If you are judging based on the architectural design of shopping centers and the assortment of chain stores you find in each one, the United States is remarkably uniform. A Walmart in New Mexico is not so different from a Walmart in Florida, Massachusetts, or anywhere else. When you ask people what the most annoying or stressful thing is about driving in their home states, or, conversely, the most enjoyable thing about driving there, you will get a wide variety of answers.
In New Mexico, people will say that they enjoy the scenic mountain views and that the downtown traffic in New Mexico’s biggest cities is nowhere near as crazy as the traffic in, say, Houston or Los Angeles. The worst things are the icy roads, the hairpin turns in the mountains, and, of course, the drunk drivers. No matter the specifics, the main causes of catastrophic car accidents across the nation are the same, namely excessive speed, distractions, and alcohol and drugs. If you got injured in a car accident where the at-fault driver’s negligence was serious enough to warrant criminal charges, contact a Santa Fe car accident lawyer.
Since When Should New Mexico Take New Jersey as a Role Model?
These days, everyone is doing research, not just people employed at universities, since the Internet makes it possible to gather so much data about almost any subject. A recently published report on dangerous driving in each of the 50 states is the result of research by King Stahlman Bail Bonds, of all places. Perhaps the employees of the bail bond company got curious about dangerous driving statistics when so many of their clients needed to post bail after getting arrested for causing eminently preventable car accidents. They ranked all the states from most to least dangerous for drivers according to the following criteria:
· Total number of collisions
· Number of traffic fatalities
· Percent of accidents involving speeding
· Percent of accidents involving drunk driving
· Number of fatal accidents where the at-fault driver left the scene
Based on this, New Mexico has the most dangerous drivers; no other state even comes close. Texas is a distant second. As for the states with the safest drivers, Minnesota is the safest, followed closely by New Jersey.
If you have been to New Jersey and you think that the drivers there are more aggressive than the ones at home, you may be right, but there is also something to your feeling that hit-and-run accidents and drunk driving fatalities are disturbingly common in New Mexico. No matter the cause of your accident, you have the right to recover compensation from the responsible parties for your accident-related financial losses.
Contact Slate Stern About Car Accident Lawsuits
Slate Stern is a personal injury lawyer who represents plaintiffs injured in car accidents in New Mexico. Contact Slate Stern in Santa Fe, New Mexico, or call (505)814-1517 to discuss your case.
Sources
https://wpst.com/ixp/385/p/nj-driving-study-results
Photo by Raychel Sanner on Unsplash