The numbers are grim and getting grimmer. More Americans die every year from preventable traffic accidents.
According to the National Safety Council, U.S. car accidents killed as many as 40,000 people in 2016. That number is a 14% jump from the NSC’s 2014 statistics, the biggest shift over a two-year period in over fifty years.
These incidents cause tragic fatalities, injuries, and properties damage, costing those involved a good chunk of change. The best way to prevent them is to investigate: what causes accidents?
Distracted Driving
Distracted driving might seem innocuous, but activities such as crying, grabbing objects, and interacting with others while driving lead to over 1,000 accidents every day in the United States. Of those accidents, 9 are fatal.
Research from New Virginia Tech indicates that those participating in the above activities double their chances of getting in an accident. Tom Dingus, who led the study, commented that we need to take measures to prevent distracted driving, or “those who represent the next generation of drivers will only continue to be at greater risk for a crash.”
Bottom line: keep your eyes on the road!
Speeding
Americans like to get where they’re going fast. That’s why speeding annually causes almost a third of traffic accidents, 28% in 2014 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. These accidents kill almost 10,000 people each year.
Speeding accidents cost serious money; those involved shell out over $40 billion annually. Each state’s State Traffic Commission and each city’s Legal Traffic Authority sets their limits with safety in mind– so it’s smart to listen to them.
Shaving a few seconds off the daily commute isn’t worth the price tag, in more ways than one.
Drunk Driving
Drunk driving=bad. Education about this issue has helped reduce the amount of alcohol-related vehicle fatalities 65% since 1982.
Yet despite progress, 10,265 of the 35,092 fatal car accidents in the U.S. in 2015 involved a person whose blood alcohol level was above the limit. 19% of traffic deaths for children aged 0-14 in 2014 were linked to an alcohol-impaired driver.
Driving under the influence clearly still presents a problem. Fight that invincible feeling and call a cab, take a bus, or ask a sober friend for a ride.
Distracted, drunk, and too-fast driving represent the three biggest threats to American traffic safety. Think twice before taking any of these risks– it may save a life.