You may have heard flying is a safer way to travel. In 2013, there were only 90 commercial flight accidents with 90 fatalities globally. That same year, more than 5 million reported car crashes with 32,719 deaths occurred in the United States alone. While motorcycle travel is 3,000 times more dangerous than flying, and car travel only 100 times, those who have to commute small distances on a daily basis have to rely on ground-based transportation.
There are a few obvious ways to make the streets safer, although two appear to be the most important. In 2015, out of 125,800 reported traffic crashes, only 7,591 were alcohol-related. Make no mistake, that’s quite a high number. However, alcohol wasn’t the primary cause of a bulk of the crashes. The same year, 14,052 people were injured in speed-related auto accidents—according to the Virginia DMV, that’s a 5.04% increase from 2014. That percentage jumps more than two points, to 7.67, when looking at the number of people killed as a result of speeding (323 in 2015). While the number of drunk drivers on the road decreased from 2014–2015, the number of speeders increased. More than 25,000 drivers involved in a car accident in 2015 were exceeding either the speed limit or safe speed, and 1,260 of those drivers were going more than 70 MPH at the time of the crash. Even in an emergency, it’s best to stay as close to the speed limit as possible and leave enough distance between yourself and the car in case they decide to break suddenly. For example, if you’re going 60 MPH, it will take you at least 240 feet to come to a complete and safe stop, about the length of a building 20–24 stories high.
If you were injured in a car accident, and you think the driver at fault may have been speeding, you may need legal representation. Fill out our online form to speak to one of our experienced Charlottesville car accident attorneys for a free case review.
