Deaths caused by vehicle accidents have increased remarkably since 2014, according to a report by the National Safety Council. New York drivers should be aware of what these reports mean for road safety. These estimates released by the National Safety Council indicate that traffic deaths have increased by 6 percent since 2015 and 14 percent since 2014. Car accidents in 2016 cost around $432.5 billion, and this figure includes injuries, deaths and property damage. The advocacy group is calling for stricter regulations as a result.
The increase in the number of car accidents and deaths associated with them is partly due to the fact that more people drive now than they did in the past. A combination of lower fuel prices and an overall healthier economy is responsible for this uptick in the number of drivers. The National Safety Council argued, however, that this increase in overall driving doesn’t explain the dramatic increase in traffic fatalities.
According to a survey published by the advocacy group, Americans seem to be relatively complacent when it comes to driving safety. The most alarming statistic dealt with cell phone usage; about 47 percent of drivers were comfortable texting while driving. Despite numerous laws in place restricting people from using their cell phones, especially for texting, while behind the wheel, drivers still commonly engage in this risky behavior. Other dangerous activities such as speeding, not wearing seatbelts and even drunk driving all scored above 10 percent on the survey.
While laws and regulations may change to make the roads safer, drivers still need to deal with the fallout from accidents that do occur. When a person is injured in a car accident, he or she may receive compensation by filing a personal injury lawsuit. These cases require that specific legal paperwork be filed and may also require that the person appears in court to argue his or her case. Compensation in personal injury cases is determined by a jury in court or commonly settled for an amount out of court.