Please take a look at this map and tell me if you see what I see

[1-Old-Man]

http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparemaptable.jsp?ind=118&cat=2

The link above is to a map of the country that has the states colored to show the rate at which people die in automobile accidents in each state. I am amazed to notice how much more dangerous it seems to be to drive in what are traditionally Republican states compared to those which go for Democrats.

Maybe I'm just trying to see to much in the picture, but that's sure how it looks to me. What say you?

[klook]

1. In Blue states, there is less standing up in the beds of moving pickup trucks

and hollering "Hey, y'all! Watch this!!"

[1-Old-Man]

4. You have made me laugh like nothing else in days and days. Thank you very much!!!

[klook]

20. You're welcome!

And I have lived all my life in the Deep South, so I know what I'm talking about.

[CreekDog]

2. Rural areas, higher speeds, more deadly crashes

[yardwork]

8. That's it. This is an urban/rural divide.

[nc4bo]

10. Lots of teens get behind the wheel driving at higher speeds in rural areas too.

Sad, happens alot out here.

[GoCubsGo]

17. Yup.

I live in SC, the state ranked #4 on that list. The vast majority of the fatal wrecks around here are on the country roads. They take curves too fast, and either go off the road into a tree or ditch. Or, they hit an oncoming vehicle head-on, because they drove into the other lane. They blow off stop signs. They often don't wear seat belts. And, there is frequently alcohol involved. They also like to pull out from driveways and side roads right into traffic. I know someone who totaled his vehicle when someone did this to him. The guy couldn't wait 20 seconds for him to pass, and pulled out in front of him. My friend's choice was to head for the ditch or T-bone them. He chose the ditch and rolled his truck. Fortunately, he and his daughter came out of the incident with only minor injuries. I have come close to having this happen to me on a regular basis. No one behind me for miles, yet they can't wait 30 seconds for me to go by before they pull out into the road.

We do, BTW, get a number of deaths on the Interstates. Speed, lack of seat belts, driving will talking on cell phone/texting all contribute to those.

[Not Me]

3. Interesting, and in my case true.

I have lived most of my life in New York and Hawaii...both considered 'low' death rates according to the map.
While living in both places, I had never been involved in a car mishap.

I have lived in Florida for nine years, and been involved in 2 crashes. People drive very aggressively here (in Orlando.)

[annabanana]

5. Republicans are bad drivers?

I always thought as much....

[1-Old-Man]

9. I guess being pissed off all the time detracts from one's driving ability

[LiberalEsto]

6. I'd attribute it to anger

Republicans strike me as people perpetually seething with anger, and they drive accordingly.

[BlueStreak]

7. Exercising their freedom from seat belts

[Jackpine Radical]

11. Maybe it has to do with the generally aggressive, Fuck You attitudes

or right-wingers. You know--the ones who drive Suburbans & Hummers & act as if the roads were their private property. If you don't have some leavening of sane drivers willing to grant the right of way according to the rules, I could see where thare would be a lot more accidents.

[R. P. McMurphy]

12. Two things come to mind . . .

1) Less affluence in these states means that people are driving older, less safe cars.

2) Less access to public transportation means that a higher percentage of the population are in cars.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

13. I think intelligence and attitude have a lot to do with it.

Republicans tend to think driving is a write instead of a privilege. They also are self involved and their world ends at the tip of their nose. Democrats tend to pay attention to the world around them and know that driving isn't a right. I notice the larger the vehicle people drive the douchier driver they tend to be.

[Fumesucker]

15. It's my experience that people who are not confident drivers want bigger vehicles..

Poor drivers often like a large vehicle where they are up high because it makes them feel safer.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

18. That and I think it helps them to compensate...

...for their...shortcomings, as it were.

[cthulu2016]

14. In fairness to some of these states, this is to be expected

The appalachian states on the map have hazardous mountain roads and low state road budgets, so that is a state priorities issue to some degree... but still, those mountains are intrinsically dangerous, so some higher rate would be expected in any scenario. The same inattention that leads to a fender-bender in Florida can lead to flying off a half-mile cliff in WV.

For the western states, a higher fatality rate is an unexceptional trade off. The map is deaths per capita. Montana, for instance, doesn't have a lot of deaths in raw numbers because hardly anybody lives in montana. But the average person in Montana logs a LOT of miles. It's 100 miles to the 7-11. It's 100 miles to anything.

And if you constantly have to drive 100s of miles in the middle of nowhere you drive very fast, and with good reason. Otherwise you will spend your whole life driving. Those wide-open states have higher speed limits, and almost everyone's quality of life would be degraded if they didn't.

Wide open spaces have their benefits and their problems. A higher per capita driving fatality rate is baked in the cake.

[meaculpa2011]

16. Deaths per 100,000 of populations may not...

be the best measure. I'm not certain, but I believe the highest death-per-miles-driven is in New Jersey. More cars, less road, more accidents.

[jberryhill]

19. "death-per-miles-driven" Yep.

[rock]

23. Agreed

In fact, I fail to see the significance of Deaths per 100,000.

[sinkingfeeling]

21. I know, I'll be blasted for saying it, but I live in a red Southern state and it's

like everything else here: ignorance. I would say less than 50% can make a right-hand turn and without crossing into another lane. And you should see the left-hand ones. We all know to set a car-length back from an intersection. Most local fatalities are from head-on collisions.
They don't know how to drive. And will not use seat belts. Or obey speed limits.

[Bonhomme Richard]

22. A friend of mine made a comment that, while driving to SC, as soon......

as they crossed the Mason Dixon line heading south they started seeing a lot of broken down cars on the road. Enough to make him wonder if they just couldn't afford to take care of their vehicles or what. He made that comment last week.

[One_Life_To_Give]

24. 2 lane blacktop with 50mph or higher limit

Your most dangerous roads are undivided highways. Just what you find in rural areas but not so much in more populated area's.