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In the absence of a flair system on lemmy yet, let’s try to make it easier to scan through posts by type in here by using tags:
Gary, Indiana. took the number two spot. Jackson, Mississippi took number three, though they were nowhere close to Daytona Beach, with 3.84 and 3.79 times the median rate of car deaths.
Among small towns — those with populations under 50,000 — Dayton, Texas (located in the greater Houston metro) topped the list with a crash death rate an astonishing 12.4 times the national median
Source: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JoWMRt2vMV2uwlzPc4InSJlKckEHr5WyxYbXTIIIjHo/edit?gid=0#gid=0
Surprised anywhere in West Virginia isn’t on that list. That state was by far the dumbest place I've ever watched and participated in driving. Like the sheer amount of rear endings I saw because people drive within a foot of the car in fronts fender. I really couldn’t believe how stupid the drivers were. Endless accidents.
Would you look at that! 22 of the of 25 cities on the list are in red states.
Must be a coincidence.
Hold up... Atlanta not on this list...?
Oh I guess it's filed as South Foulton.
As a Louisiana resident, honestly surprised Baton Rouge made the list and not New Orleans.
Florida appears 10 times on a list 25 cities long. What the hell is going on down there?
Florida is as car centric/pedestrian hostile as you can get really. Pair that with your run of the mill Florida Man and you've got one deadly combo.
And Daytona Beach in particular is a NASCAR speedway town.
Also, as a non-floridian from the northeast, all the weirdest/craziest people from my hometown moved down to Florida at one point or another.
I would guess that isn't a phenomena unique to my town.
It’s also that there are a LOT of elderly people living there, many of whom should not be driving. Combined with a lot of immigrants and poor people who are walking or biking, and the hostile pedestrian infrastructure / car-centric sprawl and culture, it’s a recipe for disaster. (The wealth inequality down there is next level.) We were once in a car accident when visiting family there because some woman just backed into oncoming traffic (us). That’s the level of situational awareness for over half the drivers down there, 100% of the time. It’s harrowing Mad Max shit in a car, let alone as a pedestrian or biker. I’m sad my family member passed away, but so relieved I never have to go back to South Florida ever again.
There are almost zero walkable places in Florida. They don't believe in sidewalks by and large. You will only find sidewalks at city centers, if I had to guess I'd say easily less than 10% of areas where you would expect there to be sidewalks actually have any. Just google "typical florida residential area" and look at images, here's one of the first I came upon: there's driveways and road, that's it. Of course, there's nothing within walking distance anyway - but they really embrace it in Florida.
24 of 25 cities listed are in the South. And the outlier is fucking Gary Indiana
Interesting
21 of 25. Gary IN, Flint MI, Detroit MI, Hesperia CA
10 in Florida.
Obviously, I never learned to read
I grew up in Hesperia. Desert town, distinct lack of sidewalks.
Ohhhh and where's NJ on that list? Hm, no where? That's fucking right, we know how to do things the right fucking way I don't wanna hear SHIT from any PA nutters, NY jackasses or MAsshole drivers, best drivers in the nation, highest population density, one of the lowest fatal accident rates per CAPITA.
NJ is best state. Willing to hear arguments from Mass, but that's about it. I will always provide uparrow to NJ love.
I drive home from Jersey City at like 11 o'clock last night. Road should be empty but kept hitting bottlenecks. You can guess what (who) the bottlenecks were caused by each and every time.
Lol New Jersey people are funny. You’re not wrong though.
That's fucking right!! We're goddamn ridiculous goofballs who deserve every ounce of your love and adoration 😤
We're the nicest people in the whole fucking nation, we just got a prickly facade. And we're the safest drivers. A native NJ driver can merge into a gap smaller than their own car without harming a fly. And you're gonna love our Taylor Ham, that's right, it's Taylor Ham, get the fuck outta here with your pork roll bullshit.
😂 I lived in NJ for a few months and I actually agree. Y’all are a fun bunch. NJ definitely deserves more love than it usually gets.
That said, I think the main reason NJ has safer roads is better road design. Usually driver behavior is only a minor factor. NJ has made a real effort in recent years to improve things (although there’s still a lot more to be done).
On the other hand, there is a slightly unfair nature to the comparison since so many NJ residents commute into other states for work. This means their road statistics don’t contain as many of the absolute death traps that many US downtowns are. Or at least the ones I’ve lived in. NYC and Philly are probably a cut above most.
