Over one-third of the fatalities on the United States roadway/automotive system occur on rural non-interstate roads, despite the low exposures relative to interstates and urban roads. Simultaneously, occupant death rates for rural residents of the USA are three times higher than for urban residents. This scientific poster presents a study aimed at: (1) determining the relationship between rural location risks; and (2) at ascertaining what aspects of rural residence and of rural location are related to elevated risk. The Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) and the database of the coroner's records of one mixed urban/rural county, Erie County, Pennsylvania, were used. For residents of the rural minor civil divisions of Erie residents of the rural minor civil divisions of Erie County, elevated risk was associated with rural roads, with head-to-head crashes, and with lower blood alcohol levels. There was no association with personal characteristics of the populations. For rural locations, elevated risk was associated with multiple vehicle crashes, especially head-to-head crashes, and with multiple deaths in the same crash. This last pattern held true for the whole USA. A model is presented that it is two-lane FederaI aid rural primary roads themselves that are the predominant risk factor for rural populations. (A)
Abstract