Does widening a narrow rural road improve safety?

Only proper training and improved certification of drivers improves safety. Most people refuse to want to learn to drive well. They just do what they want to do. That explains the millions of crashes each year. Just yesterday in pouring rain, many drivers were speeding and did not have the car headlights ON. This news article explains the issue better than what I could.

Ohio becomes the 17th state to adopt the regulation, joining Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York and others, according to AAA. Daytime running lights that glow all the time on some vehicles satisfy the law's requirement.

Safety drove the measure.

"Anything that makes vehicles more visible is going to reduce crashes," said Sgt. Karla Taulbee of the Ohio Highway Patrol.

State troopers and other law enforcement officers will warn violators during traffic stops over the next six months, said Lindsay Komlanc, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Public Safety. Ticket writing starts Jan. 1. A citation could cost up to $150, the maximum penalty for a minor misdemeanor.

Don't look for signs about the new law to sprout along highways. Komlanc said the state is relying on law enforcement warnings, media reports and general chitchat to spread the word.

The rainy day rule is considered a secondary offense, meaning that motorists can't be pulled over solely for not activating their lights with their wipers, officials said. Drivers can be written up on the charge, however, if stopped for some other violation. Ohio's seat belt law is handled the same way.

So, pass the law but do not tell the citizens and since there are not enough law enforcement officers, ah shucks, we will not cite anyone until AFTER there has been a crash. Now, that is our state governments in action. Could a person sue the state IF after they crash they can assert that if they had the lights ON while raining could have prevented the accident? That is was the responsibility of the state government to pass this information to the drivers?

i would say yes and no.

no because wider roads leads to faster speeds since they are more comfortable versus a narrow road and it can lead to accidents by overtaking people. for example say you are infront and theirs major traffic then someone tries to cut you off in the back he goes around and then you inch forward and he does NOT look all he is doing is going forward and then he manages to hit you all because he was too impatient to wait.

yes because if you ever drove on a narrow road you will know it is dangerous. on the freeway here their is one section that is VERY narrow and if you dont slow down you will cross the lines and almost everyone crosses the lines unless they are going really slow.

overall i think wider roads are just a waste mainly because the speed we tend to drive is way to fast what we could actually use to make roads safer is proper road rules and slower speeds. the only time i suggest wider roads is when driving on a cliff and parking garages. my moms work garage is SO tight it is 2 laned however only 1 car can turn at a time because it is so tight. the parking itself is really tight as well

It is difficult to get good research on this topic because roads typically only get wider when traffic volumes increase. There are many lower cost options for improving road safety like recoverable roadsides and signage enhancements

Sadly widening roads tends to increase traffic speeds and flow rates.

Just because a road is made wider ( or it is straightened or paved ), someone will still find a way to crash and hurt themselves.