are fewer traffic citations being written in Baltimore each year. That's not speculation, that's a fact. According to Maryland District Court records, there were 5,173 traffic citations filed in Baltimore courts last year. In 2013, there were 8,286. That's a difference of 3,113 or a 37 percent decline in just four years. Baltimore County, by contrast, has also shown a decrease in traffic citations but much more modest one, 11,204 last year compared to 12,830 in 2013 or about a 10 percent reduction, court records show.

When motorists know there's little chance they'll be pulled over for a traffic violation, they tend to take advantage of the situation. Speeding may prove a particularly big problem for the Jones Falls because of the way in which Maryland has raised speed limits on other highways. The JFX will never be posted at 70 miles per hour like Interstate 68 in Western Maryland, but drivers accustomed to the 65 mph limit on I-83 north of the Baltimore Beltway might not realize the Jones Falls simply isn't built for those kinds of speeds.

And nothing reminds a motorist to follow the speed limit like a costly traffic ticket, whether it's written by a city police officer, a state trooper or an automated traffic camera. All three may need to play some role in making the JFX a safer highway.

That may sound like strong medicine to regular commuters, but the stakes are higher than a few minutes added or subtracted from the morning commute. In 2015, Maryland recorded 513 deaths from motor vehicle crashes compared to 442 the year before, a nearly 17 percent increase. National data suggest the problem may be getting worse — a 10 percent hike in the first half of last year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Perhaps the day will come when computerized, driverless cars will reduce that number substantially, but until then, it's not just the roads that ought to be made safer, it's the all-too-human drivers behind the wheel.