Deaths in motor vehicle crashes on the rise

On behalf of Aiken and Aiken P.C. Personal Injury Attorneys posted in Car Accidents, on Wednesday, February 17, 2016

An increased risk of deadly accidents confronts drivers in Massachusetts according to 2015 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics. After years of declining traffic fatalities, a nationwide increase in roadway deaths has been identified. Using data from the first nine months of 2015, the NHTSA has extimated that 9.3 percent more people died in motor vehicle accidents during that period compared to the same period for the previous year. Traffic accidents killed approximately 26,000 people in the first three-quarters of 2015. This was up from the 23,796 deaths reported during that nine-month period in 2014. This alarming spike in fatalities follows years of traffic safety progress. Between 2000 and 2014, deaths in car crashes fell by 22 percent. The administrator of the agency said that “red flags” were appearing across the country. He added that human behaviors contributed to 94 percent of car crashes. The NHTSA intends to promote messages meant to reduce serious negative behaviors like not wearing seat belts and drunk driving, according to the administrator. Family members of a person who has been killed in a car accident that was caused by a distracted, impaired or otherwise negligent driver will often face significant financial obstacles in addition to the grief that they have over the sudden loss of a loved one. In many cases, the decedent was the breadwinner or otherwise contributed to the family’s household income. In such an event, the survivors may wish to explore their options, one of which could be the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit against the at-fault motorist, with an attorney.