Rural communities try to address dangers of driving on country roads; 40% of traffic deaths occur on rural roads

High school students in Kansas participate in the
Seatbelts Are  For Everyone program. (Photo via RHIhub)

Country roads that are winding, curving and in various states of repair pose a disproportionate danger to travelers. Rural communities are using a grassroots approach to address the problem, reports Gretel Kauffman for Rural Health Information Hub. "While an estimated 20% of people in the U.S. live in rural areas, 40% of traffic deaths occur on rural roads, according to the most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In rural areas, the fatality rate per vehicle miles traveled was 1.5 times higher than in urban areas."

Rural roads have more space and less traffic, which can lead drivers to speed unintentionally, leave their lanes, and head into oncoming traffic. Rural drivers are also less likely to observe seat belt laws. Experts say rural drivers "'should be treated as a distinct market segment for seat belt messaging and public awareness campaigns,' and that changing rural drivers' beliefs about seat belts 'may help reduce the disparity between rural and urban traffic fatality rates,'" Kauffman writes. "In the event of a crash, proper seat belt use can be the difference between life and death. . . . Roughly half of all people killed in car crashes in 2021 were unrestrained."

Community-led programs may be "more effective at encouraging seat belt use in rural areas than national or government-led campaigns, experts suggest." Kauffman reports, "One such program, the Seatbelts Are For Everyone program, formed in rural Crawford County, Kansas, in 2008. At the time, Crawford County had one of the lowest rates of seat belt use among teen drivers in the state. . . . In its first year, one of the six Crawford County high schools that piloted the program went from a 57% seat belt compliance rate to an 82% compliance rate."

Safe Start advertises free car seat
checks. (Photo via RHIhub)

A grassroots program in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, called "Safe Start," is working to encourage car seat use through its Rural Education Outreach program. "Like rural adults, rural children are also less likely to be properly restrained than their non-rural peers. One study found that child restraint misuse was more common in rural locations, with 9 out of 10 children buckled in insufficiently or not at all," Kauffman writes. "The REO team visits 24 communities twice a year, setting up shop in a public space where anybody can approach for a car seat check, a demonstration, or to have their questions answered. In some cases, the REO team has distributed new car seats to people when needed and has taken old or unsafe seats to dispose of."