According to the NHTSA almost 90 people lose their lives each day and more than 250 are injured every hour due to the many factors that contribute to car crashes in the United States including speeding, drunk driving and other factors. Younger, less experienced male drivers (age 16-24) are the ones most likely to speed than female drivers in the same age group.
Auto accidents caused by a speeding driver are more likely to occur on local roads than on highways according to the NHTSA, which reports that 80% of fatalities from accidents where speeding was the cause occurred on roads with low speed limits. In 2011, excessive speed was the cause of 30% of all fatal accidents nationwide, which is close to 10,000 fatalities, and speed-related accidents cost more than $40 billion each year.
Speed-related accidents cause more serious injuries to drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
Auto accidents caused by drunk driving
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that 30 people die every day in the United States in vehicle crashes caused by drunk drivers, which adds up to a death every 51 minutes. The annual cost of alcohol-related car crashes is $59 billion each year. In 2012, 10,322 people died in drunk driving crashes, which accounts for nearly 31% of all traffic related deaths that year. In 2010, over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. Impairment by drugs other than alcohol were the cause of 18% of deaths in motor vehicle accidents, and often these drugs were taken in combination with alcohol.
But we know that you don’t need to read a bunch of statistics to know that speeding and drunk driving kill and injure too many people in this country. People who have been injured in a car accident or lost a loved one in an accident caused by someone who was speeding or had been drinking often feel an even more significant sense of pain and loss because the accident could have been avoided had the driver not made the choice to act in such a reckless, irresponsible manner.
When you have been involved in a speeding accident or a drunk driving accident, you most likely have a lot of questions about how to proceed with getting compensation for your injuries and your losses. You can schedule a consultation with an experienced, Knoxville personal injury attorney who will listen to you and advise you of your legal options.
If have been injured in an auto accident, please contact Banks and Jones for more information.
T. Scott knows the importance of interacting with colleagues to stay abreast of developments and changes in the legal world. T. Scott frequently teaches CLE courses on trial strategy, teaching other lawyers his methods for success in the courtroom, and is certified as a Rule 31 Mediator in the Tennessee Supreme Court. He is a member of the Knoxville Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, the National Trial Lawyers, and both the Tennessee and American Associations for Justice.
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