Traffic fatalities fell to a 40-year low last year, in a large part thanks to the recession (which led to less driving) and to improvements in vehicle safety. As for road safety, the most obvious improvements include adding rumble strips to warn drivers when they’re nearing the shoulder, caps on the ends of roadside guard rails to prevent cars from ramping off of them and cable guard rails on divided highways to keep cars from crossing the median.
Gerald Donaldson, the research director for Advocates of Highway and Auto Safety told National Public Radio that the biggest hazards are two-lane two-way rural roads, which can be up to eight times more dangerous than an interstate. This is because of hazards that accumulate on the side of these roads—everything from telephone poles to trash.
Another hazard, they say, is trucks. Over 4,000 people were killed in crashes with semi-trucks last year, accounting for 1 out of every 9 traffic deaths. The trucking industry is asking Congress to increase the maximum weight for trucks on federal highways from 80,000 pounds to 97,000. The trucking industry says this will decrease the number of trucks on the road, but safety advocates say they’ll be even heavier road hazards hurtling along.
