Dangerous country roads.

• Position: TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS

The fatality rate per vehicle mile on rural roads is more than twice the urban fatality rate.

1 Crashes on rural roads account for over 60 percent of the annual traffic deaths nationwide.

2 Rural crashes account for 63 percent of all alcohol-related fatalities and 62 percent of all speed-related fatalities.

3 80 percent of fatalities at speeds greater than 55 mph happen in rural areas.

4 Vehicle occupants in fatal rural crashes are ejected 15 percent of the time, but only 7 percent of the time in urban crashes.

5 In 30 percent of the fatal crashes on rural roads, victims did not reach a hospital within 1 hour of the crash, while only 8 percent of victims in...