Belated News from Brother Scott

No, no, Scott's not belated; I'm the culprit. Seems it was nearly two weeks now since he sent me a link to an astonishing story about a recent (well, it was recent at the time) CDC report on the deadliest driving states between 1999 and 2005. You're probably thinking New York, New Jersey, California, maybe Massachusetts or Florida, right? Yeah, me too. Well we are so wrong!

The deadliest state in the US, at 31.9 annual deaths per 100,000 people on the average, is Mississippi, followed by Wyoming (27.7), Montana (25.6), Arkansas (also 25.6) and Alabama (25.1). Over half of the deadliest states are in the south. Do you think it's because they don't have enough snow and ice? Maybe after last winter's nasty weather, they will improve their standings.

And where would we be safer, you ask? I have to warn you, this one is a shocker. The least deadly state of all is Massachusetts, with an average annual death rate of 7.9 per 100,000. Can you believe it? New York (8.4) is next, then Rhode Island (8.5), New Jersey (9) and Connecticut (9.3). California (you do want to know about California, don't you?) comes in at number 8, with an annual average death rate of 12. I can only conclude that on the congested coasts, you really just can't get going fast enough to kill yourself.

So there you have it, and much as I'd like to advise you on what to do about this exactly, I'm going to leave this one up to you. Good luck!