Highway Death Totals Lowest Since the 1950's
According to the Associated Press, the Transportation Department released a statement on Thursday saying that its projections showed that highway deaths in the United States totaled fewer than 34,000 in the year 2009, down nine percent from the previous year and the lowest total since the 1950’s. The reduction in deaths is at least partly attributable to increased seat belt use, less frequent drunken driving, and more stringent enforcement of traffic laws. According to the article, highway deaths have steadily declined since 2005.
This statistic may surprise some readers of this blog, which frequently focuses on traffic accidents in Tennessee and their causes by looking at developing technology and its tendency to create unsafe driving conditions. The reality is that these unsafe conditions have been mitigated by the factors listed above as well as ever-increasing vehicle quality that helps to protect passengers, but that it still only takes one accident to cause serious injury or death on the roadways.
While it is encouraging that roadway deaths are steadily declining, drivers should realize that the roads are still dangerous and that negligent driving is still very likely to cause accidents. These accidents have a great tendency to result in serious injuries and death, especially when they take place in high-speed areas such as highways, which in turns results in personal injury lawsuits by victims who are seeking to recover for their damages. Thus, while overall safety on the roadways may be steadily increasing, drivers should remain diligent, follow the rules of the road, and otherwise drive safely in order to avoid accidents and lawsuits.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jZWXMAKDL1hNsWENCsKsChdohh1gD9ECLCE81
