Gov. Kelly announces Rural Road Safety Awareness Week

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is announcing a campaign to bring awareness to rural road safety.

On Thursday, Gov. Kelly in partnership with the KDOT and the Drive to Zero Coalition launched Rural Road Safety Week. The campaign comes in observance of the National Center for Rural Road Safety and will be active from July 15-19.

“Raising awareness of rural road safety is critical to saving lives,” Kelly said. “This safety campaign emphasizes the importance of following the rules of the road to reduce risks for all drivers, occupants, and surrounding motorists, especially on rural roads.”  

More than 240 people lost their lives in rural road crashes last year, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). Rural road crashes make up 63% of driving deaths in Kansas. Kansas has more than 115,000 miles of rural roads making up 82% of public road miles, according to KDOT.

"Improved driving behavior and avoiding rural roadway departures are keys to traffic safety. A roadway departure crash occurs after a vehicle crosses an edge line or a center line. Head-on collisions are possible when a vehicle enters an opposing line of traffic. Rollovers and impacts with trees, utility poles, or other objects are common when a vehicle crosses an edge line."

Press release excerpt from the Office of the Governor

In 2019, a report found Kansas was ninth in the nation for deadly rural road crashes. The report found for every 100 million miles cars travel on rural roads, Kansas averages about 2.4 deaths.

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