Study: Montana’s rural roads – fifth highest fatality rate in U.S.

Montana’s non-interstate, rural roads have the fifth-highest fatality rate in the nation for such roads, a recently released report by a national transportation research group says. 

TRIP, a national non-profit based in Washington, D.C., found a rate of 2.81 fatalities for each 100 million vehicle miles of travel on Montana’s rural roads. That is three times higher than the fatality rate on all other roads in the state, says the report. The report also finds nine percent of Montana’s rural bridges are rated as structurally deficient. That places the state roughly in the middle.