How Many People Die Of Car Accidents

How Many People Die In Car Accidents Each Day

The most recent data available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that there were 6,296,000 police-reported traffic crashes in the United States. This translates into approximately 17,250 car crashes each day nationwide. Thousands of drivers and passengers are killed each year in America in traffic-related accidents. Damages from motor vehicle crashes include physical injuries, property damage, emotional damages, and financial losses.

Facts + Statistics: Mortality Risk

According to the CDC data and reports, in 2020:

• The top threeleading causes of deathin the United States were heart disease, cancer, and COVID-19.
• The U.S. had nearly 92,000 drug overdose deaths. The top states for the number ofdrug poisoning deathswere California, Florida, and Ohio. However, the states that had the most drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 people were West Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Kentucky.
• The states with the highest death rate from firearmswere Mississippi, Louisiana, and Wyoming, while the states with the most deaths were Texas, California, and Florida. The total number of firearm deaths in 2020 was 45,000.

Dangerous Roads And Intersections In Hernando County

Although the number of traffic accidents and fatalities may not be as high in Hernando County as they are in other parts of the state, this area still has some extremely dangerous intersections and roads. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, in 2010, the most dangerous roads in the county were:

• Interstate 75, near State Road 50, was the most dangerous section of road for that year, with 154 accidents, 44 injuries, and two fatalities.
• State Road 50 consistently remains as the most dangerous road in Hernando County. This roadway had three of the four most crash-heavy intersections in 2009.
• Lastly, due to the fact that U.S. 98 and Citrus Way has been dubbed, the infamous intersection, officials are planning a roundabout to stem the flow of traffic deaths.

Motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians should all be extremely careful when traveling on these roads in order to reduce the number of accidents and deaths.

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Us Accidents Statistics: An Eye Opener

It is a fact that car accidents are one of the leading causes of death in the United States. The statistics below will show you just how common car accidents are in America.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , in 2019, there were 36,120 road accident fatalities. In 2020, road crashes increased by 10.5% to 38,824 in numbers. The increase in the number of fatalities when compared to 2005 is the highest recorded in the history of the Fatality Analysis Reporting System .

As per the WHO reports, 29% of traffic crash fatalities were caused due to car accidents. This is the highest percentage among other vehicles including motor vehicles and three-wheeler occupants contributing to 28%.

According to theAssociation of Safe International Road Travel , the United States is at the top of all road accidents and fatalities. The incidence is about 50% higher than that in other high-income countries.ASIRT also reports that, tragically, in America 12.4 people die out of 100,000 in car accidents each year.

Data published byReuters in 2021 shows that traffic fatalities in the United States are the highest they have been since 2005.

The National Safety Council reports that, although there were fewer vehicles on the road in March 2020 due to COVID-19, the fatality rate increased14%.

Q: What Are The Most Common Times For Car Accidents To Occur

According to the National Highway Traffic Administration , car accidents occur every minute of the day. Yes, you read that correctly. Every minute of every day, someone is involved in a car accident.

While not all of these accidents result in a fatality, the overwhelming majority of them result in some type of injury, property damage or legal litigation.

If you have been injured in an accident, contact the Harrisburg, PA car accident lawyers at Schmidt Kramer for legal representation by calling today.

The vehicle insurance industry estimates all motorists are likely to be involved in at least four auto accidents in his or her lifetime. Additionally, very young or novice drivers are more likely to be involved in a car accident, as opposed to more experienced drivers.

Other factors that may also increase the risk of being involved in an car accident are:

• Driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Speeding Nearly one-third of all car accidents are caused by someone driving over the speed limit or driving too fast for the current weather and/or road conditions
• Driving while distracted which includes texting, eating, applying make-up or any other behavior that takes a drivers attention away from the road

• Monday 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Tuesday 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Wednesday 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Thursday 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• Friday 9:00 p.m. to midnight
• Saturday midnight to 3:00 a.m.
• Sunday midnight to 3:00 a.m.

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Time Of Fatal Car Crashes

The deadliest month for car crashes in California during 2013 was October. January had the fewest recorded fatal crashes.

Saturdays and Sundays produced the most fatal crashes in California. The fewest car crash deaths occurred on Wednesdays.

More fatal California crashes occurred between noon and midnight than between midnight and noon. The largest number of fatal crashes was recorded between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

The fewest number of fatal crashes was recorded between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.

