You might also ask this in the "Death and Destruction" forum (Advocacy and Safety) and see what kind of stats they might have.

But I get the same reaction when I tell people that I ride on the highways, and I think there are two factors that scare people: 1) the speed of the vehicles going by, and 2) the remoteness.

Personally, I dislike riding in a town or city because there's so much going on. I dislike driving in cities for the same reason. I much prefer riding in the country. I was interested to discover that my heart rate even reflected that preference. I wore my HRM on a few rides in Winnipeg ... while I was cycling within city limits, my HR was up around 135 ... when I got out into the country it dropped to 125, and I felt much more relaxed.