In 2018, Charlotte, NC announced a new safety agenda called Vision Zero to reduce the number of fatal crashes in the community. As it’s home to the 15th most fatal crashes in the country, local leaders felt that a change was needed. Bicycle and pedestrian accidents only account for about 3% of traffic accidents, but nearly 50% of all fatal injuries.
Charlotte isn’t the only city in North Carolina that has a high risk of accidents. North Carolina has the fifth-highest rate of traffic fatalities in the United States, even though it ranks ninth in population.
If you are in the unfortunate situation of suffering from injuries from a car accident, as the lawyers at Cohen & Cohen can explain, you may be entitled to compensation for expenses that are the result of your injuries.
According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, in 2017, there were over 532,000 crashes, with 2,635 of those crashes involving fatalities. What were the most common reasons?
- Failure to reduce speed
- Inattention or distraction
- Failure to yield right of way
- Improper lane change
- Exceeding safe speed for conditions
- Disregarding traffic signs
One disturbing fact from 2017 is that more children aged 5 to 7 who were unbelted were killed in a motor vehicle crash than 2016, while younger and older children who were unbelted declined. Make sure to have your child properly secured in the car.
Passenger cars and sport utility vehicles experienced the greatest number of crashes, with the most fatalities. Crashes were fairly even between occurring at intersections or non-intersections. The larger cities had the most crashes, but most counties, even rural ones were not without a few crashes that had serious injuries. Drivers create the most dangers on the road themselves.
Traffic crashes rose by 2.8% in 2017, even though the number of fatalities decreased. The number of pedestrian deaths increased by 86.7% in 2017 over 2016. When you walk on the road, you face a higher risk of getting in an accident. Motorcycle deaths decreased from 2017 to 2016, which is encouraging.
The NCDOT calculated the average cost per crash was about $77,000. The crash cost per hour in NC is about $3,126,006 (calculated over a three-year average). The annual cost of all crashes comes in at over $23 billion.
What Can You Learn?
Knowing what causes accidents can help you be a better driver. Remember to slow down for the conditions in which you’re driving. Watch the speed limits and stay within the recommended limits. Avoid distractions from electronic devices. It’s up to the drivers to pay attention to make North Carolina a safer place to drive and walk.If you’ve been injured in an accident, you may want to contact an automobile accidents lawyer to help with your claim and to protect your rights.
.svg)
