AAA Carolinas has done the Traffic Crash Ranking study since 1995. Using traffic statistics from the NC DOT, the county-by-county rankings are based on the number of miles traveled, rather than to the overall number of crashes, in each county.
In 2011, five rural counties saw 61 fatal crashes last year, which accounted for 5-point-4 percent of the state's traffic deaths, even though those counties carry just 2-percent of the vehicle miles traveled. AAA Carolinas spokesperson Angela Vogel Daley says this is a trend they've seen over the past three years. "I think most people think urban areas would be the most dangerous," she says, "but nationally, 2/3 of traffic fatalities occur on rural roads." She says a combination of factors make rural roads more dangerous: they're narrower, they're not marked as well, the shoulders aren't as good, and there may also be less police presence because there isn't as much traffic.
Wautaga County ranked fourth among the counties where you're most likely to be in a collision, while Allegheny County ranked second among the most dangerous counties for motercycle accidents. Yadkin County ranked third among the most dangerous for fatal tractor-trailer collisions.
