Red State, Blue State

[Milliesmom]

Red state, blue state divide reflected in grim statistic: fatal traffic accidents



http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/20/15224677-red-state-blue-state-divide-reflected-in-grim-statistic-fatal-traffic-accidents

[Sancho]

1. interesting (and welcome to DU)...

[Milliesmom]

2. Thank You

I wonder if it's due to Republicans having road rage!

[GopherGal]

3. No surprise there...

I did an analysis like this for a multivariate statistics class in 2009.
Death rate due to accidents correlated with state square area.

Generally large state = low population density = less mass transit and more/longer driving, therefore more accidents per capita.
And as we know from the electoral map distortions -- low population density = more likely red.

I ended up plotting cancer deaths on one axis and accident deaths on another. The states that were low on accidental deaths were predominantly blue; high in accidental death were predominantly red both in 04 and 08, but the ones that turned blue from 04 to 08 were more likely to be those with low-to-moderate cancer death rates than those with high cancer death rates.

Don't know if those cancer death rates mean more smoking, less medical care, or more pollution...