It is difficult to even look outside any given window and not see an automobile these days. You will be even more hard-pressed to go anywhere without using a car. Yes, here in the United States, and most of the world, the automobile is so essential, it and all of its oddities are often overlooked.
At George Sink, P.A. Injury Lawyers, our car accident attorneys thought it would be interesting to compile a quick list of some of the most stunning, unexpected, and peculiar car and car accident facts. Give it a review if you have an inquiring mind. If you need the help of our car accident lawyers, feel free to contact us at any time to set up a no-cost consultation. We have 40+ years of legal experience and have resolved thousands of cases, so we know we can help you out as well.
10 Intriguing Car & Car Accident Facts
- Cars everywhere: According to IHS Automotive and market data, there are more than 253 million cars in the United States, with roughly half of them on the streets, roads, and highways each day. With so many people driving all around, and most of them not paying full attention, accidents are bound to happen. In fact, close to 100 Americans will lose their lives each day due to a fatal traffic collision.
- Recent improvements: Fatal car accidents in the U.S. spiked dramatically in the late 60s and early 70s, reaching more than 54,500 deaths in 1972. Improved technology and stricter laws are attributed to a gradual decline, averaging around 40,000 deaths each year in the 90s. In 2009, annual deaths dropped to 33,883, an impressively low number. 2015 did see another rise, though, reaching more than 40,000.
- Global problem: Car accidents are not just an issue here in our country. Traffic collisions take about 1,300,000 lives each year globally. This number is significant enough to account for about 2.3% of all deaths – or one-in-fifty – in the world.
- Slow speedster: According to Ohio’s historical logs, the first driver to ever get a speeding ticket was traveling at only 12 miles per hour and in the year 1904. This just goes to show that police officer discretion actually does play a large role in traffic citations – so be kind if you ever get pulled over.
- Irresponsibility causes crashes: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Safety Council (NSC) can all tell you that irresponsible drivers are the cause of the vast majority of car accidents. The problem is so bad, it is believed that 40% of all crashes involve a drunk driver, and another 20% to 40% involve a distracted driver.
- Say it later: Using a cellphone while driving engages a person in three forms of distraction at once: visual, manual, and mental. When bombarded by all three types of distraction, a driver is four-times more likely to get in a crash than someone who is paying attention.
- Goalpost-to-goalpost: When a driver is traveling at highway speeds, the time it takes them to read a brief text message is also the time it takes their car to travel the entire length of a football field… blindly.
- Early technology: The automobile of today is a marvel of mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering. Jump back decades and you might not be as impressed. Motor oil only semi-recently replaced whale oil and the steering wheel was first a steering lever. Before 1916, the windshield wiper wasn’t even around to help people see the road in inclement weather.
- Too close to home: Did you know that most car accidents occur less than 3 miles away from one or both of the drivers’ homes? It is not clear why this is regularly the case. The best guess is that most people do not commute farther than 3 miles. Another theory is that drivers start to relax and pay less attention when on familiar roads, increasing the likelihood of crashing due to negligence.
- Expensive mistakes: Medical costs, repair bills, lost wages, etc. – so all the damages related to a typical car crash – costs Americans more than $230 billion each year. When averaged across all the drivers in the country, this is more than $800 a year. Imagine: if people would not drink and drive, or text and drive, most of us would be buying $800 more worth of groceries, clothing, and movie tickets, a year.
Remember: you can call 888-612-7001- to speak for FREE to our South Carolina car accident attorneys at George Sink, P.A. Injury Lawyers after you have been in a traffic accident.
Information sources:
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/#/) (#5,#6,#10)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/) (#3,#5)
- National Safety Council (http://www.nsc.org/pages/home.aspx) (#5)
- World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/gho/road_safety/mortality/traffic_deaths_number/en/) (#2,#7)
- Mental Floss (http://mentalfloss.com/article/63779/story-worlds-first-speeding-ticket) (#4)
- Los Angeles Times (http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-ihs-automotive-average-age-car-20140609-story.html) (#1)
- WhaleFacts.org (http://www.whalefacts.org/whale-oil/) (#8)
- Esurance – (https://www.esurance.com/info/car/where-car-accidents-happen-most) (#9)