TORONTO — An international study says 75,000 people are killed every year in accidents occurring on the rural highways of the western world. They’re defined as any paved, two-lane road outside towns and cities, and they account for 60% of all traffic accidents in OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries.

The cost? $110 billion US.

Those are among the findings of the Rural Roads Study, part of the on-going Road Transport and Intermodal Linkages Research Program being conducted jointly by transportation officials in countries within the OECD.
Among the 30 member states are Canada, the United States, France, Hungary, and Australia.

Rural roads carry less traffic but have a very high proportion of severe and fatal accidents, compared to multi-lane expressways. And the frequency of rural accidents is rising, the study says, led by single-vehicle run-offs. The reasons include: high speeds amidst the presence of slow-moving traffic such as farm vehicles; poor road surfaces; and complacency born of familiarity (70% of rural accidents occur within 15 kilometres of victims’ homes).

The study examined “trauma management” as well, finding that a rural accident victim’s risk of dying is 30% higher than in urban mishaps — because ambulances are further away and because the accident site, in the absence of mile markers, is harder to find.

Among the solutions: speed control, improved road design and signage, and better enforcement, as well as “intelligent” technology such as radar-based collision warning systems.