WASHINGTON – A country drive might be relaxing, but it also can be dangerous.

Forty-two percent more fatal crashes occur in rural parts of the country than on busy stretches of highways through cities and suburbs, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday.

Focusing on fatal crashes from 1994 through 2003, the study found rural crashes are more likely to involve multiple fatalities, rollovers and motorists being thrown from their vehicles. Making matters worse, it takes longer for emergency medical services to arrive at the scene.

“Rural driving is far more risky,” even though many people might assume denser urban traffic poses more danger, said Dr. Jeffrey Michael, a senior research director for NHTSA.

In 2003, Montana led the nation with 95.4 percent of its fatal crashes occurring along rural roads, followed by Maine, South Dakota and South Carolina. Rhode Island had the lowest rate with 17.7 percent of traffic fatalities on rural roads, followed by Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey.

While there are more fatal crashes in rural parts of the country, the amount of traffic along rural thoroughfares was far lower. The report found motorists traveled 10.3 trillion miles on rural roads during the 10 years studied, compared with 16.1 trillion miles on urban roads.

The study found:

. Rollovers happen in about one of every four rural crashes involving at least one traffic death, compared with one in 10 for urban crashes.

. Motorists were thrown from their vehicles in 17 percent of rural crashes compared with 8 percent in urban crashes.

. Multiple deaths occurred on rural roads about 11 percent of the time, compared with 7 percent on urban byways.

Jim Lynch, director of the Montana Department of Transportation, said about 80 percent of the driving time is spent on rural roads. The terrain and weather also presents hardships: Motorists frequently share space with wildlife such as deer and buffalo, along with five months of winter conditions.

“We’re very concerned about accidents, and we’re very concerned about fatalities on our highways,” Lynch said.