The Evil Genius Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 Highway Deaths Spike After Super Bowl - Study Thu Jan 23 BOSTON (Reuters) - Attention US motorists: You may want to drive more carefully on the way home from Sunday's Super Bowl party, especially if you live in the state that fields the losing team. A study of the last 27 Super Bowl Sundays concluded that the highway death rate jumped 70% in the first hour after the big game and remained high over the next few hours. The increase was particularly dramatic in states with the losing team, where the death rate was 147% higher than on the Sundays before and after the championship. The only exception was in states with the winning team, where highway death rates did not rise, according to Donald Redelmeier, the chief author of the study. If the trend holds this Sunday--when the Oakland Raiders square off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL championship match--seven extra people will die on US highways and 600 more will be injured in traffic accidents just because it is Super Bowl Sunday. That's a higher toll than on New Year's Eve, said Redelmeier, of the University of Toronto. "We were surprised by the magnitude of the increase in mortality, and that it was so widespread through the US, and so consistent throughout the decade. It wasn't a function of whether the game was good, or the point spread, or the score at halftime," he told Reuters. Alcohol may play a role in the trend, he said, but that doesn't explain why the death rate is lower in the winning states where, presumably, fans also celebrate with a victory drink or two. "We think part of it is fatigue and distraction," he said. Weary fans, especially of the losing team, keep replaying the loss in the heads, reviewing what went wrong. "The Monday-morning quarterbacking begins Sunday, not Monday night. The result is a surge in fatality rates." The researchers, in a letter published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine (news - web sites), said they found a 10% drop in the accident rate during the game itself--presumably because fewer people are on the road--but the post-game accidents more than made up for the reduction. Redelmeier said fans should avoid unnecessary night driving on Super Bowl Sunday, hospital trauma centers should consider putting extra workers on duty that evening, and states should offer free public transit after the game to keep more people off the streets. During the Sundays flanking the Super Bowl, there are usually 3,000 crashes, 1,300 injuries and 17 deaths. On Super Bowl Sunday, the number of crashes typically jumps to over 4,000, with 1,900 injuries and 24 deaths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redskin56 Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 ........................ Which means that people will either be driving off the Bay Bridge in CA or the Sunshine Skyway in Tampa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brave Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 Seems anger and alcohol don't go well with driving. Go figure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candy Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 Do Raider fans drive SUV's? I'm sorry ............ couldn't resist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 Actually, Candy, this is PROOF POSITIVE that it's not the SUV that is a killing machine, but, it's the Super Bowl. We must step in now to outlaw the Super Bowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redskin56 Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 ............................ Or atleast regulate the amount of food and beverages sold at the Superbowls (held in open air arenas) so that the amount of methane gasses produced by the spectators does not further damage the ozone layer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candy Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 Thank you for connecting the dots so Artfully, sir. :laugh: And you know what makes it even worse? This year, the Super Bowl is in San Diego, so you just know that some of the fans at the stadium and some of the "service people" working the game are sure to be Hispanic. Consider this: you just know that some of those people are in this country illegally ......... I mean, statistically it is a no-brainer. You know what branch of the government the NIS is in, right? The Dept. of Justice. And you know who currently heads Justice, right? Exactly ........... John Ashcroft. We remember him, don't we? And you know what kind of vehicle Mr. Ashcroft drives, right? Exactly. It makes you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 Hmmmmmm It does make me think. Do any of these Hispanics work for George Lucas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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