Safety of rural roads : description of the traffic safety situation on rural roads.

The author examines the characteristics of road accidents in Sweden. Four categories of road are distinguished: a) paved 2-lane roads (70%), b) gravel roads (30%), c) 4-lane roads (0.1%) and d) expressways (0.5%). Accident rates and injury consequences are compared and discussed. Half of all accidents involve wild animals. When these are excluded most accidents are found to occur on straight sections of road. The effect of different speed limits on accidents on straight sections is examined. The effect of road width and average daily traffic are also considered.