Rural Americans face greater risk of being injured or killed in a traffic crash than those who live and commute in urban areas. The facts are: only 21 percent of the population live in rural areas in this country, yet 39.5 percent of the total vehicle miles travelled are on rural roads. In 2002, rural traffic crashes accounted for 60 percent of the total fatalities on our Nation’s highways. A combination of known factors is responsible, including some that are unique to rural areas. For instance, rural crashes often occur in isolated areas, causing a delay in the time of discovery and in the delivery of emergency services to the victim. Other prominent factors contributing to the high rural crash and fatality rates include: alcohol involvement, high-speed crashes, low safety belt use, vehicle rollovers, and ejections. Although safety belt use in rural areas increased to 73 percent in 2002, it remains slightly lower than the national rate (about 75 percent). The lower rate may be attributable to the lower use of safety belts among pickup truck occupants – 54 percent rural areas compared with 69 percent in urban and suburban areas. Along with pickup truck occupants, another high-risk group is 15-20 year olds. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15 to 20 year olds. In 2002, 8,278 15- to 20-year-old drivers were involved in fatal crashes, 3,827 were killed, and an additional 324,000 were injured. More than twice as many vehicle occupants in this age group died in rural area crashes compared to urban crashes. Sixty-two percent of these young people who died in rural area crashes were unrestrained compared to 55 percent in urban areas and 54 percent of the total for all age groups. To achieve further gains in rural safety belt use, campaigns will need to focus more directly on rural communities and among these high-risk groups within those communities. (Author/publisher)
Abstract