“It is not just private businesses that defer maintenance. Our county road has a bridge that received no, zero, zip maintenance for over 20 years”
I just got done listening to a Peter Attia interview on longevity, he stressed that vehicle accidents are very much something to be game planned for. I was already doing some of the stuff he mentioned, such as driving 1 lane away from center line on non median separated roads unless passing, and being hyper aware of drivers coming toward you that are driving into a low or setting sun, being very vigilant when approaching intersections even if you have the right of way. Attia said he personally knew 3 people in the last 2 months who had been in car-totaling accidents in which they had zero fault, luckily they came thru the accidents intact.
Per your post, I had not given much thought toward the danger of lack of maintenance on the roads and bridges being traveled, but will start considering that as of now. I think the area infrastructure is pretty good, but there are definitely some beat up roads that could cause other drivers to swerve into the oncoming lane of traffic. And the narcissistic smart phone useage while driving of many Americans is also potentially lethal to the rest of us.