If someone were to ask you whether city streets or rural ones are safest, you’d likely say that the long, country roads like you find here in Richmond and other parts of Kentucky are far safer than the more urban ones of bigger cities like Lexington or Louisville.
Data compiled by National Public Radio (NPR) in 2009 and then again by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) in 2015 suggest that rural roads are the most unsafe. NCSL statistics show that half of the nation’s motorists utilize rural roads yet this is where at least half of all traffic fatalities occur.
What are some leading causes of rural accidents?
Safety analysts suggest that there are various reasons why rural roads are less safe than urban ones, including:
- A higher likelihood of speeding
- Stronger chance of wildlife, including deer, venturing onto the road
- Greater chance of people not wearing a seat belt
- Higher chance of a motorist driving under the influence of alcohol
- Narrow, windy lanes lined with low shoulders and trees
While injuries that car accident victims often face may initially be survivable, it’s not uncommon for injured motorists’ conditions to deteriorate quickly in the time it takes for paramedics to reach them and transport them to a hospital.
What options do you have if you suffer injuries in a rural crash?
Many motorists face ejection, which can result in fractures and spinal cord injuries. Other car crash survivors may suffer blunt force head trauma resulting in brain injuries that don’t allow them to remember or tell their harrowing stories.
Kentucky law may allow you to recover compensation if you suffer serious injuries in a car crash. An attorney can advise you on how to file an insurance claim or take legal action against the at-fault driver if necessary to recover the compensation that you’re sure to need.