Car Crashes Spike on Election Day

Hold up! Whatever you do, do not vote this November!

Canadian researchers recently found that traffic deaths spiked on Election Day, based on an analysis of presidential elections dating back to 1976, when Jimmy Carter faced down Gerald Ford.

An average of 24 more people have died in car accidents on presidential election days than on any other Tuesday during the months of October and November, which means your chances of dying in a car accident will be 18% greater this Nov. 4.

The study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and it offers some rather convincing arguments as to why traffic fatalities and injuries rise on Election Day. For instance, more people are in a hurry, either to get to their polling place or to get back to work. Drivers may also take unfamiliar routes to reach their place of civic duty, and perhaps be distracted by the great weight of participatory democracy.

OK, so you should still vote — early if possible — because of war and taxes and climate change and individual rights and economic collapse and all that other hooey everyone's always going on about. When you do vote, though, drive carefully.

Car Crash Risk Rises on Election Days, Study Says (MSNBC)