Champions For Injured Pennsylvanians

The fatality rate in accidents is going up

On Behalf of | Oct 16, 2017 | Motor Vehicle Accidents |

A couple of months ago, we wrote a post about 2016 accident data for the state of Pennsylvania. In that post, we talked about how there were more motor vehicle accidents despite those accidents resulting in fewer deaths. This is a tremendous sign — but it is not one that is shared nationally, as a new report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed.

According to the report which details what was going on in 2016 on U.S. roads, streets and highways, there were increases in many motor vehicle accident figures — and most of them were deadly.

The report found that there were nearly 2,000 more fatalities in 2016 than there were in 2015, representing an increase of 5.6 percent year over year. In addition, motorcycle fatalities were up (257 more fatalities than 2015, an increase of 5.1 percent, pedestrian fatalities were up (492 more, an increase of 9 percent) and cycling deaths were up (11 more, an increase of 1.3 percent).

There was an important decline in a statistical category: distracted driving deaths were down by 2.2 percent.

This gives us another opportunity to talk about road safety. When another driver makes negligent decisions — such as speeding down the road, checking their cell phone while driving, or operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, among many other possible negligent behaviors — then they can be held liable for the property damage, personal injury, and pain and suffering inflicted upon the victims.

Source: NHTSA, “2016 Fatal Motor Vehicle Crashes: Overview,” Accessed Oct. 16, 2017

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