Forbes.com; ‘Johnson City #1 For Motor Vehicle Accidents’
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Johnson City #1 for car accidents?
Forbes.com lists Johnson City as the nation's top city for motor vehicle accidents. They talk about Johnson City, but it's really supposed to be the whole Tri-Cities region. JC Police give the real...
Dana Wachter/WJHL
Forbes.com ranked Johnson City, TN as #1 for motor vehicle accidents. They say the ranking is for the whole Tri-Cities region. The Web site added a “(Metropolitan Statistical Area*)“ disclaimer after News Channel 11 brought up the discrepancy.
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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I have to correct myself, slightly. I found the US Department of Transportation statistics for 2007. There were a total of 43 deaths in Washington, Carter and Unicoi county combined. This is up from 32 in 2006, but is still much less than the 107 claimed by Forbes. The Forbes figure is 250% higher than the actual statistic. This isn’t just a simple error, it’s slander.
Even when looking at the comparison tables by county for Tennessee and looking at the deaths per 100,000 population, neither Johnson City nor the tri-county area come close to being the worst in Tennessee, let alone the nation. Forbes should print a retraction and apologize.
While it is truly tragic when people die in an accident, and I don’t want to upset the persons above who, I’m sure are rightfully outraged over dangerous conditions in a particular area, this explanation does not hold water. Even if you look at the total fatalities for Washington County, Carter County and Unicoi County combined for 2006 (the latest year for which the National Highway and Traffic Safety Board has published statistics), the total deaths are 14 in Washington, 14 in Carter and 4 in Unicoi. The total of 32 is nowhere near the outrageous number of 107 claimed by the Forbes.com article. Johnson City should demand a retraction presented with at least as much fanfare as the original posting (which was a lead article on MSN.com) There are some dangerous spots in and around Johnson City, but 107 fatalities is just ridiculous.
Ahh come on you know the Insurance companys get this stuff printed so they can point to it and raise your insurance rates.
Just like the Dr. that are saying to stop doing knee operations on old people. The knee operations take away a lot of pain but are expensive. So the insurance company from and paid some DR. to agree with them so they can save money.
TIP : DON’T GET OLD
Are the roads here dangerous?
Lets ask the 6-8 DEAD MOTORCYCLE RIDERS hit and killed by the drivers of cars and trucks in the last 90 days and I bet they would say, from their GRAVES that YES it is.
I’m just outside the City Limit. I have lived here at this address since 1991 and 50 years of driving including 6 yrs. as and OTR simi driver. There has been more wrecks within 750ft of my home in 18 yrs. than in my life time. Some has been fatal.This is a two lane county road. All have been drivers fault. People here drive with no respect of others , speeding,driving
over the line and road conditions. There was even a county deputy involved in one.
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