Pic taken from roadway.report, an interactive map of all known roadway deaths in the USA.
Fatalities resulting from motor vehicle crashes are the third largest cause of accidental deaths in the United States. On average for 2024 there were over 100 deaths per day on US roads.
Rural areas also have less well-maintained roads, poorer lighting, and more wildlife that may run into the road, in addition to requiring more driving because everything is further apart.
more likely to have larger cars as well, whereas in cities there’s probably some sort of incentive to having a slightly smaller car for at least some people
Rural areas tend to require 4-wheel drive more often, which tends to be offered more often on SUVs and the like (the added clearance doesn’t hurt). But cars across the board in the US have been getting larger for the last 30 years, to the point it’s even causing problems with road maintenance. The more compact vehicles common in Asian and European cities are often not even sold in the US anymore.