Making driving in California safer
Improvements in vehicle safety have dramatically reduced the number of road related deaths over the last several decades. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, enacting regulations like seat belt requirements in cars has saved an annual average of more than 11,000 lives annually between 1960 and 2012. However, safety regulations aren’t the only way that traffic deaths can be reduced.
The less time that people spend on the road, the less likely that they are to get into an accident. Reducing someone’s commute to work, even by just a mile, can dramatically lower their risks of being in a car accident.
If people live six miles away from work, they will have to travel 500 miles more than someone that lives five miles away from work, assuming they work the standard 250 days a year. This means that their chances of being in an accident drop from one in 36,500 to one in 30,400 just by shortening their commute. If 100 million Americans made the choice to live one mile closer to work, it has been estimated that it could reduce traffic related deaths by 1.7 percent annually.
Even with technological advances, motor vehicle accidents will continue to be caused by impaired or otherwise negligent drivers, often resulting in serious injuries to others who are on the road at the time. An injured victim might want to meet with a personal injury attorney to discuss how to proceed. After a review of the accident investigation report and other evidence, legal counsel might find it advisable to pursue compensation on the victim’s behalf through a lawsuit filed against the responsible motorist.