Good Drivers Make Good Neighbors.

Some good news about Mississippi--you’re safe on our roads.  In a data crunch conducted by The Daily Beast to determine “the country’s worst drivers,” Mississippi came in near the bottom, which is a good thing.  According to The Daily Beast, we are near the bottom in a category where it’s good to be at the bottom.  We only have the 45th worst drivers in the country.  In other words, the 6th best.

            The Daily Beast used crash data--because accidents provide an objective way to define someone as a bad driver or not--and focused on fatal crashes, using the most recent data (2009) because these are reported uniformly state-to-state.  To ensure that tiny Rhode Island and giant California are measured evenly, The Daily Beast averaged these driver-caused fatal crashes by the total number of driver’s licenses issued in each state.  And to make sure that it was not penalizing states where the average motorist drives more--and thus gets into more accidents--they factored in how many miles each driver in the state logs and how long they spend in the car, adjusting the data accordingly.

            Mississippi had 631 fatal crashes out of 1,935,764 driver’s licenses.  The most dangerous age to drive in Mississippi is 18.  In the category of driving under the influence of alcohol, we were the 41st out of 50.  In failure to obey traffic signs or signals we were 48th out of 50, or third best.  For careless or inattentive driving we ranked 16 out of 50.

            Think about  what this could mean to bringing people and jobs to Mississippi.  With a low cost commitment, Mississippi could get people to come here.  First, make a commitment that in 3 years, Mississippi will have the best drivers in the nation.  Focus on the areas where we are weakest, distracted drivers, DUI, etc., and get all the drivers to become committed to helping Mississippi become the best driving state--a low-cost plan to get all citizens committed, from individuals to local officials to state officials.  Second, put out a PR campaign to advertise this fact.  Think of the numbers of tourists who might be compelled to come visit.  “Come visit us, the Hospitality State.  We even keep you safe on our roads.”  Think of the numbers of job seekers who might be considering a move to Mississippi vs. a number of our neighboring states.  If I know that I live in a state where I’ll be safe on the roads, that job opportunity in Mississippi might become even more appealing.  And finally, think of the economic development opportunities.  Think of the number of businesses who might set up shop in Mississippi if they feel sure that their employees, executives, and suppliers will be safe getting to and from work and living everyday in the community.  And it instantly adds in our favor an advantage over our neighboring states, who face much more dangerous roads, and with whom we usually compete for the same kind of major economic development projects.  Our neighboring states Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Alabama rank as having the 4th, the 16th, the 18th, and the 26th worst drivers, respectively.  Texas, one of our main competitors in manufacturing jobs ranks 10th. 

So, more people come to visit, more people come to live, and more jobs come to provide an increased standard of living.  And this continuous improvement project would become a cycle:  as more people move here, more jobs will follow.  As more jobs move in, more people come to live.  And these will all be people who obviously value having safe roads, which makes us as a whole even better drivers.

            Good drivers make good neighbors.