Living the Country Life Ain’t What it Used to Be
Posted on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 and is filed under Lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Photo by Markus Hartel
Moving out to the country is something that some city slickers dream up when they’re tired of city living: it’s quiet, calm, and surely it’s safer, right? Well, yes and no. Living the country life ain’t what it used to be.
If one gauges country living simply by comparing the crime rates, in most cases, country living has urban areas beat, hands down. But. Country living may require more hospitalization for injuries, a study shows.
“The perception is that life in rural areas is peaceful, tranquil, serene,” said Jeffrey H. Coben, M.D., a professor in the WVU Injury Control Research Center. “If you just look at violence - person against person - the rates are higher in urban areas. But for virtually every other cause of trauma, the risks are substantially greater in rural areas.”
Compared to cities, rural area resident’s, hospitalization rates were 35 percent higher in thinly populated areas and 27 percent higher in densely populated, rural areas. Urban areas had high hospitalization rates for assault, while rural areas had high incidences of automobile crashes, falls, self-inflicted injuries and poisonings. Some accidents were also attributed to risky occupations like mining, farming and logging.
Also, as far as automobile crashes, people tended to drive more in rural areas and didn’t wear their seat-belts as often. Road barriers that keep opposite sides of traffic separate are less likely to be in place, and twisty, winding roads around mountains are more apt.
People also tended to be more self-reliant, which often contributed to potentially dangerous repairs, such as on their roofs.
The study will be published in the January 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.Â
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Wow. I did not know that car accident rates are higher in rural areas. This surprised me.