2020 Study: Driving Was Down While Traffic Fatality Rates Surged
We drove less in 2020 because of Covid-19 restrictions. The good news is that fewer miles traveled did translate into few car crashes. The bad news? The traffic fatality rate surged. A report by the National Safety Council (NSC) shows that deaths from motor vehicle accidents increased by eight percent last year, with as many as 42,060 people dying in motor vehicle crashes. While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), hasn’t released its analysis of traffic accident deaths for 2020 yet, their preliminary results for the first nine months of the year support the trend in the NSC report.
When we compare the traffic deaths to the number of miles driven, the fatality rate rose by 24 percent in 2020; the biggest jump in almost a hundred years!
(more…)
Read MoreTop 5 Myths about Car Accidents & Car Accident Claims
When it comes to car accidents and car accident claims, there are many common myths. As car accident attorneys, we see how these myths hurt people and make it more difficult for them to get maximum compensation for their injuries. In this article we’ll take a look at the top 5 myths about motor vehicle accidents and car crash claims that need to be dispelled.
Top 5 Myths about Car Accidents & Car Accident Claims
Read MoreCan I Recover a Monetary Settlement for Pain and Suffering for Minor Car Accident?
(more…)
Why Do Women Have a Higher Car Accident Risk Injury Rate?
Data shared by IIHS shows that while men are much more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than women, women have a higher chance of being seriously injured or killed in crashes of equal severity.
If you or a loved one was seriously injured in a car crash because of the negligence of another driver, contact a local car accident lawyer to discuss your legal rights.
(more…)
Read MoreWrong Way Driver Crash Causes Head-On Collision on I5 Everett
About 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 11, a wrong way driver crash directly into another vehicle on northbound I-5 in a wrong-way highway crash that left both drivers injured. The driver, who suffered serious injuries in the head-on crash, may have had a medical issue before the collision. According to Washington State Patrol and reported by HeraldNet, the accident occurred just south of the exit to Broadway and 41st Street. The driver knocked over some signs as she entered the on-ramp then drove less than a mile before crashing into another vehicle who was driving in the correct direction. The driver in the other vehicle suffered minor injuries.
(more…)
Read MoreAvoid Flooded Roadways Because Of Increased Risk of Car Accidents
How to Drive Safely on an Icy Hill
According to data from USDOT Federal Highway Administration, there are an average of 536,731 icy road accidents every year. Out of these accidents, about 1,836 people die and 136,309 more are injured. NOAA records accident fatalities for a range of weather-related accidents such as flood, wind and cold but not for icy roads. If they did, they would find that the average icy road fatality count is 3.6 times the total deaths from all other weather hazards combined (507 combined deaths over a 10-year average compared to 1,836 for ice alone). See chart at icyroadsafety.com.
Read MoreWhat You Should Know about Drugged Driving Accidents
To drive safely, drivers must be fully alert and focused. Drugged driving accidents are no joke, and the consequences are just as bad. Thousands of unnecessary collisions happen every year because drivers get behind the wheel while they are impaired with drugs or alcohol. A drugged driving accident is when a crash occurs because the driver was impaired from the effects of recent drug use. After alcohol, marijuana is the most commonly found substance in drivers’ blood after they are involved in a crash. The bottom line is that drugged driving endangers the driver, their passengers, and other vehicles and pedestrians on the road.
Read MoreBellingham Woman Involved in Fatal Skagit County Car Crash
As reported by kgmi.com, a Bellingham woman named Sonja Bratz was involved in a fatal highway crash in Skagit County on the evening of Friday, December 18. According to state troopers, Bratz was driving southbound on State Route 20 when she crossed over the center line and struck a vehicle driven by an Anacortes woman. Bratz died at the scene of the accident and the driver of the other vehicle was airlifted to Harborview. At this time, it is unknown if alcohol or drugs were involved; the cause of the accident is still under investigation.
(more…)
Read MoreDecember is National Impaired Driving Prevention Month
Since 1981, every president of the United States has proclaimed December as National Drunk & Drugged Driving Prevention Month or, more recently, National Impaired Driving Prevention Month to create awareness about the dangers of driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol. December is chosen for the simple reason that the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day have consistently higher rates of drug and alcohol related crashes. December, 2020 was declared National Impaired Driving Prevention Month (2022 Update) by President Trump.
Read More