Study: State's rural roads can be deadly

Rural County State Aid Highways

nearly three times deadlier than urban

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

ST. PAUL -- Traveling county state aid highways in Minnesota was the surest way of being involved in a fatal traffic mishap in 2002, Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Office of Traffic Safety reported this week.

However, CSAH roads in sparsely populated rural areas were almost three times as deadly as CSAH roads in more urban areas.

What makes the OTS figures even more troubling for highway safety officials is that they define urban areas as having a population of 5,000 or more. So, the vast majority of traffic crashes and fatalities occurred in areas of less than 5,000 population, the OTS said.

Despite the total number of crashes in urban areas (66,058) were more than double the rural areas, 479 persons died in 425 crashes--72 percent of all fatal crashes--on all rural roads, compared with 178 fatalities in 165 fatal crashes in urban areas.

In rural areas, state trunk highways accounted for 119 fatalities in 102 crashes while U.S. trunk highways accounted for 80 deaths in 72 crashes. State trunk highways in urban areas accounted for 35 deaths in 31 crashes while federal trunk highways had 23 deaths in 21 crashes.

"Fatal crashes tend to occur on roads in rural areas that permit high speeds and do not have interstate-type safety designs," the OTS reported.

Contrary to popular belief, the OTS said, most fatal crashes don't occur after dark.

"In the year 2002, fatal crashes occurred most often in the afternoon hours between 4-7 p.m. In fact, one out of every five fatal crashes occurred during that time period," the OTS reported.

"Total crashes were also concentrated in the late afternoon (as) almost 25 percent occurred" during that same time period, the OTS reported.

"This ... has changed since the early 1990s when most fatal crashes occurred during the time period of 10 p.m.-1 a.m. at night."

The agency said this may be explained by "smarter deployment of law enforcement, and the public's awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving.

While harsh winter weather usually results in more but less severe traffic crashes, the OTS said 2002 was somewhat unusual.

"The total number of crashes decreased from the previous year because of the warmer, winter weather, but as a result, more traffic fatalities occurred in the winter months. For example, there were 74 deaths in December of 2002, compared to 55 in 2001."

The OTS said it no longer uses the term accident "because a traffic crash can be prevented. Coupled with engineering solutions, changes in the behavior of all drivers will surely help attack the public threat of tragic roadway fatalities and injuries."