Car accidents are a leading cause of death for returning troops - taking even more lives than suicide, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs.
Some suggest the driving techniques learned in a war zone don't translate well back home. USAA recently released its "Returning Warriors" study, which found:
Enlisted military members were 22% more likely to cause a wreck after returning home from deployment than before they left, compared to a 10% increased risk for noncommissioned officers and a 3.5% increased risk for officers.
But once service members had been home for six months — and had time to readjust to the rules of the American road — those accident rates declined.
"My driving style and the way we were taught was to be purely 100% aggressive. [We tried to] get from point A to point B as quickly as possible with the least amount of our casualties as possible. It was get going, be there yesterday."
The Fox station in Houston put together an interesting TV feature on troops on the road after returning home. It's at the top of this post.