Pedestrian And Bicyclist Deaths In 2016

In addition to accidents that involve only motor vehicles, the NHTSA tracks vehicle-related deaths that involve pedestrians and pedalcyclists. In 2016, 5,987 pedestrian fatalities were reported nationwide. During the same year, 840 pedalcyclist fatalities were reported nationwide.

Visit our firms website for more information on the different types of injury and auto accident cases we handle.

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Accidents Are The Third Leading Cause Of Death

According to the CDC, accidents, or unintentional injuries, are listed as the third most common cause of death, behind heart disease and cancer. Regarding unnatural death, they are the leading culprit. And for those under age 54, it is the leading cause of fatality.

But accidents in this category include work-related fatalities, car accident fatalities, and other types of accidents.

Car Accidents And Distracted Driving

35 In 2017, 3,166 people were killed due to distracted driving, according to the most recent distracted driving statistics.

36 Approximately 481,000 drivers are using their phones while driving daily.

37 Every day, about 9 people are killed and more than 1,000 injured in crashes involving a distracted driver.

38 In 2015, 391,000 people were injured due to distracted driving.

39 Drivers under 20 years old have the highest proportion of fatal accidents related to distracted driving.

40 As of June 2017, handheld phone use is banned for drivers in 14 states and the District of Columbia, while texting while driving is banned in 46 states and the District of Columbia.

41 Phone use is a major distraction from driving. On average, it takes most people 5 seconds to take their eyes off the road to read or send a text. At 55 mph, that equates to driving the full length of a football field with your eyes closed.

42 Handheld phone use among drivers decreased from 3.8 percent in 2015 to 3.3 percent in 2016.

43 It takes only 3 seconds after a driver has been distracted for a crash to occur.

44 A teens risk of fatal crash doubles if they have one passenger. If two or more are present, their risk increases to five times.

45 One percent of distracted driving accidents are due to lighting or putting out a cigarette while driving.

46 62 percent of distracted driving collisions are caused by drivers letting their mind wander off the road.

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Getting Drivers To Stop Texting

A number of insurance companies offer apps to monitor distracted driving and reward good driving with discounts, which can incentivize drivers to put their phones down and pay attention to the road.

One such example is the KnowYourDrive App from American Family. This app encourages drivers to become safer behind the wheel by offering up to a 20% discount on car insurance based on how safe they drive.

Other insurers, including Nationwide, Progressive, State Farm and Safeco, offer similar apps and usage-based car insurance discounts. Taking advantage of these opportunities can organically lead to safer habits behind the wheeland help curb texting and driving.

What To Do After A Car Accident

The moments after a car accident can be scary and uncertain. If you are involved in a collision, the following checklist may be helpful.

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Greece Had The Highest Share Of Motorcyclists Among Road Fatalities In 2020

In countries where cycling is widespread, such as the Netherlands or Denmark, it comes as no surprise that cyclists account for a larger share of fatalities than in countries where cycling is less common. Figure 4 shows that cyclists accounted for 30.7 % of all road accident deaths in the Netherlands in 2020, followed by Belgium with 17.1 %. At the other end of the scale, cyclists represented 1.7 % of all road accident deaths in Estonia in 2020. It has to be noted that there was no road accident death involving cyclists registered in Malta in 2019 .

Greece had the highest share of motorcyclists among the road fatalities in the EU, ahead of Cyprus and Luxembourg . The remaining two-wheeled category mopeds accounted for 7.5 % of all road accident fatalities in Slovenia, a slightly larger share than the next highest country .

As suggested earlier, the health situation led to a drop in the number of fatalities registered in 2020. However, the number of pedestrians killed in road accidents can still be considered as relatively high: in 2020, around 3 612 pedestrians were killed in road accidents in the EU, accounting for 19.2 % of all fatalities. However, this share varies considerably between countries, from around 6.8 % in the Netherlands to 35.7 % in Romania. It was above or around 30 % in Malta , Latvia and Lithuania .

Accidents with goods vehicles claimed 1 108 lives among their occupants in 2020 . More than 60 % of these fatalities involved light goods vehicles .

Is There A Way To Stop Crash Fatalities

There is a program called Vision Zero that seeks to reduce road fatalities to zero. The basis of this project is that even though people make mistakes, all road deaths are preventable. Systems should be in place that ensure that serious injuries and deaths dont occur just because someone made a mistake. This project was first passed in Sweden, where it has successfully reduced road deaths.

This project uses varying different approaches to actually accomplish its goal. First, speed limits are often set in a way that is safe for pedestrians, as they represent a huge number of vehicle-related deaths. For instance, the highest speed that the average human body can tolerate is 19 mph. Therefore, in urban areas, the speed limit is often set at 19 mph.

