Statistics from Behind the Wheel

Statistics from Speeders Paradise

States within the continental United States that have the fastest drivers are Mississippi, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah and Alabama…in that order.  On the opposite side of this, Delaware, Rhode Island and Oregon have the slowest drivers.

It’s said that people who drive the Mercedes-Benz SL class convertibles are 400% more likely to receive a ticket than the average of all American drivers combined.  Then you have drivers of the Camry Solara Coupe that hold a close second at 349%.  Followed by Scion TC drivers at 343% for third place.

The American road with the highest posted speed limit is currently I-15 between Utah and Nevada.  Guess those desert roads make a good drag strip!

Teenage Terrors

Statistics show that teenage girls are more likely to talk/text/adjust music/put on make up etc. while behind the wheel.  Now this really isn’t any suprise! While doing all these extra activities they are also more likely to be going more than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit.  History indicates that they are also more aggressive drivers than teen boys.  Now I really wouldn’t of thought that, but….  And get this, the teenage boys are said to be more likely to speak up while riding in a car where the driver was operating it unsafely.

Shredded Metal

Here are some alarming statistics about automobile accidents.

In the United States, about 360 folks die from high-speed police pursuits every year.  Where one third of them are innocent victims that were not involved in the chase.

On that note it’s important to point out that 35-40% of those police chases ended in a collision.  There was an insurance study that showed Rhode Island to have the worst drivers in America.

Weather is also a big factor in car wreckage.  There are 1.5 million road accidents a year, in the United States alone, that were caused from the weather.  Snow is responsible for 400,000 of those accidents!  In the Central Valley of California there’s a weather phenomenon called “tule fog” which appears suddenly and will reduce

visibility to nearly zero over large areas.  This “tule fog” has caused many multi-car collisions, particularly on Highway 99.  In 2007 there was a 108 car, 18 big-rig accident that left two dead and thirty nine injured.  The accident scene stretched for over a mile!

Fresno, California had a dust storm in 1991 that resulted in five pileups that involved 127 vehicles and left 17 people dead.  This was the most deadly weather related accident in U.S. history!

100 years ago the death rate on American roads was 32 times higher than it is today.  Can you believe that?   And in the 1950’s, 50,000 people a year wound up dead on American roadways!  In 2009, the amount of pedestrians killed by trains in the U.S. reached 434.  But in that same year, there were 248 motorists killed by trains alone. Automobile accidents account for almost 300,000 traumatic brain injuries each year in the U.S.

As most of you probably already figured, the 4th of July is the deadliest day on America’s roadways with January 1st running a close second.  It’s said that August 13 and July 15 also have high statistics for being dangerous for motorists.

Crowded Roadways

Each year in the U.S. traffic jams cost the economy $78 billion dollars!  Plus for every minute that a car is disabled in a travel lane, it will cause 7 minutes of delays.

Most of these statistics are quite alarming, but I hope most folks will use them for awareness.  If you must travel during the holidays there’s nothing wrong with taking the scenic route.  Traveling a few more minutes out of your schedule may save your life and or your families lives.  Be safe…..