Most traffic accident deaths occur in rural areas, and more than twice as many men than women are dying on U.S. roads, according to a study published in this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a CDC publication. The study analyzed accident deaths during 2007-2009.
For males, the age-adjusted motor vehicle accident death rate was nearly three times as high in the most rural counties as in the most urban counties (37.6 versus 13.3 per 100,000 population). For females, the rate was just over three times as high in the most rural counties as in the most urban counties (16.1 versus 5.0). For each urbanization level, motor vehicle accident death rates for females were consistently less than half those for males.
As an accident attorney, I have seen this in my practice. Attorney Fred Pritzker and I are currently representing a family whose son was killed on a two-lane road when a semi-trailer lost control and collided with the automobile in which their son was riding. As a father of five children, I urge parents to tell their children that rural roads are deceptively dangerous, to drive defensively and to stay alert-no cell phone calls, texting or daydreaming.
Attorney Eric Hageman represents families in wrongful death lawsuits throughout the United States. He was named a 2011 “Attorney of the Year” by Minnesota Lawyer, a respected legal publication and is a member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Interstate Trucking Litigation Group.
