Be Aware: The Most Dangerous Day and Time to be a Pedestrian in Montana
One of the most memorable scenes in any book I've read was when Stephen King wrote in his memoir about being hit by a driver while he was out for a walk near his home in Maine.
It's one of those stories that sticks with me when I'm out walking. Recently, I've started running outdoors and I was just talking to a few running friends about getting reflective gear so that vehicles will see me if it's dark out.
I came across a study that looked at exactly the best time of day and day of the week to be a pedestrian in Montana and it has me wondering if I should change my running schedule.
How Safe is Montana for Pedestrians?
With fewer roads than other places around the country, you might assume that Montana is pretty safe for pedestrians.
Murphy & Prachthauser used crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to determine how safe Montana and other states are for pedestrians.
Montana is right in the middle: 21st safest state for pedestrians according to their study.
But what may be more interesting is the day that is safest for pedestrians in Montana: Wednesday. This wasn't consistent across all states. For quite a few the safest day was Sunday.
The Most Dangerous Day and Time for Pedestrians in Montana
As for the most dangerous day, the study indicated that in a lot of states, the least safe day for pedestrians was Fridays and Saturdays. This makes some sense because that's when more people are out socializing, and unfortunately, driving under the influence. But in Montana, the least safe day for pedestrians was Tuesday. The most dangerous time was 6:00 - 7:00 pm.
I don't have any good guess as to why Tuesdays in Montana are the most dangerous for pedestrians but it could be that 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm is dangerous because it's getting darker outside but not dark yet so walkers and runners may not have reflective gear on and drivers may have not turned their headlights on yet.
I'm not sure if this data will change my running schedule, but I will look into getting some reflective gear, just to be on the safe side.
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Gallery Credit: Derek Wolf