In America people often use the saying that the only two certain things in life are that everyone will die and everyone will pay taxes. Each year in America everyone must complete and pay their taxes by a certain date known simply as tax deadline day. Having such a day which has so much negativity surrounding it obviously puts a lot of stress on people and makes them worry a lot more.
Various studies have been conducted regarding what happens around and on deadline day, one of which looked at the higher number of car accidents on the day which lead to fatalities. What the study found was that each year on tax deadline day the number of fatal accidents increases by a worrying six per cent. In any other study six per cent might not be anything to be concerned about but when it is people's lives it obviously is.
To get a good understanding of the scale of the problem the study looked into data for the previous 30 years and found that the average number of fatalities from car accidents on deadline day was 226. The study also found that on average the same day a week before or after tax deadline day would see the figure decrease by 13 fatalities to 213.
The researchers who conducted the study revealed different reasons why they thought the number of fatal accidents increased. The first and most obvious was because the deadline forced some people to rush to the post office so that they did not miss the deadline. The more likely reason though is the increased levels of stress on people which deadline day and rushing to meet the deadline creates.
There is a direct relationship between high levels of stress and poor levels of concentration. The stress which tax deadline day creates could well be causing people to not fully concentrate on their driving and this makes them more susceptible to errors. When driving there is no room for people to make costly mistakes and this is why researchers believe that fatal accidents are higher on deadline day.
Various studies have been conducted regarding what happens around and on deadline day, one of which looked at the higher number of car accidents on the day which lead to fatalities. What the study found was that each year on tax deadline day the number of fatal accidents increases by a worrying six per cent. In any other study six per cent might not be anything to be concerned about but when it is people's lives it obviously is.
To get a good understanding of the scale of the problem the study looked into data for the previous 30 years and found that the average number of fatalities from car accidents on deadline day was 226. The study also found that on average the same day a week before or after tax deadline day would see the figure decrease by 13 fatalities to 213.
The researchers who conducted the study revealed different reasons why they thought the number of fatal accidents increased. The first and most obvious was because the deadline forced some people to rush to the post office so that they did not miss the deadline. The more likely reason though is the increased levels of stress on people which deadline day and rushing to meet the deadline creates.
There is a direct relationship between high levels of stress and poor levels of concentration. The stress which tax deadline day creates could well be causing people to not fully concentrate on their driving and this makes them more susceptible to errors. When driving there is no room for people to make costly mistakes and this is why researchers believe that fatal accidents are higher on deadline day.
No comments:
Post a Comment