Rural Roads: 50% of Fatalities

What is happening? Rural roads see 50% of traffic fatalities even though the rural population is 1/5. That means the fatality rate is twice that of urban areas.

Why is this important?

• Illinois is looking at deadly rural intersections to improve signaling
• South Carolina is installing rumble strips, wider pavement markings, brighter signs, high-friction surface treatments, guardrails
• Minnesota is adding real-time warnings about traffic conditions
• Kansas is examining accident data to identify commonalities among different areas that can lead to design changes

How will this be important? Access to funding and creative solutions are the name of the game.

Pew Charitable Trusts via Governing | Car Crashes, Deaths on Rural Roads Spark Safety Discussions