Highway fatalities down, but too many lives still lost
Although we have just entered 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has just released statistics on the fatal car accidents that occurred in the United States in 2013.
According to the new data, highway deaths decreased by 3.1 percent in 2013 from the year before. What’s even more remarkable is that the data shows that highway deaths decreased by close to 25 percent since 2004.
The data also shows that the fatality rate in 2013 has matched a historic low of 1.10 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. In 2012, the fatality rate was 1.14 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
The U.S. transportation secretary attributed the decrease in highway fatalities to a collaboration between “safety-driven individuals and organizations.”
The “Everyone Is a Pedestrian” campaign to help combat pedestrian accidents and the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” crackdown on drunk driving are two notable campaigns that the Department of Transportation sponsored in the past year.
Still, there were 32,719 people killed in car accidents in 2013, which is still an alarmingly high number. Each one of those deaths represents a family whose lives were torn apart and a community that suffered.
Families are left to pick up the pieces, emotionally and financially speaking, after losing loved ones in fatal motor vehicle accidents. Some of these families are able to gain financial restitution and emotional closure though wrongful death lawsuits, which can be filed when the fatality was caused by the negligent, careless, or reckless act of a person, company or municipality.
Even though it is great news that the overall number of highway fatalities is on the decline in the United States, there are still tens of thousands of valuable lives lost each year that should not be overlooked. Until the number of highway fatalities has been reduced to nothing, our firm will continue to stand up for the rights of those who have suffered.
Source: National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, “Roadway deaths fall nearly 25 percent in a decade, fatality rates at a historic low,” Troy Green, Dec. 19, 2014