Rural road safety is a particular concern, because the majority of highway fatalities take place on rural roads. In 2012, 19 percent of the US population lived in rural areas but rural road fatalities accounted for 54 percent of all fatalities. Even with reductions in the number of fatalities on the roadways, fatality rate in rural areas is 2.4 times higher than the fatality rate in urban areas.

Local road agencies often do not have the resources needed to adequately address safety problems on the roads they own and operate. The Local and Rural Safety Program provides national leadership in identifying, developing, and delivering safety programs and products to agencies, elected officials, governments and other stakeholders to improve safety on local and rural roads.

Addressing safety on local and rural roads presents several challenges including: 1) Safety issues are often random on local and rural roads; 2) Strategies to address local and rural road safety are diverse and draws from several safety areas. The page provides important information to assist in preventing and reducing the severity of crashes on local and rural roads in comprehensible formats.

Crash Facts

• 2009 Traffic Safety Facts "Rural/Urban Comparison" (DOT-HS-811-395)
• 2010 Traffic Safety Facts "Rural and Urban Comparison" DOT-HS-811-637
• 2011 Traffic Safety Facts "Rural and Urban Comparison" DOT-HS-811-821
• 2012 Traffic Safety Facts "Rural and Urban Comparison" DOT-HS-812-050
• 2013 Traffic Safety Facts "Rural and Urban Comparison" DOT-HS-812-181
• 2014 Traffic Safety Facts "Rural and Urban Comparison" DOT-HS-812-301
• 2015 Traffic Safety Facts "Rural and Urban Comparison" DOT HS 812 393
• 2016 Traffic Safety Facts "Rural and Urban Comparison" DOT HS 812 521
• 2017 Traffic Safety Facts "Rural and Urban Comparison" DOT HS 812741

Partners and Resources

• American Public Works Association
• American Traffic Safety Services Association
• Center for Excellence in Rural Safety (CERS)
• National Center for Rural Road Safety
• National Local Technical Assistance Program Association (NLTAPA)
• National Association of Counties
• National Association of County Engineers
• National Association of Development Organizations
• National Association of Towns and Townships (NATaT)
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Roadway Safety Foundation