Georgia motorists might have heard that,according to the National Safety Council, there were an estimated 40,100 motor vehicle deaths throughout the country in 2017. This was a 6 percent increase from 2015 and slightly lower than the 40,327 reported traffic deaths in 2016. In 2017, there was a 1 percent increase in miles driven compared to the previous year, and the number of serious injuries was roughly the same in both years.
A statement from the president of the NSC said that the number was too high and that the only acceptable number of fatalities was zero. To determine the number of deaths per year, the NSC uses monthly figures from all 50 states and the District of Columbia as well as data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Deaths that occurred in parking lots and private driveways were also counted as part of the figures announced to the public.
The NSC figures revealed that the death rate for 2017 was 12.28 per every 100,000 people, which was a 2 percent decline from 2016. The annual number of deaths per mile driven also declined 2 percent in 2017 compared to the year before. That translates to 1.25 deaths per 100 million miles a vehicle traveled in the United States. It was estimated that crashes and resulting injuries cost $413.8 billion each year.
Driver error is among the leading causes of traffic accidents in the country. Those who are hurt because a person was driving while impaired or distracted may be entitled to compensation. Compensation may help a person pay for medical bills or make up for lost wages or lost future earnings. An attorney may be helpful in obtaining a favorable outcome for an injured victim whether a case is settled out of court or resolved through a formal trial.
