Archive for category: Archived Blogs

On September 9, the US Department of Transportation released its counts of 2009 traffic fatalities by state, which can be found on its website at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811363.pdf.    The counts provided therein allow comparison of risks of crash death in New Mexico to risks in other states, using census populations to calculate rates of death per 100,000 population (the standard method for analyzing death rates for public health problems like fatal crash injuries).  The USDOT publication also provides estimates of crash deaths by state involving 1 or more drivers at .08 bac, so risks for that category of crash can also be compared.  Results:

• NM ranked 11th among the 50 states/Dist. of Colombia for total crash deaths per 100,000 population in 2008, and 12th in 2009.
• NM’s total reported crash deaths declined from 366 in 2008 to 361 in  2009.
• NM’s death rate of total crash deaths per 100,000 population declined from 18.42 in 2008 to 17.96 in 2009, a drop of 2.49%  (by comparison, the national rate dropped 10.43%).
• NM’s 2009 rate of total crash deaths per 100,000 population was 63% higher than the USA national rate of 11.01.
• NM’s 2009 rate of total crash deaths per 100,000 population was 47% higher than Arizona’s rate of 12.24, 94% higher than Colorado’s rate of 9.25, and 104% higher than Utah’s rate of 8.76.

• NM ranked 12th among the 50 states/Dist. of Colombia for alcohol impaired driving fatalities per 100000 population in 2008, and 12th in 2009.
• NM’s estimated alcohol impaired driving deaths rose from 105 in 2008 to 114 in 2009.
• NM’s death rate of alcohol impaired driving deaths per 100,000 population rose from 5.28 in 2008 to 5.67 in 2009, an increase of 7.33%    (by comparison, the national rate dropped 8.24%)..
• NM’s 2009 rate of alcohol impaired driving deaths per 100,000 population was 61% higher than the USA national rate of 3.53.
• NM’s 2009 rate of alcohol impaired driving deaths per 100,000 population was 71% higher than Arizona’s rate of 3.32, 80% higher than Colorado’s rate of 3.14, and 294% higher than Utah’s rate of 1.44.

Notes: Death counts are from the USDOT’s “Traffic Safety Facts” Summary of Statistical Findings, August 2010, DOT HS 811 363.  Population values are from the US Census Population estimates as of July 2009 and July 2008.  USDOT’s “alcohol impaired driving death” values by state are their estimates of the number of crash deaths involving at least one driver who was at .08 BAC or higher, so the counts exclude deaths where the alcohol impairment was only on the part of a pedestrian or bicyclist.  2009 crash death estimates are preliminary.

USDOT Crash Death Estimates for 2008 & 2009, with rates per 100,000 population, ranks, and rate % change

