Unfortunately, car accidents are all too common, around the world and here in our very own home country of the United States. With over six million car accidents and other such motor vehicle accidents in need of the help of car accident attorneys occurring each and every year, it’s no surprise that up to three million people involved will sustain injuries, some of them serious. And more than thirty thousand will even lose their lives, though the specifics of this number will vary from year to year, sometimes right at thirty thousand people but sometimes considerably above it as well. In fact, in the year of 2017, just last year, as many as forty thousand people died as a result of car accident fatalities, the second year in a row that numbers had been that high.
Part of this can simply be attributed to the fact that here in the United States there are more cars in any other country in the world. And, if there are more cars, there are very much likely to be more car accidents. With more than three million cars on the road, there are more than two hundred and fifteen million licensed drivers, and even more who are currently in the process of learning how to drive. These numbers mean that the United States is, by and large, the busiest country in the world when it comes to road traffic, far surpassing all other developed nations, even those of a comparable or larger size (such as in the case of China).
But, as car accident attorneys are all too aware, there are many preventable reasons for a car crash to occur and car accident attorneys to be needed. In fact, many a car wreck is caused by something that could have been avoided, such as driving while intoxicated, particularly drunk driving. Drunk driving is a huge problem here in the United States, let alone in any other country. Here, as many as three hundred thousand people will get behind the wheel while drunk every single day. But far too few of these people are actually stopped and apprehended, with less than five thousand getting caught – on a good day. In fact, the typical habitual drunk driver in the United States will get away with drunk driving an average of eighty times before finally being caught. There’s no need to say that in those eighty instance of drunk driving, the likelihood for a car crash and the subsequent tragedy that is all too often associated with it to occur. Driving under the influence of other mind altering substances is also dangerous, and non alcohol related driving under the influence cases make up, in total, more than fifteen percent of all car accidents here in the United States. For many car accident attorneys, drunk driving cases are common.
But car accident attorneys are also likely to be able to attest to the rising numbers of distracted driving cases. After all, distracted driving, along with drunk driving and speeding, is among one of the top three reasons for car accident attorneys handled by car accident (and the need for a car accident attorney, at that) to occur here in the United States. With the widespread use of smart phones throughout the entirety of the country, distracted driving has become more popular than ever before. And the most frightening part about distracted driving is that all too many people do not even realize how serious it is and the potential danger they are causing not only for all those in the car with them and driving around them, but for themselves as well. After all, if you’re driving at fifty five miles per hour or faster and you look down at your phone for a mere five seconds, you will end up passing the entire length of a football field by the time that your eyes are on the road again. All in all, distracted driving is incredibly dangerous and is unfortunately on the rise, something that car accident attorneys all around the country here in the United States are all too able to attest to.