For the purpose of this fact sheet, rural and urban boundaries are determined by the State highway departments and approved by the Federal Highway Administration. The State highway departments use the U.S. Census Bureau’s rural and urban boundaries. In this 2014 fact sheet, the rural and urban information is presented as follows: * Overview; * Time of Day; * Speeding; * Alcohol; * Restraint Use; * Rollover Crashes; * Driver Characteristics; * Non-occupants; and * Fatalities by State. In 2014: There were 29,989 fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes resulting in 32,675 fatalities. Of these 29,989 fatal traffic crashes, there were 15,031 (50%) that occurred in rural areas, 14,509 (48%) that occurred in urban areas, and 449 (1%) that occurred in unknown areas. Of these 32,675 traffic fatalities, there were 16,710 (51%) that occurred in rural areas, 15,487 (47%) that occurred in urban areas, and 478 (1%) that occurred in unknown areas. According to the 2014 American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, an estimated 19 percent of the U.S. population lived in rural areas. However, rural fatalities accounted for 51 percent of all traffic fatalities in 2014. Figure 1 presents the motor vehicle traffic fatality trends in the most recent 10-year period for which data is available by location (rural and urban): Rural fatalities decreased by 34 percent from 24,587 in 2005 to 16,710 in 2014. Urban fatalities decreased by 17 percent from 18,627 in 2005 to 15,487 in 2014. However, urban fatalities in 2014 is the highest since 2008. (Author/publisher)
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