Historically, fatal car accident rates have declined over time. You can see a stark difference between the number of fatalities today and those in the 1970s, for example. Cars have become much safer as a lot of safety technology has been developed over the past few decades, including cutting-edge tech like lane departure warning systems, blind spot monitors, automatic braking systems, etc.
The still-evolving development of all of this technology suggests that fatalities should continue to keep going down over the years without exception. Slowly but surely, the roads should be getting safer. Instead, researchers have determined that recently, the opposite is happening. Over the last few years, there have been consistent increases in fatalities, by as much as 10% in a single year. Why is it that fatal car accidents are becoming so much more commonplace?
Higher speeds
Over the past few years, traffic levels have been lower than average for a variety of reasons. Although there are those who predicted that this reality would lead to fewer fatalities, they found out that it actually led to more. One of the reasons given is that people were driving faster since there weren’t as many cars on the road. This meant that accidents happened at a higher speed, on average, meaning they were more likely to cause fatal injuries.
An increase in reckless driving
Some studies have also determined that reckless driving has been on the rise. People have been running red lights intentionally, for example, excessively breaking the speed limit, texting and drive, engaging in road rage and driving while impaired at disturbing rates as of late. All of these things happen every year, but an increase in these activities seems to have contributed to an increase in fatal accidents.
What options do you have after an accident?
It’s important to focus on driving safely, but you could still be injured or lose a loved one in a car accident caused by a negligent or reckless driver. Statistics suggest that this is becoming a more frequent occurrence. When facing the aftermath of a wreck, you’ll need to know about all of your legal options in re: seeking compensation for medical bills, lost wages and other crash-related costs. Pursuing compensation can help to ensure that you aren’t burdened by financial challenges that should be rightfully assumed by those who caused your harm.