For 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 fact sheet for 2015 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. This fact sheet contains information on fatal motor vehicle crashes and fatalities based on data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). FARS is a census of fatal crashes in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico is not included in U.S. totals). Key Findings: • Of the 35,092 motor vehicle traffic fatalities in 2015 there were 17,114 (49%) that occurred in rural areas, 15,362 (44%) that occurred in urban areas, and 2,616 (7%) that occurred in unknown areas. • According to the 2015 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 49 percent of all traffic fatalities in 2015. • Rural traffic fatalities decreased by 28 percent from 23,646 in 2006 to 17,114 in 2015. Urban traffic fatalities decreased by 18 percent from 18,791 in 2006 to 15,362 in 2015. • In 2015 the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles travelled was 2.6 times higher in rural areas than in urban areas (1.84 and 0.71, respectively). • Of the 17,114 rural traffic fatalities in 2015 there were 4,758 people (28%) killed in speeding-related crashes. Of the 15,362 urban traffic fatalities in 2015 there were 4,171 people (27%) killed in speeding-related crashes. • Rural alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities decreased by 34 percent from 7,493 in 2006 to 4,915 in 2015. Urban alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities decreased by 24 percent from 5,921 in 2006 to 4,474 in 2015. • The 2015 National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS) observed that the seat belt use rate among front seat passenger vehicle occupants in urban areas was 89.4 percent, and rural occupants were observed to have a use rate of 86.8 percent. • Based on known restraint use in fatal crashes, 50 percent of rural passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2015 were unrestrained as compared to 46 percent of urban passenger vehicle occupants killed. (Author/publisher)
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