Traffic-Related Fatalities Rose Sharply in 2016, New Study Shows

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on December 27, 2018

Recent findings published in the 2018 Global Status Report on Road Safety indicated that the number of deaths that happen throughout the world as a result of auto accidents has reached an all-time high. In 2016, says the report, 1.35 million people died in traffic-related incidents. This stunning number moves traffic-related fatalities upwards on the list of the most common ways people die; now the 8th leading cause of death for people of every age around the world, traffic-related deaths have surpassed both HIV/AIDS as well as tuberculosis.

The report goes on to offer some reserved congratulations to numerous countries for introducing more legislation to ensure that people trying to navigate roadways throughout the world are safer, but it also goes on to say that, at the rate things are going, there is no way that we will manage to succeed in the goal set by the United Nations to cut the number of traffic-related deaths in half by the time we reach 2020.

Every year, the number of traffic deaths increases even as the population, rate of death, and the number of cars on the road has either stabilized or decreased. This means that while other factors are improving, the people actually sitting behind the wheel of the car are not.

America, while not the worst country in the world when it comes to traffic-related fatalities, is certainly not the best either. While the entirety of Europe sees 9.3 traffic-related deaths for every 100,000 people, in America that number jumps up to 15.6 – in other words, almost double. Added to this is the fact that over 50% of the deaths that wind up as being classified as traffic-related fatalities are experienced by the most vulnerable people on the road: motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

In Florida, we are not immune from fatal accidents that happen along our roadways. As this blog displays time and time again, the danger that we take upon ourselves when we exit our homes and enter areas where cars, trucks, and other vehicles are traveling is astronomical.

The report concluded with information regarding the numerous tactics that countries throughout the world are attempting to adopt in order to begin shrinking the number of deaths that happen in traffic accidents.

Sources:

• Traffic accidents are eighth leading cause of death globally, according to WHO

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.