Fatalities greatest on San Joaquin Valley's rural roads

Brad Branan of The Fresno Bee looked at federal highway safety data to find that the majority of fatal accidents in the San Joaquin Valley occur on rural roads. "These roads are riskier than city roads, in part because motorists travel them at higher speeds. But the central San Joaquin Valley faces additional problems, including roads that don't meet safety standards and limited traffic enforcement."

The U.S. Dept. of Transportation's FARS data Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database is available from the IRE and NICAR database library.