Summer is a time for road tripping, when millions of people across the United States (and elsewhere, no doubt) will set out in their cars to see what the country has to offer. The Center for Excellence in Rural Safety at the University of Minnesota released a study on the “most dangerous place(s) to travel over the holidays.”
The trick is, the study focuses on rural roads only, not the big, multi-lane superhighways that criss-cross the country. Even so, according to elliot.org, “57 percent of highway deaths occur” on rural roads, and “three-quarters of the public roadway mileage in the United States — more than 3 million miles of roads — is considered rural,” according to U of M, so the study still has some merit — especially if you’re the Blue Highways type.
So what states are the most dangerous places to get behind the wheel? Here’s the top 10:
- Maine (92%)
- North Dakota (90%)
- South Dakota (89%)
- Iowa (88%)
- Vermont (88%)
- Montana (86%)
- Wyoming (84%)
- South Carolina (83%)
- Mississippi (82%)
- Arkansas (81%)
The number after each state is the percentage of fatalities that happen on rural roads as opposed to urban. These are certainly not the states I was expecting to see top the list! But when you think about it, it makes sense. Places like North and South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming probably have a much larger percentage of rural roads than, say, New Jersey.