Surging city traffic deaths now exceed fatalities on rural roads, study finds

And the upward trend in urban crash projections will rise as populations and vehicle miles traveled in those areas increase, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reports.

A national census of fatal traffic crashes shows deaths in urban areas surged 34% between 2010 and 2019, while those in rural areas fell 10%. Since 2019, 19,595 people have been killed in urban locations compared to 16,340 in the countryside.

And it’s worth noting, AAA says, that more than 70% of the 4 million miles of public-access roads in the U.S. are rural, according to Federal Highway Administration statistics. Yet while speeding occurs on all routes, those in urban areas account for a “disproportionate number of speeding-related fatalities.”…

The study also found that collisions with pedestrians or bicyclists accounted for the most significant proportion of all fatalities (29%) regardless of speed in the city.