A lot has changed in our lives over the last year. For many of us, many of those changes came to the way we work. Since many people have shifted to remote work in some fashion, New Jersey’s roadways were much less congested over the last year. You would think that less traffic would mean fewer fatal car accidents, but that sadly isn’t the case.
A look at 2020’s fatal car accident statistics
A recently released report shows that fatal car accidents increased by 8% in 2020, meaning that more than 42,000 people were killed on America’s roadways. That’s the highest rate of roadway fatalities since 2007 and is accompanied by nearly five million people injured in car accidents in 2020. Given the reduced traffic rate, this means that the number of deaths per 100 million miles driven increased by nearly 25%.
Contributing factors
There are likely a number of reasons why 2020 saw such devastating accident statistics despite fewer cars being on the road. One reason is that open roadways tend to invite people to speed, and speed appears to be the main reason for these accidents, at least according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. But there are likely other contributing factors, too. For example, hospitals reported treating more accident victims 2020 who were impaired by drugs or alcohol. While these issues are problematic in their own right, many experts are concerned that their effects can be magnified significantly as traffic volumes increase but driving behavior doesn’t.
Taking legal action
There’s no doubt that a car accident can change your life. It can leave you with serious, sometimes life-long injuries that are painful and costly to treat, or it may strip you of a loved one who provided emotional and financial support for your family. Regardless of which situation you fall under, you should consider taking legal action if you’ve been injured in a wreck caused by the negligence of another. By reaching out to an attorney who is skilled and experienced in this area of the law you can learn more about how to best pursue your case in hopes of imposing liability and recovering the compensation that you deserve.