Tax Day Blamed for Driver Deaths

Posted on Mar 12, 2018 in Safety | 2 comments

Tax day panic

Do taxes early, stay alive!


We all know the bit about the certainty of death and taxes. While cliche, it’s absolutely true that both are darn near impossible to avoid.


We should, however, be able to avoid death and taxes happening on the same day. At least death by car accident.


A new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and reported on by Bloomberg, says traffic accidents on and around April 15 have risen an average of 6 percent for each of the last 30 years. More of those accidents resulted in fatalities than on other random days of the year.


Bloomberg says,


Even allowing Americans to file their taxes electronically hasn’t negated the crash trend, lead researcher Donald Redelmeier said. The findings suggest stress, lack of sleep, alcohol use and less tolerance to other drivers on tax deadline day may contribute to an increase in deaths on the road.


Now, I don’t mean to be insensitive here, but come on, people. It’s not like April 15 comes as a surprise to working adults. The date doesn’t just randomly appear in the middle of February and demand that taxes be done immediately. I assume the people who freak out on April 15 are the same ones who, as 5th graders, told their parents during the morning carpool that they had a school science fair project due by 9.


Since the study states the obvious fact that stressful deadlines can lead to driver error, we must make the obvious conclusion that the key to halting tax-day driver deaths is simple:


Dismantle the IRS since it causes traffic accidents.


Or, I suppose the other option is to do your taxes in February. That way, when April rolls around, you can breathe easy and remember to watch closely for traffic hazards. Don’t text while driving, make sure to buckle up, avoid alcohol (unless there’s a taxi and a Metallica concert in your future) and drive defensively as you keep on the lookout for hyped-up, stressed-out, sleep-deprived tax procrastinators.


Your life may depend on it.

2 comments

  1. panayoti

    Here in Wild Wonderful West Virginia it is EVERY day as we are surrounded by Ohio and Pennsylvania drivers. Ohio drivers with their uninspected vehicles ladened by bailing wire for their bumpers and mufflers and duct tape holding their doors and windows up or shut are by far the worst. Pennsylvania drivers who have one of the toughest inspection laws and emission standards simply don’t pay attention to the road while texting, smoking, applying makeup and turning around to scream at their kid in the back seat all while sipping their McLatte. I am not making any of this up for effect. I see it every day.

  2. Rosa Bowers

    I sure want to crash into a tree after doing my taxes.

    I found West Virginia to be a very beautiful state but, like parts of Pennsylvania, difficult to drive in because of the curvy and hilly roads. You just never seemed to be able to predict which way the road was going to turn when going over the top. I can’t say I had any problem with WV drivers but those Ohio drivers– gosh they love to cruise that left lane. Worst around here though (other than Michigan drivers) have Illinois plates, probably from Chicago. Big city driver just seem to be agreesive and mean.