<font color=DeepPink>Massachusetts safest in car travel.
August 25, 2000
Report: Mass. Safest in Car Travel
Filed at 7:04 p.m. EDT
By The Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) -- The congested roads of the Northeast are the safest when
it comes to car travel, while the wide-open highways of sprawling western
states are among the most dangerous, according to a national report to be
released next month.
Massachusetts, deemed the safest state for drivers, averaged 0.8 deaths per
100 million miles traveled last year, compared to a national average of 1.5
deaths, the National Safety Council found.
``The old joke is we can't get going fast enough to kill ourselves because of
all the congestion,'' said Art Kinsman, spokesman for AAA Southern New
England.
The densely populated eastern states of Connecticut and New Jersey
followed Massachusetts as the safest states in terms of deaths attributed to
traffic accidents, the report says.
In contrast, Montana, Wyoming and Arizona were among the six most
dangerous states, all recording more than 2 deaths per 100 million miles
traveled last year. Mississippi had the most deaths, with 2.7 per 100 million
miles. South Carolina followed, at 2.4.
Alan Hoskin, manager of research and statistics for the non-profit safety
group, said motorists drive more slowly in states where traffic is dense, so
they are less likely to be involved in wrecks.
When serious accidents do occur, densely populated states also tend to have
more hospitals, so victims are often treated more quickly, Hoskin said.
The most dangerous states for traffic deaths tend to have more wide-open
spaces, higher speed limits and less likelihood that a hospital is nearby,
Hoskin said.
Billy White, executive director of the Governor's Highway Safety Program in
Mississippi, said the state has tried seat belt programs and anti-drinking and
driving campaigns, but they have so far failed to make the state's roads safer.
``I don't really know why the rate is so high,'' White said. ``It may be the old
Southern spirit that we are going to do what we are going to do.''
The report found positive numbers overall, with motor-vehicle deaths falling
1 percent from 1998 to 1999, the third consecutive decrease following four
years of increases.
Dan O'Sullivan, who works in Cambridge, Mass., was surprised by New
England's low traffic death toll in the comparison.
``It's hard to believe a state with such insane drivers could have such a
remarkably low accident rate,'' he said ``I guess that's one good thing about
living with all this traffic.''
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company |
