U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
According to the latest data from NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), the fatality rate for rural crashes is more than twice the fatality rate in urban crashes. In 2007, 23,260 people were killed in rural motor vehicle crashes, accounting for 57 percent of all motor vehicle fatalities. Table 1 shows fatalities (number and percent) and the fatality rate by year from 1997 to 2007.
Year | Rural Roadway | Urban Roadway | Total* | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fatalities | % | Rate** | Fatalities | % | Rate** | Fatalities | Rate** | |
1997 | 25,135 | 60% | 2.52 | 16,829 | 40% | 1.08 | 42,013 | 1.64 |
1998 | 25,185 | 61% | 2.44 | 16,219 | 39% | 1.02 | 41,501 | 1.58 |
1999 | 25,548 | 61% | 2.40 | 16,058 | 38% | 0.99 | 41,717 | 1.55 |
2000 | 24,838 | 59% | 2.29 | 16,113 | 38% | 0.97 | 41,945 | 1.53 |
2001 | 25,150 | 60% | 2.27 | 16,988 | 40% | 1.01 | 42,196 | 1.51 |
2002 | 25,896 | 60% | 2.30 | 17,013 | 40% | 0.98 | 43,005 | 1.51 |
2003 | 24,957 | 58% | 2.30 | 17,783 | 41% | 0.98 | 42,884 | 1.48 |
2004 | 25,179 | 59% | 2.36 | 17,581 | 41% | 0.93 | 42,836 | 1.44 |
2005 | 24,587 | 57% | 2.38 | 18,627 | 43% | 0.95 | 43,510 | 1.46 |
2006 | 23,339 | 55% | 2.25 | 18,359 | 43% | 0.93 | 42,642 | 1.41 |
2007 | 23,260 | 57% | 2.25 | 17,799 | 43% | 0.89 | 41,059 | 1.37 |
Source: NCSA, FARS 1997-2005 (Final), 2006 (ARF), FHWA | ||||||||
* Total includes fatalities on unknown roadway | ||||||||
** Fatality rate per 100M VMT |
By nearly every quantifiable measure, rural highway fatalities exceed the national average.
Rank/State | Rural VMT (Millions) 5-Year Average |
Fatalities in Rural Crashes 5-Year Average |
Fatality Rate per 100 Million Rural VMT 5-Year Average |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Florida | 41,372 | 1,466 | 3.54 |
2 | Arizona | 17,869 | 597 | 3.34 |
3 | South Carolina | 28,515 | 912 | 3.20 |
4 | Mississippi | 24,442 | 747 | 3.06 |
5 | Nevada | 5,542 | 158 | 2.85 |
6 | Montana | 8,445 | 232 | 2.75 |
7 | Louisiana | 21,731 | 588 | 2.71 |
8 | Missouri | 31,069 | 840 | 2.70 |
9 | Kentucky | 27,187 | 721 | 2.65 |
10 | California | 63,977 | 1,678 | 2.62 |
11 | South Dakota | 6,550 | 171 | 2.60 |
12 | North Carolina | 43,229 | 1,124 | 2.60 |
13 | Arkansas | 19,809 | 513 | 2.59 |
14 | Delaware | 3,178 | 82 | 2.57 |
15 | Utah | 8,161 | 209 | 2.56 |
16 | New Mexico | 13,743 | 351 | 2.55 |
17 | Texas | 81,418 | 2,064 | 2.53 |
18 | Alabama | 29,671 | 747 | 2.52 |
19 | Idaho | 8,950 | 218 | 2.44 |
20 | Kansas | 14,793 | 360 | 2.43 |
21 | Oklahoma | 22,658 | 551 | 2.43 |
22 | Tennessee | 29,896 | 709 | 2.37 |
23 | West Virginia | 13,907 | 329 | 2.37 |
24 | Colorado | 15,314 | 361 | 2.36 |
25 | Washington | 16,873 | 384 | 2.27 |
26 | Wyoming | 6,654 | 148 | 2.23 |
27 | Alaska | 2,463 | 54 | 2.21 |
28 | Pennsylvania | 40,852 | 880 | 2.15 |
29 | Hawaii | 2,619 | 56 | 2.15 |
30 | Ohio | 38,374 | 810 | 2.11 |
31 | Oregon | 16,760 | 348 | 2.08 |
32 | Michigan | 33,167 | 678 | 2.04 |
33 | Nebraska | 11,434 | 223 | 1.95 |
34 | Wisconsin | 29,375 | 561 | 1.91 |
35 | Illinois | 30,668 | 576 | 1.88 |
36 | Georgia | 45,561 | 851 | 1.87 |
37 | Maryland | 14,727 | 268 | 1.82 |
38 | Virginia | 31,342 | 567 | 1.81 |
39 | Iowa | 19,124 | 337 | 1.76 |
40 | North Dakota | 5,561 | 94 | 1.70 |
41 | New York | 36,769 | 602 | 1.64 |
42 | Maine | 10,951 | 179 | 1.64 |
43 | Rhode Island | 900 | 15 | 1.62 |
44 | Indiana | 36,997 | 587 | 1.59 |
45 | Minnesota | 27,223 | 420 | 1.54 |
46 | New Jersey | 8,475 | 130 | 1.53 |
47 | New Hampshire | 6,679 | 101 | 1.52 |
48 | Connecticut | 3,934 | 57 | 1.44 |
49 | Massachusetts | 5,177 | 66 | 1.28 |
50 | Vermont | 5,923 | 72 | 1.21 |
. | National | 1,070,010 | 24,792 | 2.32 |
Puerto Rico | 2,003 | 238 | 11.87 |
The fatality rate and total number of rural deaths by state can be found at the end of this document.