Travel Tips

Travel Tip: Watch Out For Rural Roads

Can you guess the most dangerous roads in America? Surprise, it’s not necessarily the big highways.

It’s those two-lane rural roads that you also have to watch out for.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, rural roads account for 57 percent of all traffic fatalities.

Now consider this: Only 23 percent of the population even lives in these areas! In the same report, the government found that the fatality rate was two and a half times higher in rural areas than in urban areas.

So what’s happening here? For starters, these are often narrow roads with only one lane going in each direction.
The sides may be steep or lined with trees, making it even more dangerous if you swerve off the road.

These roads are also not as heavily monitored as urban streets, which increases the likelihood of speeding and drinking and driving.

Now here’s some surprising news. The majority of these accidents happen in the daytime, not night.

And they’re more likely to take place in summer, not winter. When your guard is up, accident rates go down.

Now there is some good news in here. Over a nine-year period, fatalities on these roads have decreased overall. Awareness is key, so drive carefully no matter what.

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