this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2025
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Mildly Interesting

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[–] card797@champserver.net 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

You gotta enforce traffic laws in order to maintain safety.

Also*, where is Maine?

[–] DrWorm@piefed.social 86 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Mississippi is always the worst of any statistic

[–] deo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 days ago

Mississippi is the only state that doesn't specifically prohibit drinking and driving (as long as you stay below the 0.08% BAC)

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 14 points 3 days ago (13 children)

Victoria is that low cos they don’t fuck around when it comes to driving fines. The speed limit means limit, and they’re cracking down hard on drivers using phones.

[–] alansuspect@aussie.zone 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Victorians are some of the worst/dangerous drivers I've seen, but I'm not in Victoria.

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[–] pulsewidth@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I remember reading years back that Mississippi is the only state where it's legal for the driver to drink and drive (as long as they keep it below 0.08). Multiple defenders on Reddit said its safe because its still below the legal limit.

Couldnt be related, could it? Nahhh

https://dui.drivinglaws.org/resources/can-a-passenger-drink-alcohol.htm

[–] Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I don't know much about Mississippi, but I know that in neighboring Louisiana, there are drive-through daiquiri places.

the fine print of the law says that the open container law is not applicable to containers with frozen alcoholic beverage where the lid is intact and no straw is protruding through the lid.

In most cases, daiquiris adhere to the “tape rule.” Most daiquiri shops will put a piece of tape over the straw hold on the lid. If this tape is removed or broken then the drink is considered an open container.

So a piece of tape counts as a "seal." They're not even trying.

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[–] itslola@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Wait, are you saying BAC while driving must be 0.00 in some parts of the States, or am I misunderstanding? It's 0.05 in most (all?) parts of Australia (except if you're in a restricted licence category). It's not encouraged, but it's legal.

Figured you guys would have more permissive laws than we do.

[–] pulsewidth@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

No I'm saying you're not allowed to be drinking alcohol while you drive. Which you are in Mississippi.

USA freedom warriors (tm) on Reddit say 'that's fine because they still have to be under the legal limit'. Unable to fathom that the idea of normalizing drinking alcohol while you drive encourages irresponsible behaviour amongst other negatives, beyond just staying under the BAC limit.

[–] itslola@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Ahhh, yeah, that's a bit cooked. The freedom warriors bit isn't surprising, though. You'd expect them to be in favour of "the freedom to be as irresponsible as you like".

[–] Texas_Hangover@lemmy.radio 7 points 2 days ago

You can always count on Mississippi! I'm surprised Texas isn't higher, we drive like maniacs.

[–] Lembot_0004@discuss.online 41 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Ok, noted: New York is almost on par with civilized regions.

[–] funkajunk@lemmy.world 33 points 3 days ago (1 children)

That might be skewed as most of their population are in New York City, and more than half of the city doesn't even own a car.

[–] The_v@lemmy.world 34 points 3 days ago (2 children)

That's pretty much the point of the chart. Better public infrastructure decrease the deaths from cars.

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[–] Geometrinen_Gepardi@sopuli.xyz 37 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I understand this is largely due to Americans wanting to get drunk like everyone else but also having to drive everywhere.

[–] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 41 points 3 days ago (2 children)

And gigantic motor vehicles.

[–] Lemminary@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago (2 children)

And terrible roads and/or regulations? I can't help but notice the worst offenders are conservative areas and those usually are neglectful.

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[–] Botzo@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago

There are so many dumb regulations and circumstances that functionally push people to giant vehicles.

For instance: I replaced my 2016 VW golf base model with an electric F150 this year for a multitude of reasons. I got a refund from insurance (with the same coverage). None of this makes sense except that I'm less likely to be injured by other motorists in my 3.5ton truck. I found this depressing.

[–] Allemaniac@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

getting a drivers license in mississippi is basically show up to the DMV, suck a cock and drive home or what?

[–] pulsewidth@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

Mississippi has drive-through combo shops: liquor store / DMV / KFC.

Saves time on your way to and home from church.

[–] Hupf@feddit.org 9 points 3 days ago

21 Mississippi, 22 Mississippi...

Count van Count

[–] huppakee@feddit.nl 23 points 3 days ago (11 children)

Thought it would be interesting to compare with EU, they published an article in 2023 (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?oldid=630784) with the following data. This graph uses a number per 1 million inhabitants so divide by 10 to compare it.

Road accident fatalities, 2023 (number per million inhabitants)

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 2 days ago

The way this chart is formatted is making me more angry than it should lol

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It's around 2.5 per 100 000 in Norway.

[–] Smoogs@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Wait what?? British Columbia is less than Alberta? There are single lanes in dangerous areas in comparison to Alberta.

[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 days ago

In fairness Australia has a low population density, and is not so mountainous, and we have very little snow et cetera.

That said I guess we do have hazards like kangaroos, and a larger road network to maintain (per capita).

Also depending on. When these stats are from they might pre-date the influx of shitty over-sized little-mans American cars. Thats sure to increase the rates of fatalities.

[–] Gladaed@feddit.org 1 points 2 days ago

Clearly fake as it doesn't show a state that's better the non Americans. In big America, there are clearly more states!

[–] itslola@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

How the heck are Victorians down the bottom? Is it just the sheer size of our population keeping that number in check...?

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I'm guessing gun violence is much the same.

[–] BigBenis@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

The thing that surprised me most after moving to Oregon was how bad the drivers were. I've lived in many states across the South, the Midwest, and West Coast and I've never encountered drivers so consistently vindictive, entitled and reckless as the drivers in Oregon.

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