According to Forbes magazine, Montana ranks the highest in alcohol-related traffic fatalities. South Carolina, Louisiana, Wyoming and West Virginia complete the top five spots in the list of states that drivers who want to avoid someone drunk behind the wheel might want to avoid. The holiday season didn't help things, with a spike in drunk driving fatalities despite stern warnings in the media about drinking and driving.
How did Forbes come up with the top drunk-driving states?
They first looked at the number of drunken driving-related fatalities in each state. They used motor-vehicle crash data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the General Estimates System to determine this. The numbers reflect fatalities in 2007.
This data determined on an equal level the states with the most accident-related fatalities where at least one driver had a blood-alcohol content of .08 or more.
Stringent laws seem to have some effect on drunk driver deaths. Following New York's 4.8% drop in drunken driving-related fatalities from 2005 to 2006, the state's rate fell 3.3% further to 1.99 fatalities per capita in 2007.
What states were the lowest ranking as far as drunk driving fatalities?
Driving seems a bit safer when it comes to drunk driving related deaths in Utah, Vermont and New Jersey.
See the entire list of the Worst States for Drunk Drivers article here.
Written by Cheryl Phillips
for Huliq
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