Automobile Accident Statistics:
For Americans, the number of car accidents occurring each year is proportional to the number of cars on the road, which to date, has increased steadily. According to automobile accident statistics, individuals over the age of twenty-five have largely been involved in at least one car accident in their life. Commonly, the number of accidents involving cars on the roadway exceeds six (6) million, which injure an estimated three (3) million drivers annually. Of these injuries, nearly two-thirds result in permanent injuries for victims, and each year, an average of about forty thousand individuals die on American roadways, which is lower than it has been in the past, sadly.
If you are a resident in the state of Illinois or Missouri and have been involved in a car accident, consulting with an attorney is wise decision. The question is what attorney? Who do I use? Typically, an attorney will advise you about your legal rights, as well as represent any legal interests you decide to pursue. In many cases, you may be eligible to make a claim for compensation due to damages you incurred during a crash which may include anything from medical to vehicle costs, as well as lost wages among other things. Most attorneys will be able to provide a free consultation session with you to determine your legal options from the onset.
Typical compensation claims will include at least one and potentially all of the following, including:
• Lost income
• Repair or replacement of vehicle
• Medical expenses, both immediately after the incident and into the future
• Medication costs
• Rehabilitation costs
• Other costs associated with property damages
• Pain and suffering, as well as other forms of emotional and psychological distress
Consulting with an attorney because you were involved in a car accident in Illinois or Missouri requires that you do so quickly due to the state’s statutes of limitations laws including filing suits against responsible parties following an accident. Failing to take appropriate timely action within the statute of limitations will result in an otherwise valid claim being barred forever. Contact a trial attorney at M. REID LEGAL SOLUTIONS, L.L.C., immediately to see is you might be entitled to compensaiton as the result of someone elses negligence.
National Level Car Accident Statistics:
Getting behind the wheel is such a common activity that we rarely think about the risk of being involved in a serious car accident. Every year, thousands of people are killed in car accidents across the country. An auto accident can lead to serious injuries that are sometimes fatal.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a report containing the most recent statistics regarding traffic fatalities in the United States. The information is from 2007 and it gives a grim picture of the seriousness of car accidents.
In recognition of how serious car crashes can be, the federal government has kept statistics on them since the 1960s. Thanks to increased awareness and improvements in technology, national injury and fatality rates have gone down since that time. But auto accidents are still the leading cause of death among Americans aged two to 34, according to a 2004 report from the federal National Center for Health Statistics.
In 2006, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, auto accidents killed 42,642 Americans and injured 2.5 million more. That’s a rate of 1.42 deaths for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled, and 14.24 deaths for every 100,000 Americans. Someone in the United States died in a car crash every 12 minutes in 2006, for a total of 117 every day. And the cost to our economy from crashes topped $230 billion that year.
Vehicular accidents pose a serious threat to the public and auto accident statistics are the leading cause of death for persons under the age of 34. Judging from the available auto accident statistics, all Americans will be involved in at least one car accident in their lifetimes.
Nearly 43,000 people died in car accidents in 2002, according to auto accident statistics available through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This figure has increased by 1.5% from the previous year. Although the number of traffic-related injures has declined from 3.03 million to 2.92 million, auto accident statistics show that the number of fatalities due to drunk driving has steadily increased. More than one-quarter of Americans have been involved in a car accident in the last five years.
Additional auto accident statistics:
• About 26% of drivers have been involved in a car crash in the last five years.
• There were 17,419 alcohol-related fatalities in 2002.
• More than half the fatalities reported –59%–were not wearing seatbelts.
• Deaths from rollover crashes totaled 82%.
• For the past five years, motorcycle fatalities have been steadily increasing.
• Deaths of motorcyclists aged 50 and over have climbed by 26%.
Every 13 minutes, there is a death caused by a motor vehicle accident. Auto accident statistics show that Americans from the ages of 1-33 are more likely to die from a car accident than from anything else. On the other side of the spectrum, elderly adults aged 75 and up are most affected by motor vehicle crashes. The good news is fatalities of children seven and under have dropped, most likely due to safety seats. Also, pedestrian deaths have declined by 1.9 percent.
Most car accidents are entirely preventable. Recent auto accident statistics reveal that the drivers involved in accidents are most likely distracted, tired or possibly drunk. The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration reports that most drivers engage in activities that take their attention away from the road. These activities include:
• Talking with other passengers: 81%
• Playing with the radio or CD: 66%
• Eating or drinking: 49%
• Using a cell phone: 25%
Illinois Auto Accident Statistics:
GENERAL
1,043 persons died in crashes in Illinois during 2008.
An additional 94,021 persons were injured in crashes.
Travel decreased by 1.6 percent compared to the previous year.
The mileage death rate decreased by 14.7 percent from 2007 to 2008.
ECONOMIC COSTS*
The total estimated cost of crashes in Illinois for 2008 was $6.2 billion.
Each fatality was estimated to cost $1,200,000.
An incapacitating injury (“A” injury) was estimated to cost $67,500.
A nonincapacitating evident injury (“B” injury) was estimated to cost $21,800.
