Johnson City is the most vehicle accident prone city in the country – or, so says Forbes.com this morning.
The article called “America’s Accident Capitals,” cited the most fatalities in cities, everything from poison accidents, to suffocation, and yes, motor vehicle accidents.
When looking at the numbers, naming Johnson City does not make much sense. The population is listed as 180,000. According to the 2000 census numbers, Johnson City’s population is 55,469. The numbers of deaths listed is 107. Johnson City Police say that in 2004, when the statistics were taken that forbes.com used, there were only eight fatal car crashes.
Sgt. Mark Sirois of the Johnson City Police Deptartment said, “When they said Johnson City, specifically, we were very surprised. Because of course, that doesn’t reflect the true data that we have recorded.”
After we e-mailed Forbes.com to share concern over the numbers and find out where their writers got their information, they responded, saying that the numbers were meant for the "Metropolitan Statistical Area." Which means, the whole Tri-Cities region. The Web site then changed their title, including a small disclaimer underneath "Johnson City," reading, "(Metropolitan Statistical Area*)."
The Johnson City Police Department wants to set the record straight.
When it comes to the real numbers, The Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Crash Fatality Ranking lists Washington County, including Johnson City, as number 86 out of 95. The Johnson City Police said that is the lowest ten percent in this category.
In 2004, Johnson City had eight fatal crashes. In 2007, there were ten. Kingsport reported 21 fatalities in 2004, which is the year Forbes.com used for the Study. The Model City’s fatalities have dropped since then, down to seven in 2007. Bristol, Tennessee had some of the lowest numbers: four fatal crashes in 2004, and only two in 2007. Bristol, Virginia had one vehicle accident fatality in 2004, and three in 2007.
Click on the icon above for the report that aired on News Channel 11 at 6.
MSN: America's Accident Capitals
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100218382>1=31036
Forbes.com: In Pictures: America's Accident Capitals
http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/20/accidents-pharmacuticals-drugs-biz-healthcare-cx_wp_1020deathcities_slide_3.html?thisSpeed=15000
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