To hear what some of the latest surveys show comparing states on various matters, our beloved Arkansas sounds like a treacherous place. Yet to those of us who call this friendly and comfortable state our home, it seems anything but ominous.

A report by industrial safety experts EDGE Fall Protection, based on analysis of 2022 data from the FBI, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, really gets me by proclaiming that Arkansas is the fourth most dangerous state.

It lists 645 incidents of violent crime per 100,000 people in Arkansas--well above the U.S. average of 368.7. Arkansas also has 21 traffic fatalities per 100,000--far higher than the U.S. average of 13.3, as well as 2.44 fatal workplace accidents per 100,000, far exceeding the U.S. average of 1.94.

No. 1 is what I would have guessed: It seems our nation's crime-infested District of Columbia (D.C.) was determined to officially be the most dangerous in America (why can't they clean that perpetual cesspool up? For another column).

"D.C. has the highest rate of violent crime in the whole of the U.S., with 812 incidents of violent crime per 100,000 people recorded in 2022--higher than any other state in America. DC also........

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