Louisiana residents may be interested in a recent report about fatal car accident statistics in the United States. On July 6, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the U.S. has more road fatalities than any other high-income nation. Although fatal crashes in the U.S. have been declining since 2000, they haven’t matched the declines seen in other wealthy countries.
The CDC says that over 32,000 people were killed in car accidents in the U.S. in 2013. That figure represents around 90 car accident deaths each day. From 2000 to 2013, there has been a 31 percent decline in car accident deaths. However, car accident deaths have declined by an average of 56 percent in 19 other countries, and some countries have had even sharper declines. In Spain, fatal car accidents have decreased by 75 percent.
Researchers who wrote the report used data that was gathered from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Health Organization. After comparing U.S. data with data from other wealthy nations, researchers determined that the U.S. has the highest fatal crash rate per 100,000 people and per 10,000 registered automobiles. The U.S. was second behind Canada for the highest percentage of fatal crashes involving alcohol.
When a car crash is the result of drunk driving or another kind of negligence, the at-fault driver may be liable for the victims’ damages. An attorney might be able to help an injured car accident victim to assess the value of their monetary losses and pursue a claim for compensation. If the at-fault driver was killed in the crash, injured victims may still pursue a personal injury complaint against the driver’s estate.
