Photo: Pexels.com
Alcohol impairment killed almost 10,000 people in the USA in 2014, which accounted for one-third of all traffic-related deaths in the country at that time.
With the holiday season in full swing, people are attending more parties and family events than they do in the rest of the year, and alcohol is served at most of these gatherings.
Unfortunately, some of those individuals do not realize the risk they are exposing themselves and others, and get behind the wheel after drinking alcoholic beverages. We have said this before, and we will say it again — never drink and drive.
Some people still do not get the message, but we hope a cocktail of statistics headed their way will help explain the dangers of this course of action. We planned to write a cover story about this phenomenon, but we encountered startling facts about the states of Montana and Wyoming.
We were going through an annual study of America’s fatal crash causes, and two states popped up. Yes, they were Wyoming and Montana, both the unfortunate leaders in deaths that were caused by impaired driving (alcohol), or street racing or speeding.
It came as no surprise to us that Montana was first in car crash fatalities per 100,000 residents over an 11-year period for all cases of reckless and careless driving behavior.
We are writing about 108 deaths per 100,000 residents of Montana as an average over 11 years. Most of the deaths were caused by not using a seat belt and crashing after consuming alcohol. Arkansas was the second state on the black list, with 86 fatalities for every 100,000 residents, per year, over 11 years.
The state of Wyoming had an average of 90 deaths per 100,000 residents between 2005 and 2015 because of the failure to keep a lane. The same state had the highest death toll in the USA, over the same period, because of drunk driving — an average of 93 fatalities/100,000 residents. Montana followed closely with 86 deaths.
The same two states, in the same order, in the same period, led the charts for the worst states for speeding and racing-related car crash fatalities. Both had over 83 deaths per 100,00 residents.
If you still think that nothing can happen if you drive after drinking, just remember that about one in three traffic fatalities in the USA involves a drunk driver. Do not be that person, and do not let anyone drive after he or she drank alcohol or consumed drugs.
Unfortunately, some of those individuals do not realize the risk they are exposing themselves and others, and get behind the wheel after drinking alcoholic beverages. We have said this before, and we will say it again — never drink and drive.
Some people still do not get the message, but we hope a cocktail of statistics headed their way will help explain the dangers of this course of action. We planned to write a cover story about this phenomenon, but we encountered startling facts about the states of Montana and Wyoming.
We were going through an annual study of America’s fatal crash causes, and two states popped up. Yes, they were Wyoming and Montana, both the unfortunate leaders in deaths that were caused by impaired driving (alcohol), or street racing or speeding.
It came as no surprise to us that Montana was first in car crash fatalities per 100,000 residents over an 11-year period for all cases of reckless and careless driving behavior.
We are writing about 108 deaths per 100,000 residents of Montana as an average over 11 years. Most of the deaths were caused by not using a seat belt and crashing after consuming alcohol. Arkansas was the second state on the black list, with 86 fatalities for every 100,000 residents, per year, over 11 years.
The state of Wyoming had an average of 90 deaths per 100,000 residents between 2005 and 2015 because of the failure to keep a lane. The same state had the highest death toll in the USA, over the same period, because of drunk driving — an average of 93 fatalities/100,000 residents. Montana followed closely with 86 deaths.
The same two states, in the same order, in the same period, led the charts for the worst states for speeding and racing-related car crash fatalities. Both had over 83 deaths per 100,00 residents.
If you still think that nothing can happen if you drive after drinking, just remember that about one in three traffic fatalities in the USA involves a drunk driver. Do not be that person, and do not let anyone drive after he or she drank alcohol or consumed drugs.
Google News