Traffic Accidents Are More Frequent on Tax Day The deadline for filing income tax returns can drive up the collective blood pressure of the nation. But even those who filed early may not be able to rest easy. The stress of tax day may be linked to a slight rise in fatal motor vehicle crashes, according to a study this month in The Journal of the American Medical Association. The report is the latest to link cultural events to a rise in accidents. Deaths on the road are known to climb on New Year's Eve, but also on Super Bowl Sunday - notably in the state of the losing team. In the new report, researchers at the University of Toronto collected tax deadline data from the Internal Revenue Service and reviewed all deadly motor vehicle crashes that occurred on public roadways in the United States around tax day over a 30-year period. The researchers compared crash rates on tax day with those in the weeks before and after the filing deadline. Over all, nearly 6,800 people - drivers, passengers and pedestrians - were killed in car crashes on tax day during the study period. Compared with other days, there was an increase of roughly 6 percent in fatal crashes on tax day, equivalent to an additional 13 deaths. The researchers speculated that stressful deadlines - along with sleep deprivation and "less tolerance of hassles" - led to distractions and errors on the road. According to a nationwide poll by Gallup, tax day was the second most "stressful and worrisome" day of 2011, behind April 27, the day a rash of tornadoes claimed more than 300 lives. Fatal car accidents rise on tax day, possibly because of stress and distractions.