Sure, cities have traffic jams, while the country has roadside vendors selling jams — and little traffic. But rural drivers should know this: You are more likely to die in a car or truck accident than those on packed  urban streets or freeways.

Why? Glad you asked. For one thing, people tend to drive faster on rural roads — and certainly have more freedom to do so, compared to city folk bogged down by numbers. Urbanites who are stalled at rush hour, take heart: At least your slow speed makes it less likely you’ll get hurt in a collision.

Further, rural roads aren’t designed with as many safety features as are heavily-traveled urban streets and highways. They’re just a lower priority.

But that’s changing. Indeed, some states are taking such neglect to the woodshed. They’re installing grooves, raised patterns or “rumble strips” on rural roads to get drivers’ attention.

Such strips may be placed on roads’ center stripes, or on the edge by the shoulder. In either case, they create noise and vibrations when drivers drift out of lanes, thus alerting them to straighten their path.

Harder to correct is the fact that many rural roads are too narrow and take many twists and turns. The key here? Slow down. Like their city brethren, country folks never should be in too big of a hurry to be safe.

Other behavioral differences also have impacts, reports USA Today. Statistics show rural drivers are more apt to be drunk or not wearing seat belts than urban drivers. Also, getting acute medical care takes longer in isolated rural areas, and severe accident victims may not survive the wait.

Take Montana, where the average response time for emergency medical rescue is 80 minutes. In Massachusetts, it’s 15. That gap can mean the difference between life and death.

What’s the worst state for rural traffic deaths? South Carolina, where a whopping 95 per cent of all traffic fatalities last year were on rural roads. (Massachusetts had the least, with 10 per cent.) And here’s a tip for those who sip: 80 per cent of South Carolina’s traffic deaths were alcohol-related.

You’ve heard it a million times and you’ll hear it again now: Don’t drink and drive. And hang up that cell phone while you’re at it. Oops– too late. Hope that call was important.

Of course, we all can learn — or relearn — a lesson here: Driving is dangerous, whether you’re showing off new mud flaps on your pickup as you head to make hay, or you’re waiting in line on a feeder road to enter a clogged freeway.

But rural drivers especially deserve this heads-up: You are more at risk. Of the 37,261 U.S. traffic deaths last year, 56 per cent were in rural areas, even though just 23 per cent of the population lives there. Cities do have more crashes — after all, they’ve got more cars — but those are less likely to be fatal.

Yet don’t think you’re home free if you live in a populous state. Both New York and Texas suffered more than half of their 2008 traffic deaths on rural roads.

Indeed, all states need improvements. But rural ones are taking the most action.

South Carolina is retrofitting 1,600 miles of country roads with rumble strips and other safety features. Montana is building “overcrosses” and “undercrosses” to divert bear, elk and deer from roads. Missouri and Iowa are campaigning to boost seat belt use by rural drivers, while also adding rumble strips to annoy them — for their own good.

Country or city, let’s all do our part to slow down, pay attention and turn those stats’ numbers into zeroes. When it comes to safety and the preciousness of life, country and city folk may not share precisely the same risks, but we do share the same vital need for individual responsibility. It’s not just the roads — it’s us. Let’s be careful out there.

Jim S. Adler & Associates supports safe driving campaigns and fights for injury victims’ rights after an auto, truck, SUV, motorcycle or car accident.

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