This Thanksgiving beware of rural roads

Photo by David Baker, BakerDavid@gmail.com cc DavidBaker

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Sunday after Thanksgiving is the most traveled day of the year. Accident fatalities spike during the days around Thanksgiving—and a disproportionate number happen on rural roads.

57 percent of highway deaths happen in rural areas, even though only 21 percent of Americans actually live in rural areas, says the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Over half involve of those accidents involve at least one out-of-town urbanite behind the wheel.

Why such a high frequency of rural crashes? With rolling hills, pretty cornfields, and cute Holstein cows, there is plenty of scenery to distract a driver. There are also fewer cars sharing the road, which can create a false sense of security, leading drivers to speed and take fewer precautions. And it generally takes emergency response teams more time to arrive in remote areas, allowing more time for injuries to go untreated.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Excellence in Road Safety have found that the states with the highest fatalities on rural roads also have some of the weakest seatbelt laws. Among the 10 states with the highest rural car accident deaths in 2005—Maine, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Vermont, Montana, Wyoming, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Arkansas—none had laws allowing police to pull over drivers for failing to use their seatbelts.

Seatbelt laws actually work. States have seen dramatic increases (averaging 14 percent) in seatbelt use following enactment of such laws. And more people using seatbelts means fewer people dying. For every percentage point increase in national safety belt usage, the annual number of deaths drops by 250 and the number of serious injuries by 6,400.

So wear your seatbelt especially if you’re in the country, turkey.