Car accidents can occur at any time, and nearly anywhere vehicles travel, but many motorists believe that these incidents, which can damage property and cause untold injuries for drivers and passengers, occur in areas of traffic congestion or on freeways, where speed often plays a factor. However, these wrecks occur in both urban and rural areas.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that about half of those who died in car crashes in 2020 experienced those deadly incidents in rural areas, and further insight into related data reveals a few surprising facts about rural versus urban car accidents.
A small percentage of U.S. drivers live in rural areas
The imbalance between the number of people who live in rural areas and the incidents of crashes that take place in these areas is especially surprising, at least at first glance. Yet, a deeper look into these incidents may reveal the reason for the data. Firstly, drivers in rural areas tend to speed on such roads, which could increase the risk of driver or passenger deaths. Secondly, large trucks that use rural roads to avoid highway traffic are usually more likely to cause the deaths of drivers and passengers in smaller vehicles.
Fewer motorcyclists die in rural crashes
In areas with open roads and little traffic, it seems surprising that more motorcyclists do not experience fatal crashes in rural areas. Urban accidents tend to take more lives of those who travel by motorcycle, with more than a thousand more deaths occurring in these areas in 2020 when compared to deaths in rural areas.
Single-vehicle crashes in both urban and rural areas numbered nearly the same in 2020, with speed and alcohol use as the main factors.