Most people who drive in the United States have been involved in at least one auto accident at some point in their lives. You may have been the victim of an auto accident, the cause of it, or even a witness to one. They’re so common, that even if you haven’t been in an accident yet, eventually you will be. With 135 million vehicles on the road every day, there too many chances for an accident to happen.
Auto accidents can cause a bit of property damage at best, and be deadly at worst. Too many people don’t think an accident can happen to them and they take too many chances out on the road. This makes things worse for all drivers.
Here is a list of 25 things you didn’t know about auto accidents, straight from a car accident lawyer:
- Auto accidents are the most common type of personal injury in the United States.
- Every year in the United States, 37,000 people die in an auto accident.
- More than 2.35 million people are injured or disabled in an auto accident.
- Across the globe, over 1.25 million people in auto accidents every year.
- Nearly 5000 pedestrians die from being struck by a vehicle every year.
- A car accident occurs every 14 seconds. Every 12 minutes, one of those accidents will cause someone’s death.
- Most accidents (around 29 percent) happen within three miles of your home.
- Alcohol plays a part in a third of all fatal auto accidents each year.
- After drinking just two beers, a driver is 11 times more likely to cause an auto accident.
- Auto accidents are the ninth leading cause of death among all people.
- Car crashes are the leading cause of death for young people aged 15 to 29.
- Four hundred thousand people under the age of 25 die in auto accidents per year across the globe which is more than 1000 people per day.
- All 50 states have seat belt laws.
- 95 percent of all accidents -- fatal or not -- occur because of driver behavior.
- Driver distractions, fatigue, and environmental factors make up the biggest number of reasons for an auto accident.
- Up to 50 percent of accidents are due to driver distraction like eating, drinking, making phone calls, and texting while driving.
- Nearly one million people make phone calls or text while driving every single day.
- In the time it takes to send a text message while driving, you will have driven the length of a whole football field without looking at the road.
- Using a cell phone while you’re driving gives you the same reaction time and reflexes as someone who’s had two beers (or has a blood alcohol level of 0.8 percent).
- Speeding is another reason for accidents. Nearly 90 percent of drivers admit to speeding at least occasionally, and 75 percent of drivers admit to speeding frequently.
- Speeding increases the likelihood of an accident, and it makes any accident you have even worse.
- The three cities with the highest accident rate are Washington DC, Baltimore, Maryland, and Glendale, California.
- While California and Texas have the highest overall number of fatalities in auto accidents per year because of their population, Montana has the highest percentage of auto accident fatalities.
- A vehicle rollover is the deadliest type of auto accident.
- Research shows that men cause twice as many accidents as women. They’re also twice as likely to get hurt or die or be under the influence of alcohol or drugs when the accident happens.
