News Year's Eve is right around the corner, which is normally paired with toasts and cheers. Unfortunately, too many drinks paired with driving can lead to a tragic ending.
In a recent study, Safewise decided to rank the states one through fifty to identify the ones with more drunk driving danger vs the ones where the roads are statistically safer.
Georgia ranked #21 out of 50 states and the District of Columbia missing Tennessee's 20th position by a small margin. Based on Safewise's methodology, Georgia had 3.51 deaths per Capita in 2017.
Wyoming was found to be the state with the most drunk driving deaths. Research shows Wyoming had 7.59 deaths per 100,000 people in 2017, which is one whole death more than any other state in the top five.
According to Safewise, 80% of the most dangerous states were also in the top five in 2016—Wyoming is the only newcomer, replacing Montana as the state with the most impaired driving deaths per capita.
New Jersey and New York are among the states with the fewest drunk driving deaths. It's important to note that public transportation is the main source of transit in those states.
How did Safewise calculate these findings?
"We used newly-released data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which shows the number of impaired driving deaths in each state in 2017. Then we compared that report’s numbers for each state to 2017 Census population estimates to identify the safest and most dangerous roads on New Year’s Eve, according to the rate of impaired driving deaths."
In an effort to decrease drunk driving, Safewise is giving away $10 Lyft rides to the first 100 people from the states ranked the highest, who register for a safe, sober ride home on New Year’s Eve. To apply, go to our Safe Rides Home campaign page today.