A possible injury (“C” injury) was estimated to cost $12,400.
A property damage crash was estimated to cost $7,800.
FATAL
Among all Illinois motor vehicle accident deaths, about 53% were due to roadway departures, 26% were intersection related, 13% fatalities in crashes involving large trucks, and 209 non-motorist (pedestrians and bicyclists) fatalities. Of 1453 motorists killed in motor-vehicle crashes 50% were passenger car occupants and 23% were light truck passengers. If you or a loved one had been injured or killed in a car crash, you are not alone.
1,043 persons were killed in 950 fatal crashes in 2008.
There was an average of 1.1 deaths per fatal crash.
25.2 percent of the fatal crashes occurred at intersections.
74.3 percent of the fatal crashes occurred on dry roadways.
48.2 percent of the fatal crashes occurred during daylight hours.
55.7 percent of the fatal crashes occurred on urban roadways.
29.8 percent of the fatal crashes involved a collision with a fixed object.
ALCOHOL
44.0 percent of all fatally injured drivers who were tested had a positive Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC).
49.3 percent of the fatally injured drivers 16-24 years of age who were tested had a positive BAC.
PEDESTRIAN
135 pedestrians were killed in 2008.
An additional 5,423 pedestrians were injured in crashes.
Almost 9 percent of the pedestrians killed were under 15 years of age.
Almost 15 percent of the pedestrians killed were 65 years of age or older.
Of the fatally injured pedestrians who were tested, 39.3 percent had a positive BAC.
* Based on estimates made by the National Safety Council for 2008. The estimated costs are a measure of the dollars spent and income not received because of crashes, injuries, and fatalities. The 2008 estimated cost of crashes in Illinois was calculated by using injury severity and costs for those particular injuries. In previous years, it was calculated using the cost of all non-disabling injuries and the overall number of injuries.
Contact us at M. REILD LEGAL SOLUTIONS, L.L.C., immediately to set up a free consultation and speak with a trained personal injury attorney to determine if you are entitled to compensation for injuries you received as the result of an automobile accident in Illinois.
Missouri Auto Accident Statistics:
In Missouri, accidents on the road killed nearly 1,100 people in 2006, including 63 in Kansas City and 47 in St. Louis, according to the NHTSA. And despite all of our technological and public-awareness progress, the fatality rate in Missouri actually went up by five percent between 1975 and 2006. Just over half, 54%, of those who died in a Missouri traffic accident in 2006 were drivers or passengers in cars. But another 32.8% were in light trucks (mostly pickups, SUVs and minivans), and 9.2% were on motorcycles.
In 2006, 46% of all Missouri fatalities came from a crash where somebody had been drinking. Among drivers who died in Missouri crashes, 40% had been drinking at least a little. Similarly, Missouri drivers were speeding in 42.9% of all fatal accidents. And 76 Missouri pedestrians died in a traffic accident in 2006, a rate of 1.3 deaths for every 100,000 people in our state.
Nationally, statistics show that one form of irresponsible driving often comes packaged with others. The NHTSA’s 2006 statistics show that among drivers killed in traffic accidents, those who died with the most alcohol in their blood were the most likely to have a previous crash, speeding conviction, DWI or license suspension on their records. Among drivers whose blood-alcohol concentration was 0.08% or higher (making them legally drunk in Missouri), 23% of those killed had license suspensions or revocations, and another 23% had speeding convictions.
Fourteen percent of these drivers had prior crashes and eight percent had DWI convictions. Even those drivers who were not over the legal limit, but who were intoxicated, were more likely to have these things on their records than drivers who died with no alcohol in their blood at all.
Motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians are particularly vulnerable on the road, because they don’t have seat belts, airbags and steel frames to protect them from the physical impact of a traffic crash. Statistics show that motorcyclists are 37 times more likely to die in a crash than drivers; they accounted for 11% of fatalities in crashes in 2006. In Missouri, 93 motorcyclists died in crashes in 2006. Of these, 18.9% weren’t wearing legally required helmets, and 43% had at least some alcohol in their blood.
The same year, pedestrian deaths accounted for 11.2% of traffic fatalities nationwide and 6.9% of fatalities in Missouri. Nationally, bicyclists were 1.8% of all traffic fatalities, whereas in Missouri, they accounted for 0.06%. Children 14 and younger, who are most likely to be on foot, on bicycles or incorrectly restrained in a vehicle, accounted for 4% of all traffic fatalities, 7% of pedestrian deaths and 13% of cyclist deaths.
Authorities agree that drivers could avoid most auto accidents by paying close attention to the road and avoiding dangerous behaviors like speeding and drinking. But even the best driver in the world isn’t safe if other motorists don’t take these kinds of precautions. People who were injured by other people’s careless behavior have the right to ask for compensation for their injuries, medical bills and more.
Contact us at M. REILD LEGAL SOLUTIONS, L.L.C., immediately to set up a free consultation and speak with a trained personal injury attorney to determine if you are entitled to compensation for injuries you received as the result of an automobile accident in Missouri.