Roadway departure accidents, according to federal statistics, are responsible for over half (51%) of all the traffic deaths in the United States today. Many of these fatal motor vehicle accidents happen on rural roads.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) references four reasons for roadway departure given by drivers: (1) roadway condition; (2) collision avoidance; (3) vehicle component failure; and (4) driver error. Research explains as RwD crashes often involve one vehicle either colliding with another or slamming into fixed rigid structures (bridges, poles, guardrails, etc.), the outcome of RwD crashes tends to be deadly. Read, Rahman, M. Ashifur, et al. “Exploring the influential factors of roadway departure crashes on rural two-lane highways with logit model and association rules mining.” International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology (2020).
What is a Roadway Departure or Lane Departure Accident?
The same type of motor vehicle crash is defined as either a “roadway departure” or a “lane departure” accident. These are synonymous terms describing the result of a vehicle leaving its traffic lane and entering the opposing lane where another motor vehicle is fast approaching, or veering off the lane where obstacles exist (trees, fencing, etc.), resulting in a deadly collision.
- The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) defines a roadway departure (“RwD”) accident as “… a crash which occurs after a vehicle crosses an edge line or a center line, or otherwise leaves the traveled way.”
- The automotive industry uses the term “lane departure” for the same type of incident; Volvo explains a lane departure as an “…accident [which] occurs when a vehicle leaves its own lane and drifts either into oncoming traffic, or leaves the road.”
Why are Roadway Departure Accidents So Deadly?
More than one factor contributes to making roadway departure accidents the most common cause of a fatal traffic accident. Speed is one reason these accidents result in so many deaths. Location is another; many of these lane departure fatalities occur on rural roads.
1] Speed at Time of Impact
One critical factor in many roadway departure accident fatalities is the speed at which the vehicle was traveling at the time of impact. High speeds, i.e., highway speeds of 55, 65, or 70 mph, are often involved in a RwD.
In these situations, when a motor vehicle is going a high speed, even minimal contact with a stationary object can cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle and result in a RwD fatality. If a driver veers out of his or her lane and briefly taps against a road barrier, for example, he may lose control of his car or truck with tragic consequences.
Maximum Speed Limits in Indiana and Illinois
Meanwhile, it is perfectly legal to drive a high speed in both Indiana and Illinois. Currently, maximum speed limits in our part of the country are as follows:
From the Indiana Department of Transportation (citing Indiana (IC 9-21-5-2)):
- 70 mph for rural interstate highways and the Indiana Toll Road
- 65 mph for trucks on rural interstate highways
- 65 mph for non-interstate freeways
- 60 mph on divided highways
- 55 mph for urban interstate highways
- 55 for rural highways (two-lane or multilane undivided).
Illinois has the following speed limits according to the Institute of Highway Safety in January 2021:
- 70 mph for rural interstates
- 55 mph for urban interstates
- 65 for other limited access roads
- 55 for other roads.
In both Indiana and Illinois, rural roads predominate our state traffic paths. Rural speed limits in both states are higher than they are for urban roadways. The result is that anyone driving a rural route in our local area can drive a legally high rate of speed and in doing so, risk a deadly roadway departure crash.
2] Rural Road Risk of Roadway Departure Crash
The FHWA reports that each year in this country, 12,000 people perish in a rural roadway departure accident. These fatalities comprise one-third of all the nation’s traffic deaths.
Rural road RwD accidents involve the following:
- Rollover collisions (30%)
- Head-on collisions (28%)
- Trees (19%)
- Other (23%).
The danger of a fatal RwD crash on a rural road has been unresolved for too long. Back in 2011, the FHWA was warning the Department of Homeland Security that “….[r]ural areas face a number of highway safety challenges due to the nature of their facilities. Roadway departure crashes are frequently severe and account for the majority of fatalities in rural areas….”
Rural roads have long been notorious for being the nation’s “deadliest roads.” See, “The Deadliest Roads are Rural,” written by Howard Berkes and published by NPR on November 29, 2009.
Nevertheless, the risk of a fatal rural road roadway departure accident remains one of the most likely causes of a deadly motor vehicle crash on our nation’s roads today.
Justice for Victims of Fatal Lane Departure Accidents
In the aftermath of a deadly RwD accident, the victim and his or her loved ones may face a tough road to justice insofar as establishing factual support for the reasons the deadly RwD accident occurred. When there is a head-on collision, for example, there may be confusion regarding which vehicle veered outside its proper traffic lane.
Accident reconstruction experts may be necessary in these matters, where they can apply their expertise to things like pavement markings at the crash site; the position of the vehicles after impact; the types of damages sustained by the vehicles; and the bodily injuries sustained by the victims to recreate the event and confirm causation.
For more on deadly car accidents in Indiana and Illinois, read:
- Speeding Causes Almost Half of All Fatal Car Crashes in Illinois (Around 25% in Indiana)
- Car Crashes and Automated Car Technology: The Changing Focus of Auto Accident Claims in Illinois and Indiana
- Fatal Car Crashes: 10 Times More Likely to Die on Rural Roads.
The state laws of both Indiana and Illinois provide avenues for justice when someone is serious hurt or killed in a motor vehicle accident. Negligence, products liability, workers’ compensation, and wrongful death laws may come into play in these matters, providing both the deceased’s estate and his loved ones with compensation for their suffered damages. Please be careful out there!
