Imagine two different driving scenarios. In the first, you have a small city street with a complicated design, numerous traffic signals, and dozens of vehicles and pedestrians. In the second, you have a wide-open rural road with just a few cars, a simple design and very few pedestrians.
Which one do you think would have the lower fatal accident rate and would be less dangerous? While most people would pick the rural road, the truth is that rural roads actually have higher fatal accident rates when looking at the number of fatalities per mile driven. This means that they are more dangerous, despite appearing safer. Why is this?
Higher speed limits
One of the main reasons is that rural roads just have higher speed limits. For every increase in speed, there’s a greater chance of a fatal accident. If two crashes are nearly identical, but one happens at 25 miles an hour and the other happens at 55 miles an hour, it’s much more likely that someone will pass away in the second.
Dangerous driving
Rural roads also see many dangerous driving tactics and habits. People tend to break the speed limit, they drive under the influence or they get distracted behind the wheel. When people intentionally choose to drive in an unsafe manner, they make it more likely that a serious crash will occur.
Distance to the hospital
The final component is that rural roads tend to be much farther from the hospital. This delays responses by medical professionals. Someone who gets seriously injured in the city may survive because they can get to the hospital in a few minutes, while someone in a rural accident will pass away before first responders even reach the scene.
Have you lost a loved one or suffered serious injuries in a car accident? Make sure you know how to seek financial compensation for medical bills and other costs.
