Rural Crashes Pose A More Serious Threat

Traditionally, drivers in rural areas and small towns don´t see their risk of being in a serious traffic accident as very high. According to a recent study, they area right.

But, when a crash does happen, the risk of serious injury is greater because high-speed, head-on collisions are more common on two-lane rural highways than interstate highways or urban freeways.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 50 percent of all vehicles involved in fatal crashes each year were involved in accidents that happened in rural areas.

Although rural areas accounted for a little over one third of total vehicle miles traveled each year in the country, the fatality rate is more than double that of fatalities in urban areas.