Rural Driving (continued)

While U.S. Census figures show that about two out of 10 (21 percent) Americans live in rural areas, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has found that about six out of ten (57 percent) of highway deaths happen on roads that it considers rural.

And the people dying on rural roads are not just rural residents. In fact, more than half (53 percent) of rural fatalities in the United States in 2005 involved at least one driver from an urban area.”

There are numerous reasons for the high rate of fatal collisions in rural America. Country back roads, with light traffic and lovely scenery, can simply lull drivers into a false sense of safety. An over-relaxed comfort level can lead to driving at unsafe speeds. Motorists may become sidetracked, tired, unbelted or impaired, all of which boost the likelihood of a crash. Additionally, emergency response time to a rural crash and hospital transport can be prolonged and thus increase the death rate.