You can technically be involved in a fatal car accident anywhere. You’ll find these accidents in the city, in small towns, on the interstate and on remote roads all over the country.
From a statistical standpoint, however, more than half of fatal accidents happen in rural areas. This is a slightly surprising statistic because most Americans live in urban areas, so there are far fewer people driving on rural roads. Why is it that fatal accidents happen more often in these locations?
The accidents happen at higher speeds
One of the top reasons is just that these accidents tend to happen on roads with higher speed limits. A rural highway may have a speed limit of 55 mph, while the interstate has a speed of 70 mph. The city, on the other hand, has speed limits ranging from 25 to 45 miles an hour. The faster cars are traveling at the time of impact, the higher the odds of fatal injuries, so two accidents could be virtually identical, but the one on a rural road with a higher speed limit is more likely to result in a fatality.
It takes longer to get medical care
With many injuries, immediate medical care is needed to save someone’s life. This could be true for internal bleeding or bleeding around the brain, for instance. In urban accidents, people who suffer these types of severe injuries are often only a few minutes from the hospital and can get prompt care in the emergency room. But in more remote areas, there’s a massive delay as first responders drive to the scene and then transport the injured party, so they could pass away from injuries that they would have survived otherwise.
If you’ve lost a loved one or been seriously injured in an accident that another driver caused, no matter where it occurred, you may be able to seek significant compensation.