Second, well-designed cars can handle a speed of 43 mph for frontal impacts and 31 mph for side impacts. Speed limits are set accordingly.

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The Impact Of Car Crashes

While it is clear that car crashes can cause injury or death, they also have an emotional impact on those involved. Car crash survivors can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and be fearful of future car usage. Between 21% and 67% of motor vehicle crash survivors experience depressive mood, and nearly 50% experience anxiety and driving phobia following a crash, according to a study.

Economically, hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent between service workers dispatched to the crash, medical expenses, damages and lawsuits. The estimated total cost of U.S. car crashes in 2020 was $474 billion, according to the National Safety Council.

Why Do Road Crashes Occur

Road crashes occur for a variety of different reasons they dont just happen because of bad driving.

For instance, a lack of maintenance on the vehicles often causes accidents, especially old tires. Poor road infrastructure, a lack of road laws, and a lack of enforcement also cause many accidents.

In some cases, a lack of proper post-crash care can cause deaths that wouldnt have occurred otherwise. These arent necessarily caused by the cars themselves, but these deaths are affected by the area in which they occur. This problem may be why lower-income countries tend to have more fatalities in car accidents.

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Car Accident Statistics By State

Texas has the most fatal collisions of any state 3,874 people were killed in car accidents throughout the state. However, Texas also has the second-largest population of any state.

Adjusted for population, Mississippi has the most fatal car accidents per capita at 25 crashes per 100,000 people living in the state. Massachusetts has the fewest at five per 100,000 people.

Another important factor is the number of miles driven in a state per year. South Carolina has 1.97 fatal crashes per million miles driven, the highest rate in the country. Massachusetts has the fewest fatal accidents based on mileage at 0.33 per million miles.

Quick Car Accident Statistics

To give you a general idea of the rate of accidents, we start by looking at some quick accident statistics:

• An average human being will likely crash their car between three and four times in a lifetime.
• Most car accidents happen within minutes of a drivers home.
• When you drive and speak on your cellphone, you increase your chances of getting into a car crash by 400%.
• Car accidents are the leading killer of children under the age of 15 in the U.S.
• On average, one pedestrian dies from a car crash every 88 minutes.

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How Texting And Driving Affects Car Insurance Rates

Car insurance rates are calculated for each driver based on a number of risk factors, including your ZIP code, the make and model of your vehicle, your driving history and your claims history. Drivers with traffic ticket convictionssuch as for texting and driving, reckless driving or speedingtend to pay more on average than drivers with clean records.

If youre caught texting and driving, that ticket or fine on your record can result in higher car insurance rates. And, depending on the circumstances in which you were caught, the rate increase could be substantial.

But its not just the texting and driving offenders who are facing higher rates for their car insurance. Drivers across the board are paying higher premiums because of widespread texting and driving, even if they arent the ones taking risks behind the wheel.

Distracted driving is likely the largest area of insurance losses over the past five years, and many companies have begun to react to this, says Ezra Peterson, senior director of sales at Way.com, a car-focused software platform. Some estimates place the premium surcharge range around 6% to 8% for the total market, meaning every single insured person is paying that much more just due to this behavior.

Major Causes Of Car Accidents

According to recent car accident statistics, the leading cause of accidents is distracted driving. This includes looking at a mobile phone, changing the music, or interacting with others in the car.

Speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs are also major causes of car accidents and fatalities.

Other lesser causes of accidents include driving while tired or emotionally unstable, not wearing a seatbelt, and driving at night or during hazardous conditions such as heavy rain, snow, or fog.

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Accidents By Driver Behavior

One of the most critical factors contributing to car accidents is the behavior of the driver. While bad road conditions and the weather can contribute to car accidents, the reality is that the way a driver reacts to these conditions has a bearing on whether the accidents occur or not.

Speeding is the number one cause of fatal crashes, according to the NHTSA. For over two decades, nearly one-third of all road vehicle accidents resulted from speeding.

Alcohol, drugs, or medication contribute to about 10% of fatal crashes. Failure to stay in the right lane and failure to yield the right of way, account for 14% of fatal crashes.

Ever since the introduction of mobiles phones, distracted driving has become a massive focus for experts looking into car crashes. Distracted driving behavior, such as using a mobile phone to talk or send a message while driving, contributes to about 5% of fatal crashes.

Drowsy driving is also a significant cause of fatal road crashes. The NHTSA estimates that this factor was responsible for 795 deaths in 2017.