Traffic Deaths in U.S. Decrease So Far in 2018, Put Down Your Phone When Driving

By  //  May 27, 2018

It seems that traffic deaths across the United States territory are finally decreasing after a couple of years that painted a gruesome picture. After pulling back slightly last year, 2018 seems to bring us better news than the past years have left us to hope for.

It seems that traffic deaths across the United States territory are finally decreasing after a couple of years that painted a gruesome picture. After pulling back slightly last year, 2018 seems to bring us better news than the past years have left us to hope for.

What should be done and how you should act in the event of the worst scenario happening? Keep on reading this article and the answers will become clearer.

The stats

After the first trimester of 2018, we can see that the statistics are better when compared to last year. According to the early estimates of motor vehicle traffic fatalities, the first part of 2018 shows a decrease of almost 2% as opposed to the same period of time in 2017.

This happens to be great news if we consider that 2016 came with an increase of over 10%. Starting with 2017, we managed to see actual progress in what was promised by government officials, a complete reduction of traffic deaths by 2020.

What do the authorities have to say about it?

Deborah Hersman, CEO of the National Safety Council spoke with CNBC and told them that, while the total number of fatal accidents is not increasing, “the situation is not getting better”.

It seems that, although certain measures were taken as to advance auto safety tech (for example, automatic emergency brakes) and more and more people have been using seat belts, traffic-related deaths haven’t decreased as much as desired.

Why is that?

Hersman feels that this lack of progress can be blamed on a great number of factors, including careless driving and the increase of speed limits. Regarding the latter, it appears that more and more states have been raising their speed limits, some of them reaching 80 to 85 miles per hour.

If you’re not convinced that speeding can lead to fatalities, let’s see what happened in Texas. Since the increase of the speeding limit in this state, the number of fatalities was up by 7% from 2015 to 2017. To be fair, the year of 2016 showed a slight decrease.

Put down your phone when driving

Distracted driving is another major cause of traffic deaths in the USA. Hersman feels that there are far too many drivers who are on their phones or other electronic devices when, in fact, they should be focusing strictly on the road.

What can be done and what should you do?

When it comes to what measures could be taken to further lower the number of traffic-related deaths, we should pay attention to New York.

This state observed a 15% decrease over the last two years and the safety advocates have related this factor to the lowering of speed limits and the increase of pedestrian shelters and bike lanes.

However, in case something unexpected happens, it is important that you reach a car accident attorney as these specialists are trained to deal with such unfortunate situations.

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