 Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 2:39 am Post subject: Auto death statistics: NTSB |
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Hi all, thought I should post this in the Pub instead of auto insurance in case some moderator-type people might object. If I hear no comment from our esteemed panel of moderators, so be it.
I was reading through a white paper on automobile insurance liability problems, and there was a link to somewhere at the NTSBs website. It had some pretty sobering statistics on car deaths, and I thought you guys might be interested and want to comment. Being as that you guys pretty much comment on anything you know stuff about, I am curious as to what ya'll think.
Statistics are from the latest year compiled: 2007
* There were 41,059 deaths in the United States. Of those deaths:
- The #1 cause of vehicle related death was due to lane swerving- driving out of one's lane. There were 15,574 deaths attributed to this.
- Fatigued drivers accounted for 1404 deaths, and more than 1/2 of those occurred between the hours of 3:00 - 6:00 am.
- A person dies in an alcohol related accident every 40 minutes. 57% of alcohol related deaths are caused by drivers aged 21-34. 60% of "after-dark" deaths were caused by drunk drivers.
- "Over-correcting" caused 4% of all fatalities.
- Racing/speeding/too fast for conditions: second leading cause of death, more than 30% of deaths were at speeds of 55 mph or more, 36% of all motorcycle deaths were due to excessive speed, only D.C. and 20 states require helmets, 41% of drivers and 53% of passengers who died were not wearing helmets.
- Failure to yield the right of way was the 5th leading cause of death. Drivers 70-79 misjudged the amount of time they had to complete their maneuver and drivers 80+ simply didn't see the other vehicle.
- Erratic/reckless driving caused 1859 deaths.
- Failure to wear a seatbelt: 33% of all deaths were not wearing belts. When not wearing a belt, you're commonly ejected from the vehicle; if you're ejected you die 76% of the time.
- Inattentive driving caused 4704 deaths, and are listed in no particular order as eating, reading, texting, fiddling with the stereo, and of course- using your cell phone. Hand-free devices made absolutely no difference, so the states that require hands-free devices are morons.
Pretty telling stats, eh? I think you can say one thing is absolute here: every one of those statistics is due to a singular reason- stupid people.
InsTeacher 
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InsTeacher
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