State	TotalDeaths 2008	AlcDeaths 2008	TotalDeaths 2009	AlcDeaths 2009	CensusPopulation 2008	CensusPopulation 2009	TotalRate 2008	AlcRate 2008	TotalRate 2009	AlcRate 2009	TotalRank 2008	AlcRank 2008	TotalRank 2009	AlcRank 2009	TotalRate % Change	AlcRate % Change
Alabama	969	314	848	280	4,677,464	4,708,708	20.72	6.71	18.01	5.95	6	8	11	10	-13.07	-11.42
Alaska	62	21	64	20	688,125	698,473	9.01	3.05	9.16	2.86	41	34	36	37	1.70	-6.17
Arizona	938	262	807	219	6,499,377	6,595,778	14.43	4.03	12.24	3.32	20	24	25	28	-15.22	-17.63
Arkansas	600	170	585	168	2,867,764	2,889,450	20.92	5.93	20.25	5.81	4	10	5	11	-3.23	-1.92
California	3,434	1,025	3,081	950	36,580,371	36,961,664	9.39	2.80	8.34	2.57	40	39	41	42	-11.21	-8.27
Colorado	548	176	465	158	4,935,213	5,024,748	11.10	3.57	9.25	3.14	31	28	34	33	-16.66	-11.83
Connecticut	302	95	223	99	3,502,932	3,518,288	8.62	2.71	6.34	2.81	43	42	48	39	-26.48	3.76
Delaware	121	44	116	45	876,211	885,122	13.81	5.02	13.11	5.08	22	15	20	14	-5.10	1.24
Dist of Columbia	34	9	29	10	590,074	599,657	5.76	1.53	4.84	1.67	50	51	51	48	-16.07	9.34
Florida	2,980	887	2,558	770	18,423,878	18,537,969	16.17	4.81	13.80	4.15	14	18	18	19	-14.69	-13.72
Georgia	1,495	405	1,284	331	9,697,838	9,829,211	15.42	4.18	13.06	3.37	17	22	21	27	-15.26	-19.36
Hawaii	107	42	109	52	1,287,481	1,295,178	8.31	3.26	8.42	4.01	44	31	40	20	1.26	23.07
Idaho	232	78	226	58	1,527,506	1,545,801	15.19	5.11	14.62	3.75	18	14	16	23	-3.74	-26.52
Illinois	1,043	356	911	319	12,842,954	12,910,409	8.12	2.77	7.06	2.47	45	41	46	43	-13.11	-10.86
Indiana	820	206	693	210	6,388,309	6,423,113	12.84	3.22	10.79	3.27	25	32	28	29	-15.95	1.39
Iowa	412	89	372	96	2,993,987	3,007,856	13.76	2.97	12.37	3.19	23	37	24	32	-10.13	7.37
Kansas	384	138	386	154	2,797,375	2,818,747	13.73	4.93	13.69	5.46	24	16	19	13	-0.24	10.75
Kentucky	825	186	791	194	4,287,931	4,314,113	19.24	4.34	18.34	4.50	10	21	9	18	-4.70	3.67
Louisiana	916	339	821	295	4,451,513	4,492,076	20.58	7.62	18.28	6.57	8	5	10	6	-11.18	-13.77
Maine	155	42	159	47	1,319,691	1,318,301	11.75	3.18	12.06	3.57	28	33	26	26	2.69	12.02
Maryland	591	145	547	162	5,658,655	5,699,478	10.44	2.56	9.60	2.84	35	43	33	38	-8.11	10.92
Massachusetts	364	120	334	108	6,543,595	6,593,587	5.56	1.83	5.07	1.64	51	47	50	50	-8.94	-10.68
Michigan	980	284	871	246	10,002,486	9,969,727	9.80	2.84	8.74	2.47	39	38	39	44	-10.83	-13.10
Minnesota	455	132	421	108	5,230,567	5,266,214	8.70	2.52	7.99	2.05	42	44	43	46	-8.10	-18.74
Mississippi	783	251	700	234	2,940,212	2,951,996	26.63	8.54	23.71	7.93	2	4	2	5	-10.96	-7.15
Missouri	960	314	878	300	5,956,335	5,987,580	16.12	5.27	14.66	5.01	15	13	15	15	-9.02	-4.96
Montana	229	90	221	81	968,035	974,989	23.66	9.30	22.67	8.31	3	2	3	3	-4.18	-10.64
Nebraska	208	53	223	66	1,781,949	1,796,619	11.67	2.97	12.41	3.67	30	36	22	25	6.34	23.51
Nevada	324	106	243	68	2,615,772	2,643,085	12.39	4.05	9.19	2.57	26	23	35	41	-25.78	-36.51
New Hampshire	138	45	110	30	1,321,872	1,324,575	10.44	3.40	8.30	2.26	36	30	42	45	-20.45	-33.47
New Jersey	590	152	583	149	8,663,398	8,707,739	6.81	1.75	6.70	1.71	47	50	47	47	-1.69	-2.47
New Mexico	366	105	361	114	1,986,763	2,009,671	18.42	5.28	17.96	5.67	11	12	12	12	-2.49	7.33
New York	1,238	346	1,156	321	19,467,789	19,541,453	6.36	1.78	5.92	1.64	48	49	49	49	-6.98	-7.58
North Carolina	1,428	423	1,314	363	9,247,134	9,380,884	15.44	4.57	14.01	3.87	16	19	17	21	-9.30	-15.41
North Dakota	104	47	140	54	641,421	646,844	16.21	7.33	21.64	8.35	13	6	4	2	33.49	13.93
Ohio	1,191	351	1,021	324	11,528,072	11,542,645	10.33	3.04	8.85	2.81	37	35	37	40	-14.38	-7.81
Oklahoma	750	242	738	235	3,644,025	3,687,050	20.58	6.64	20.02	6.37	7	9	6	8	-2.75	-4.03
Oregon	416	137	377	115	3,782,991	3,825,657	11.00	3.62	9.85	3.01	32	27	31	36	-10.39	-16.99
Pennsylvania	1,468	499	1,256	406	12,566,368	12,604,767	11.68	3.97	9.96	3.22	29	25	29	31	-14.70	-18.89
Rhode Island	65	23	83	34	1,053,502	1,053,209	6.17	2.18	7.88	3.23	49	45	44	30	27.73	47.87
South Carolina	921	400	894	377	4,503,280	4,561,242	20.45	8.88	19.60	8.27	9	3	7	4	-4.17	-6.95
South Dakota	121	35	131	53	804,532	812,383	15.04	4.35	16.13	6.52	19	20	13	7	7.22	49.97
Tennessee	1,043	306	989	303	6,240,456	6,296,254	16.71	4.90	15.71	4.81	12	17	14	17	-6.02	-1.86
Texas	3,476	1,310	3,071	1,235	24,304,290	24,782,302	14.30	5.39	12.39	4.98	21	11	23	16	-13.36	-7.54
Utah	276	49	244	40	2,727,343	2,784,572	10.12	1.80	8.76	1.44	38	48	38	51	-13.41	-20.05
Vermont	73	12	74	23	621,049	621,760	11.75	1.93	11.90	3.70	27	46	27	24	1.25	91.45
Virginia	825	276	757	243	7,795,424	7,882,590	10.58	3.54	9.60	3.08	34	29	32	35	-9.26	-12.93
Washington	521	183	492	206	6,566,073	6,664,195	7.93	2.79	7.38	3.09	46	40	45	34	-6.96	10.91
West Virginia	378	126	356	115	1,814,873	1,819,777	20.83	6.94	19.56	6.32	5	7	8	9	-6.07	-8.98
Wisconsin	605	205	561	213	5,627,610	5,654,774	10.75	3.64	9.92	3.77	33	26	30	22	-7.72	3.40
Wyoming	159	65	134	47	532,981	544,270	29.83	12.20	24.62	8.64	1	1	1	1	-17.47	-29.19
National	37,423	11,711	33,808	10,839	304,374,846	307,006,550	12.30	3.85	11.01	3.53					-10.43	-8.24
Puerto Rico	405	123	365	109	3,954,553	3,967,288	10.24	3.11	9.20	2.75					-10.17	-11.67