Wondering just how safe you are on Oregon’s highways? One way to consider it is simply to look into your odds of being killed in an accident. You’ll find that these vary massively from one state to the next.
When ranked from No. 1 to 51, so as to include Washington D.C., Oregon ranked No. 37. While this does put it in the bottom half and make it a safer state on the whole, the risk is still clear.
Statistics from 2013 were used for the study, as they offered complete data. That year, 313 people were killed in car accidents in Oregon. The total population of the state was 3,930,065, while the amount of drivers who had a license was 2,773,373. Both numbers are important, since it is very possible for passengers and pedestrians to be killed and because there are always drivers who violate safety laws and drive without a license.
In any case, those numbers mean that the probability of being involved in a deadly accident, even if you were not the one who was killed, came in at 1 in 6,189. The odds of actually losing your life in such a crash were 1 in 12,556.
For the sake of comparison, Montana ranked out No. 1 in the study, as the most dangerous state. It saw fewer deaths, at just 229, but its tiny population of 1,015,165 meant that the odds of being killed were 1 in 4,433.
Have you lost a loved one in a car accident? During this difficult time, it’s important to know if you’re entitled to financial compensation for lost wages, funeral costs, medical bills and more.
Source: Thrillist, “Buckle Up: All 50 States, Ranked by How Likely You Are to Die in a Car Accident,” Aaron Miller, accessed Nov. 17, 2017
