Car Accident Statistics in the US
Being in a car accident can cause unwanted consequences that vary in severity. This can include permanent injuries, loss of income, and much more. So, why not learn what is the most common causes of car accidents and avoid them if you can? Law firms like Wieand Law Firm LLC certainly want to help you avoid needing a car accident injury lawyer in Philadelphia, PA.
Some of these causes are going to seem redundant, and possibly obvious, but that doesn’t mean that every driver knows about these causes. This list is to educate drivers of all age levels and experience levels.
In the United States alone, there’s an estimated 6 million car accidents yearly. That’s about 16,438 per day. In these stats we have to touch on the number of Americans that are estimated to die in car crashes per year—the number is 37,000, 90+ people die a day due to car accidents.
Even worse, there’s an estimated 3 million people who are injured or disabled annually, due to car accidents. Road crashes are actually the top cause of death of healthy United States citizens who are traveling abroad, too. This is most likely because of the road law changes.
When it comes to statistics involving children, 1,600 children who are under the age of 15 years old die in crashes each year—and nearly 8,000 people killed in crashes are between the ages of 16 and 20. It’s stated that teen drivers aged 16 to 19 are three times more likely to be in car crashes, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. This study even found that teen drivers are at a greater risk for car accidents than elderly people, and that 12.2% of vehicle crashes are caused by teen driving, while 7.5% are caused by elderly drivers.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that during 2016 alone, 89.6% of drivers were properly buckled up, meaning there were roughly 10% of drivers who did not wear their seat belt properly or at all. People who do not wear their seat belt are 30 times more likely to be thrown out of the car during an accident, and it is more likely to be fatal. Seatbelts actually cut the risk of serious injury in half and the risk of death by 45%, not quite half but enough that you should take wearing your seatbelt more seriously.
The common causes of accidents that result in death are: drunk driving, at 40% of all drunk driving accidents ending in death; speeding with 30% of all speeding accidents ending in death, and irresponsible driving with 33% of all irresponsible driving accidents ending in death.
Distracted driving is the number one cause of car accidents in the United States today. It’s important to know that an estimated 1.6 million car crashes are caused by the use of a cell phone while driving—1 out of every 4 motor vehicle accidents is caused by texting and driving.