There's a disconnect someplace in the halls of state government. It's led officials to conclude wrongly that keeping traffic-accident statistics away from the public is OK.

It's not. Barricading public data within the state Department of Transportation frustrates the intent of free-information laws.

But even those who find that issue uninspiring can see that secrecy impedes broad, careful study of the data, and analysis that could produce needed safety improvements. Anyone who is a driver or pedestrian has something at stake here.

The fact that the data were gathered at taxpayers' expense suggests that, barring some greater public good, the public has a right to get at this data.

Privacy concerns are cited, as they should be, but the state Department of Transportation continues to resist issuing data on traffic accidents, even when the private details are stripped out.

What's driving the state's behavior is fear. Information about intersections and other accident locations, officials say, will fuel more costly lawsuits filed on behalf of accident victims, and they cite cases in which attorneys have used what information they can glean to bolster arguments for damages from the state.

What's puzzling is that there's a federal statute in place that's meant to shield states against the use of this data in legal actions.

That law is 23 U.S.C. section 409, which precludes using as evidence in a court proceeding any data compiled for identifying roadway hazards and planning safety enhancements.

Cases in which data are used against the state should be challenged, using the federal law as ammunition.

Instead, the state persists in holding back information. Two years ago The Advertiser got a ruling from the state Office of Information Practices that the crash data should be public. In response to this newspaper's renewed request, the DOT is seeking a second opinion.

Rather than wasting more time fending off the public, the state should work collaboratively with experts to improve transportation safety. In a state confronting alarming traffic-fatality statistics, that should be its paramount duty.