If you’ve ever arrived early for the trailers before a movie, chances are you’ve seen one for an action-packed flick filled with fast cars and explosions.
Unfortunately, driving is not as glamorous as the movies make it seem. If you were to speed as fast as your favorite movie heroes, you’d end up in some serious danger.
At this point, you might be wondering how dangerous driving really is. Luckily, if you’re well-informed, it’s easy to make safe driving decisions!
We’re here to help you! Keep reading the guide below to learn some car accident statistics and tips!
Surprising Car Accident Statistics
Approximately 1.35 million people die as a result of car accidents every year worldwide. Another estimated 20-50 million sustain non-fatal injuries due to car accidents.
If those car accident statistics are difficult to wrap your head around, let’s put it into perspective by looking at car accidents in Philadelphia County in 2018. 9.1% of the accidents in Philadelphia County were fatal.
In 2018, a pedestrian was killed as a result of a traffic crash every 84 minutes. Additionally, pedestrian deaths accounted for 17% of traffic crash-related fatalities in 2018. This shows that car accidents can be detrimental even to those outside the vehicle.
Approximately 9% of fatal car accidents were the result of distracted driving. The age group with the largest proportion of distracted drivers in these fatal accidents were 15-19 years old. In 14% of these fatal car accidents, a cell phone was in use.
Encouraging Statistics
While unsafe driving is a serious threat, it’s important to acknowledge the positive statistics as well. For example, the U.S. saw a 1.2% decrease in car-crash related fatalities between 2018 and 2019.
Additionally, car-crash related fatalities in rural areas decreased by a whopping 15% from 2009 to 2018.
Furthermore, 90.1% of Americans wear their seatbelts while driving. This saved the lives of 13,941 lives people aged 5 and up across the country in 2015.
Tips for Safe Driving
In order to practice safe driving, it’s important that you are always wearing your seatbelt when the car is in operation. Even if you’re just backing up out of your driveway, it’s pertinent that you’re buckled up.
Distracted driving is a massive issue in the United States. If you find it difficult to ignore texts while driving, inform friends and family that you’re going for a drive and you’ll be unavailable. Additionally, you can silence your phone and keep it in an inaccessible spot, like the backseat, while you drive.
It can’t be overstated: if you’ve been drinking, you should not be driving. Even if you think you’re lucid enough to make it home, remember that you are also endangering the lives of others when you drive under the influence.
Buckle Up
Car accident statistics can make anyone a wary driver. But as long as you make smart choices behind the wheel, you can be confident that you’re doing all you can to avoid an accident. The information above will help you become a better and safer driver!
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