Lol, average speed limit is 25, that’s why. Construction and congestion. Kinda hard to have traffic fatalities when grandpa is passing you up in his mobility scooter.
NJ drivers have a penchant for left lane camping, but I generally agree with your assessment. I do want to point out, as a Masshole myself, that Massachusetts has a lower fatal accident rate per capita AND per vehicle mile traveled (by VMT, we're actually the lowest) than New Jersey does. I don't think we deserve the bad rap we get.
People mistake “just fucking go already” for recklessness, no it’s just a lack of patience for drivers not paying attention
PA drivers are the WORST!
There's a bunch of drunks. It's a "party" state, and that's what people go there to do.
Most warm coastlines and accessable beaches. You can drive on the beach in Daytona.
Freedumb!
Now compare to deaths in a random western european country
It's amazing what effective required driver training, intelligent road construction for saftey, and strict impaired driver consequences will do.
I lived in the U.K. for a while in my early 20's. My U.S. license worked for the first year but after that I was required to get the UK license. Holy fuck it was hard. The written test made the U.S. one look like childsplay.
I ended up taking a driving lessons from a course while I was there. It was extremely difficult. After 10 lessons I was able to take and pass the practical exam... Barely. At that point I had been driving in the U.S. for 6 years.
I am sub-average driver in the UK and Western Europe. In the U.S. my skill level is at the elite level. It's truly terrifying.
Wtf, didnt know it was like that
The German test is also kinda hard, I barely drive but I am okayish
Downvoted. I put these stats under true but pretty useless. As they are per residents, vacation and driven through places would be higher than boring and isolated cities.
St Louisian here and I am not at all surprised to see my city in this list. I've lived all over the country and driven in most of our biggest metros but StL is by far one of the craziest places to drive that I've ever seen. People drive like assholes in a lot of big cities (looking at you DC metro) buy they are at least somewhat predictable and respectful of basic laws. Here it is literally the wild west.
They will run stoplights and signs regularly, just about every time I'm in the car I see it at least once. And it's not just squeaking by right after it changes, it's egregious-as in traffic has started in the opposite direction and some jackass comes flying through the intersection like they don't even see the light. But its worse than that- I've seen people go the wrong way on one-way streets, drive in the opposite lane of traffic to pass, turn left across multiple lanes of moving traffic from the far right lane and using closed off construction areas as shortcuts. Pedestrians and cyclists have been hit several times in my neighborhood by drivers who were ignoring basic driving laws. It's not just randos either- city vehicles, school busses, and cabs do this crap. They aren't just asshole drivers- they are reckless and entitled and unpredictable.
What makes the problem worse is that a huge number of people just don't get their cars registered at all, and drive without tags or with years old temp tags with no repercussions. This also means they are uninsured, so it's on the insured folks to cover any accident damage.
My insurance rates jumped about 30% when I moved here and I didn't understand why at first but I do now. I love St Louis but I hate driving here.
Lived in STL and Chicago. Both cities are driving nightmares, but STL is worse for the exact reason you mentioned: predictability.
In Chicago, there are tons of asshole drivers. Probably more than in STL. But you know what they’re gonna do and where they drive, so they can be avoided. In STL? Another story. It’s not just that there are asshole drivers in STL, it’s that they genuinely don’t know how to drive on top of being assholes. (Don’t get me started on Missouri’s “driver’s education” requirements.) It literally is the wild wild west of driving.
I’ll take an asshole chicagoan who actually knows how to drive over a St Louisian any day. The amount of just driving through red lights is unreal.
I almost got killed driving the Gary, IN years ago. I still remember it well to this day.
Driving is traumatizing
Are these the values from one specific year? If yes, the statistical error would be massive, especially for the cities <50k. The value of 73/100k in Dayton means, that ~7 people died, which could easily be caused by a single incident. So it might be the case that Dayton is generally a safe city, but it was just a really bad year for them. You'd have to look at multiple years to be able to see a pattern.
RIP Dale Earnhardt
I am adding this to the list of reasons I hate Gary, IN
That's funny lmao, I drove back through Galveston from my spot on the coast this last weekend. The traffic was heavy and chaotic bc some idiot had backed their truck off the seawall trying to get out of parallel parking. Probably drunk.
