Why Do Fatal Car Accidents Continue to Rise?
Posted November 4th, 2016 by Anthony Carbone, PC.
Categories: Auto Accidents.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recently released numbers on fatal auto accidents in the United States for the first half of 2016 and it doesn’t look good. What these numbers show are a disturbing trend — there was a 10.4 percent increase in 2016 over the number of fatalities during the same time period in 2015. And unfortunately, this trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down in the second half of 2016.
Unfortunately, 2015 had been the first major increase in traffic fatalities in five decades, a 7.2 percent increase over 2014. NHTSA predicts that once again we should see another increase in fatal car accidents for 2016. But why such a rise in accidents? According to the NHTSA, the reason is because of job growth and lower gas prices. However, when you look at the causes of these accidents, you see a disturbing trend — many of these accidents could have been prevented:
- Impaired driving, up 3.2 percent
- Distracted driving, up 8.8 percent
- Unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants, up 4.9 percent
- Speeding, up 3.0 percent
- Drowsy driving, the only cause that decreased in 2015 by 3.2 percent
Fortunately, plans are being made to cut down these numbers. In an effort to combat fatal car accidents, the NHTSA recently teamed up with the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier and the National Safety Council to create the “Road to Zero”Coalition. The goal of this program is to end traffic fatalities within the next 30 years. In fact, the Department of Transportation has committed $1 million a year for the next three years to provide grants to organizations working on lifesaving programs. The program will focus on the “4 E’s” — education, engineering, enforcement and Emergency Medical Services to help drive down fatalities on our highways. A similar program was created by Sweden in 1997 called “Vision Zero.” Since then, a growing number of state and cities have adopted “Zero” fatality visions. Hopefully this program will be successful so we don’t have any more lives lost.
If you lost a family member as a result of a car accident caused by a negligent driver, you’re going to need legal assistance. Contact the Law Offices of Anthony Carbone today for a free consultation.
