Building a Safer America? Just as the Republican-controlled Congress is considering Health Care, or more accurately Wealth Care, legislation, more people need to be thinking before voting for politicians that care less for people than for money. Our lives depend upon it. This is especially true for those in Red States.Red State v. Blue State analyses help us see how much our lives are affected, for good or ill, by policies at all levels of government. Will we live longer and better in Blue States or Red States?Rankings of Red States and Blue States are revealing. Where we live, drive, and work state by state makes a big difference – a matter of life or death.To be safe, or not to be, that is the question.Ranking States on Life Expectancy The 10 Best States are Blue.The Bottom 10 Worst States are Red.1Ranking States on Vehicle Violence Death RatesOut of the Best 20 States, 14 are Blue States.Out of Worst 20 States, 18 are Red States.2 3Ranking States on Worker Death RatesOut of the Best 20 States, 18 are Blue.Out of the 20 Worst States, 19 are Red.4States Voting to Overturn Citizens UnitedOut of 19 States that have voted to overturn Citizens United to reduce money in politics, 17 States are Blue States.5Tools for Citizens to Voice and Vote for SafetyWhere are the problems? Maps show us.Vehicle violence death statistics are available mapped by state so that reporters and advocates can more effectively describe the magnitude of the problems to the public and their elected officials with impact. Show your Senators and Representatives how little progress has been made in achieving reductions in tragedies under their purview.

We the People must work for safety. Image courtesy of www.cnbc.com.

Data on vehicle violence deaths in each State and Congressional District for each year 2002 – 2015 is available on an easy to use interactive map. Just click on the district and the number of deaths in each year appear.6How big is the problem numerically? Check out the Death and Injury Clocks.Historically in the U.S. since 1900, the number of deaths due to vehicle violence now totals nearly 3,750,000 and the number injured 952 million.7There are also Trump Death Clocks. Since January 20, 2017, vehicle violence deaths amount to 18,465 people lost and 221,585 people injured in the U.S.8Currently, vehicle violence in the U.S. is resulting in untold tragedy at the rate of:

• 100 deaths per day

• 400 serious injuries per day, e.g. brain and spinal cord paralysis

• $2 billion in losses per day

Information, the First Step in Building a Safer America The media can and must do better at informing the public of how we can become more effective citizens.Political science is the study of who gets what, when, where, why, and how.Clearly in these troubled times, we the people have not done well with growing inequality, increasing damage to our planet and climate, and loss of control of our government and our future. We can and must do better by setting goals, picking up our tools, and getting to work building a better America.

Sources:

1. https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog/where-are-we-going-blue-and-red-state-rankings-by-life-expectancy/

2. https://www.fairwarning.org/2017/02/top-traffic-death-states-support-trump/

3. https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog/all-americans-are-red-blooded-and-bleeding-profusely-in-all-states/

4. https://www.fairwarning.org/2017/02/grim-connection-voting-patterns-workplace-deaths/

5. https://www.citizen.org/media/press-releases/nevada-19th-state-call-constitutional-amendment-overturn-citizens-united-half

6. https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/home/crash-death-mapping-tools/

7. https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/death-clock/

8. https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/trump-clocks/