Cherry Hill Car Accident Lawyers: AAA Study Reveals Scary Conditions

A new study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that almost 87 percent of drivers in the United States engage in one or more unsafe driving behaviors while behind the wheel. According to the study, unsafe driving behaviors consist of speeding, driving while distracted, driving while impaired, driving while drowsy, running red lights and not wearing a seat belt. These six driving practices were responsible for the deaths of more than 30,000 Americans in 2014. In 2015, the number of drivers who were fatally injured in car accidents due to the same risky driving habits climbed by nearly ten percent.

The CEO and president of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety expressed his concern that a “culture of indifference” exists amongst countless drivers towards safe driving. The study consisted of 2,442 licensed drivers nationwide who were 16 years of age or older. The study’s data showed that 94 percent of all traffic accidents occurred because of human error and that one out of five drivers had been through a crash that required treatment at a hospital. One out of three drivers acknowledged that a friend or relative of theirs had been seriously injured or killed in a car accident.

About half of the drivers surveyed were guilty of speeding, while 48 percent admitted to driving above the freeway or highway’s speed limit by as much as 15 miles per hour in the past month. Thirty-nine percent of participants reported that they had gone through a red light instead of stopping at the light and 32 percent confessed to driving while they were very tired. Past research by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety revealed that drowsy driving accounted for 328,000 car accidents per year with 109,000 resulting in injuries and 6,400 in fatalities.

The study also revealed that 70 percent of participants talked on the phone while driving and 42 percent read text messages or emails when at the wheel. Eighteen percent of drivers did not wear their seatbelt and 13 percent admitted to driving while drunk within the past year. Previous research by the NHTSA estimated that about 10,000 people are killed each year in the U.S. due to drunk driving and that it costs the nation over $50 billion annually.

Cherry Hill Car Accident Lawyers at DiTomaso Law Help Victims of Car Accidents Receive Compensation and Justice for Their Injuries

Tens of thousands of people are killed each year because of negligent drivers, and hundreds of thousands more are injured. If you, a loved one or someone you know has been injured or killed in a car accident, contact our team of seasoned Cherry Hill car accident lawyers at DiTomaso Law. With offices in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and Center City Philadelphia, we represent those hurt in car accidents and their families throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey, including Cherry Hill, Mount Holly and Camden. Call us at 856-414-0010 to schedule a consultation or contact us online.