republicans and democrats live differently and die differently, too

Correlation is not causation, but this is certainly interesting:

The nation’s red and blue states often are miles apart in social attitudes and, of course, political outlook.

It turns out that they also divide into distinct camps when it comes to a grimmer measure — fatal traffic accidents.

To an extent that mystifies safety experts and other observers, federal statistics show that people in red states are more likely to die in road crashes. The least deadly states – those with the fewest crash deaths per 100,000 people – overwhelmingly are blue.

Source: Traffic Deaths: A Surprising Dimension of the Red State-Blue State Divide | FairWarning