A new study has named North Carolina the state containing the most dangerous rural roads in the contiguous United States.
The study undertaken by Florida Personal Injury Lawyers Anidjar & Levine analyzed the most recent 10 years of data on the number of annual miles driven on rural roads and divided it by the number of rural road accidents for each state to discover which state had the highest occurrences of rural crashes.
The study shows North Carolina has the most dangerous rural roads, with 70.45 accidents for every billion miles driven. Of these, 44.3% take place on roads with a 55 mph speed limit, a figure that’s 64.7% higher than the national average of 26.9%
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North Carolina residents accumulate nearly a billion miles from work-related commutes in just over a week. Notably, individuals from rural households drive an average of 74% more daily.
Coming in second is Connecticut, where an average of 68.74 accidents occur on every billion miles driven on its rural roads. Significantly, roads with a 25 mph speed limit account for the highest number of incidents in the Constitution State at around 21%, or to look at it another way, one in five rural road accidents happen on a 25 mph road in this state.
West Virginia claims the third spot. The Mountain State averages 67.18 accidents for every billion miles driven on its rural roads, 45% more than the national average of 46.5. Approximately one-third (or 35%) of all rural accidents in this state occur on roads with a 55 mph speed limit.
South Carolina takes the fourth spot. On its rural roads, the Palmetto State experiences a rate of 63.60 accidents for every billion miles driven. Many of these accidents are concentrated in streets with a 55 mph speed limit, with three out of every ten, or 31%, rural road accidents occurring in this zone.
In fifth place is Mississippi. The state’s rustic roads see an average of 60.37 accidents for every billion miles that vehicles traverse. The data shows that 36% of these unfortunate incidents happen in areas with a 55 mph speed limit.
In sixth place is Alabama, with an average of 59.64 accidents per billion miles on rural roads, 44% of which occur on 55 mph roads. Seventh place is New York, which records 59.60 rural accidents per billion miles, with 34% of all rural crashes happening on 55 mph roads.
Delaware and Indiana take the eighth and ninth, respectively. Delaware’s rural road accident rate is 56.24 per billion miles driven, with the highest concentration, around 36%, occurring on roads with a 50 mph speed limit. Indiana has 55 accidents per billion miles, and 37% of those crashes happen in the 55 mph zones.
Arkansas takes the tenth spot with 53.28 accidents for every billion miles driven on rural roads. The data shows that roads with a speed limit of 55 mph in the Natural State witness the highest number of accidents, with around four out of every ten rural road crashes occurring in this zone.
Nationally, 55 mph roads see the highest occurrence of crashes, at 26.9%, with five mph and ten mph limited streets seeing the fewest accidents (around 0.1%). This is likely because drivers have much more time to react to potential hazards, and these speed limits are generally found in parking lots, which are usually well-lit.
The states where rural roads are the most dangerous
| Rank | State | Rural crashes per billion miles driven | 10-Year change |
| 1. | North Carolina | 70.45 | -11.2% |
| 2. | Connecticut | 68.74 | -39.0% |
| 3. | West Virginia | 67.18 | -33.6% |
| 4. | South Carolina | 63.6 | -6.3% |
| 5. | Mississippi | 60.37 | 38.4% |
| 6. | Alabama | 59.64 | 1.8% |
| 7. | New York | 59.6 | -59.2% |
| 8. | Delaware | 56.24 | -15.1% |
| 9. | Indiana | 55 | -15.8% |
| 10. | Arkansas | 53.28 | -7.4% |
| 11. | Kentucky | 51.94 | -10.2% |
| 12. | California | 50.59 | 13.1% |
| 13. | Florida | 50.58 | -4.3% |
| 14. | Oklahoma | 50.36 | -0.8% |
| 15. | Georgia | 49.21 | 6.0% |
| 16. | Pennsylvania | 48.36 | -25.2% |
| 17. | Ohio | 48.34 | -21.1% |
| 18. | Tennessee | 47.49 | -0.4% |
| 19. | Texas | 47.24 | 6.4% |
| 20. | Michigan | 46.93 | 1.6% |
| 21. | Louisiana | 46.16 | 31.8% |
| 22. | Kansas | 44.31 | -16.2% |
| 23. | Maine | 43.74 | -32.6% |
| 24. | Vermont | 41.1 | 22.1% |
| 25. | Oregon | 40.34 | 62.0% |
| 26. | New Jersey | 40.31 | -14.6% |
| 27. | North Dakota | 39.5 | -50.0% |
| 28. | Illinois | 39.46 | -6.7% |
| 29. | Missouri | 39.43 | 9.9% |
| 30. | Idaho | 39.26 | 31.4% |
| 31. | Montana | 37.86 | -9.2% |
| 32. | Virginia | 37.71 | 9.5% |
| 33. | Wisconsin | 37.29 | 10.2% |
| 34. | Maryland | 36.35 | -75.5% |
| 35. | Washington | 36.34 | 5.9% |
| 36. | Arizona | 36.03 | 1.4% |
| 37. | New Mexico | 34.83 | -2.5% |
| 38. | Nebraska | 34.75 | 0.5% |
| 39. | Colorado | 33.28 | 42.9% |
| 40. | New Hampshire | 33.09 | -8.9% |
| 41. | South Dakota | 31.79 | 0.7% |
| 42. | Minnesota | 30.85 | 0.0% |
| 43. | Iowa | 30.3 | -11.2% |
| 44. | Wyoming | 28.58 | -10.4% |
| 45. | Nevada | 27.97 | 82.0% |
| 46. | Massachusetts | 26.43 | -45.7% |
| 47. | Rhode Island | 26.03 | 40.0% |
| 48. | Utah | 23.38 | 49.6% |
A spokesperson from Anidjar & Levine commented on the findings:
“Nationally, the highest number of rural accidents happen on roads with a 55 mph speed limit, accounting for 26.9% of all rural road crashes. This statistic implies that while such roads might be engineered for higher speeds, they pose greater risks. The convenience of faster travel may come at this higher risk.
“This substantial percentage of rural road accidents in 55 mph limit areas underscores the importance of effective traffic management, timely maintenance, and driver awareness campaigns to mitigate the risks associated with these zones.”
“Within the ten-year timeframe of this study, the most significant shifts in rural road safety were observed in Maryland, where rural road accidents decreased by over 75%, and in Nevada, where they increased by 82%.”
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