Fatal Crash Rates Are Higher on Rural Roads

Some of the simplest road designs have the highest fatal accident rates. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the fatal accident rate on rural roads is between 3 to 10 times higher than the fatal crash rate on city streets. This means that rural roads are starkly more hazardous, despite the fact that their designs are often simpler and easier to understand.

One reason for this is the speed at which the vehicles are traveling. A city street may be complex and confusing, but a low-speed accident is less likely to lead to fatal injuries. Therefore, even if there were more crashes in the city, far more of them would be fender benders and other minor incidents. But drivers on rural roads are often traveling at 50 or 60 mph, when fatal injuries are much more common.

Medical care is further away

Another key component in this issue is that drivers often do not receive medical care as quickly in a rural car crash.

For one thing, a remote accident may have very few witnesses, so it could take time before anyone calls 911. Even after they do, if the nearest hospital is a half an hour away, it is going to take time for emergency crews to respond to that crash. Once they arrive, they may only be able to offer a certain level of treatment on the scene, so it takes more time to drive the injured victim to the hospital or airlift them to a nearby medical center.

People sometimes suffer serious injuries that could become fatal if they do not receive prompt treatment. In the city, with the hospital only minutes away, they may get this treatment and survive. But the same injuries could prove fatal in a rural accident because of all of these logistical delays.

Compensation for a wrongful death

In a wrongful death case, family members may be able to seek compensation for medical bills, lost future wages, funeral costs, burial costs and much more. It is important for them to know exactly what options they have if another driver’s negligence caused the accident.