Data recently released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicate that nearly 36,000 Americans died on streets, highways and other roadways last year. That figure extrapolates to nearly 100 fatal accidents every single day during 2018.
And that’s good news?
Ironically, that is how that outcome is being depicted in some regulatory and safety circles, if only for this reason: The fatality number was down slightly from the preceding year.
But something else too is starkly underscored by the NHTSA’s numbers. And a national media report on America’s persistent roadway dangers spotlights it. The article states that, while drivers fared slightly better from a safety perspective in 2018 than was the case during 2017, “Everyone else … is being killed at an alarming rate.”
There are two groups most notably at risk, with their heightened vulnerability owing to their sheer lack of defenses to protect them in collisions with motorized vehicles.
Namely, those are pedestrians and bicyclists. There are of course millions of walkers and cyclists in Ohio, who might be reasonably concerned by data relevant to their safety every time they venture out near traffic.
Federal safety regulators readily note why. Pedestrian deaths in the U.S. rose by nearly 3.5% last year from 2017. The death spike for cyclists nationally was more than 6% over the same measuring period.
The rise in fatalities is ironically occurring concurrently with new safety-enhancing technologies being literally rolled out in American automobiles. Safety experts note that, although evolving on-board assists unquestionably dampen accident risks, human error owing to assorted distractions often diminishes their effectiveness.
Accident victims whose injuries owe to third-party negligence can pursue meaningful remedies marked by maximum compensation. They can turn for advocacy and diligent representation to a proven and empathetic personal injury legal team.