What You Need to Know About Fatal Car Crashes

On Behalf of | Dec 31, 2015 | Firm News

Have you ever boarded an airplane for a flight across country and found yourself nervous that something could go wrong. When the flight experiences a little bit of turbulence you grip the arm rests and close your eyes. Many people get nervous every time they fly, but most people don’t experience the same feelings when they drive or ride in a car. Why is that? Your chances of being involved in a car crash are far greater than your chances of being involved in a plane crash. We always hear when there is a plane crash that claims the lives of the passengers on board, yet car fatal accidents happen every day and we don’t hear about them. It is important to know the statistics when it comes to fatalities and car accidents. An average or 31 people lose their lives in car wrecks per week. Over the past seven years, the number of people killed in car accidents outnumbered the number of murder victims by nearly three to one. According to the 2008 CASI Report, 11,435 people were killed in motor vehicle accidents between 2000 and 2006. Male drivers account for close to three of every four drivers that are involved in fatal car crashes. An astounding 71.6 percent of fatal crashes from 2000 to 2006 involved male drivers. So what is causing these fatal crashes? In 2006, the leading cause of fatal car accidents involved the driver losing control of the vehicle with the second highest factor involving unsafe or illegal speeds. Of the car accidents that result in fatalities, 25.5 percent occur when one car strikes another car at an angle.

Source: 2008 CASI Report, Georgia Department of Transportation