How healthy is Colorado? The state has long been thought of as one of the healthiest states in the country. Residents here enjoy an active lifestyle and generally eat better than other Americans. They take better care of their weight, their health, and their families. This year, Colorado still made the list of healthiest states, although it fell slightly. The 2018 America’s Health Rankings listed Colorado as the 8th overall healthiest state in the country. Hawaii, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and Utah were the top 5 healthiest states.
For the past 29 years, the America’s Health Rankings report has been conducted. This report includes a variety of factors to overall health, including obesity, cancer rates, children in poverty and high school graduation. According to this year’s report, Colorado residents had lower obesity, lower cancer death rates, and fewer children in poverty. Over the past 5 years, Colorado residents have decreased smoking by 6% and the number of children in poverty has also decreased 35%.
There is room for improvement, however. The state scored lower on low birthweight babies, lower high school graduates, and a higher rate of whooping cough. Chlamydia in the state has also increased by 19% over the last 5 years.
Further Reading: Kids, Car Seats and Winter Coats: What Parents Need to Know
Colorado and Car Accidents
One area of health that wasn’t discussed in the study was car accident rates. A new study conducted by the financial news and opinion site 24/7 Wall St. found that Colorado ranked 31st in the country for deadliest roads. Overall there were 11 road deaths per 100,000 and 44% of those fatal crashes occurred on rural Colorado roads. This is largely due to the fact that rural roads tend to have higher speed limits and are often lined with trees. When a car runs off the road, there is more likelihood of that car hitting a tree or a pole at a high rate of speed, often resulting in fatalities.
Yet, Colorado drivers do seem to be trying to drive safer. 84% of drivers used their seat belts when driving. This number could increase drastically if Colorado enacted a primary seat belt law. As it stands, Colorado’s seat belt law is a secondary offense. This means that an officer cannot stop a car and ticket the driver simply for not wearing their seat belt. They must be stopped for another offense before they can receive a ticket for a seat belt violation. A primary offense law would make it mandatory for all drivers to wear their seat belts or they could be pulled over and ticketed.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, if every state with secondary enforcement of their safety belt laws switched to primary enforcement, 242 fewer people would have died in 2016.
Contact Our Pueblo Car Accident Lawyers
If you or someone you love has been injured in a car accident, do you know what to do? Call Pueblo attorney Smith & Smith, today for a FREE CONSULTATION – (719) 544-0062. We can help answer your questions and review all of your legal options with you. You don’t have to suffer alone – call us today!
