Here’s a new headline our Sacramento personal injury attorneys were not pleased to read: “Traffic deaths rise as drivers, dangers grows.” The Sept. 28 Sacramento Bee ran a disturbing story about national trends that should concern us all in Sacramento. Car crash injury and death rose across the nation and by extension, Sacramento. Increased car accident injuries were traced to a few specific causes by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and in this Blog our Sacramento car crash and injury attorneys will look at what we can do locally to buck this troubling trend.
Four Sources of Concern for Sacramento
Car crash injury and deaths may have naturally risen as more people took to the roads post-recession, according to NHTSA. With a 10 percent increase in traffic deaths nationwide and 13 percent in California over the past three years, Sacramento car accident injuries and deaths have also dominated local headlines. Wrong-way drivers were faulted in several major Sacramento car accidents. Injuries and deaths in these incidents brought attention to the plague of drunk driving. In addition, we experienced the result of distracted driving in a tragic Sacramento car accident. Critical injuries were suffer by a young boy and his father died when a texting driver swerved into the pair on their bicycles in a suburb of Sacramento.
Car crash injuries due to distracted driving and to driving while inebriated are two of the causes of increased traffic deaths cited by traffic agencies in California and Sacramento. Personal injury lawyers at Sette have previously written about the scourge of distracted driving due to the ubiquitous nature of cell phones and their alluring apps that take attention away from the all-important task of safely driving in Sacramento. Car accident injuries are the rise across the nation as distracted driving permeates daily life. In addition, our Sacramento car crash injury attorneys note that distracted driving laws are not routinely enforced throughout the state, and some related traffic fines are too low to be a real deterrent. Government surveys show a definite increase in smart phone use in California and in Sacramento. Car accident injuries and deaths will only continue to rise if law enforcement, traffic officials and the driving public do not attack distracted driving as an urgent problem.
An increasing number of Sacramento car crash injuries may be related to driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. State safety officials say that while alcohol DUIs continue to be a plague, marijuana use is rising and becoming a bigger factor in Sacramento car accident injuries and traffic violations. In addition, prescription drug use is also concern.
Sacramento car crash injuries have also been impacted by the increasing number of motorcycles on the roadway. Post-recession purchase of motor bikes is up, particularly among older riders in Sacramento, increasing car crash injury threat. The heavier bikes favored by these riders are more difficult to control. In a Sacramento car accident, injuries to the motorcyclist are usually the most severe. State safety officials report a concerning rise in incidents since 2010.
Sacramento car crash injuries also reflect accidents involving pedestrians and bicyclists. Clearly, bicyclists are an important part of the commuter and recreation community in Sacramento. Car accident injuries to people on bicycles and pedestrians are often very severe. There have been a number of high profile accidents in Sacramento causing personal injury. Our attorneys all recognize that bicyclists and pedestrians face the most severe dangers in a car accident in Sacramento.
Car Crash Trends Suffer Reversal in Sacramento
That car crash injuries and deaths are climbing throughout the state is very concerning to state officials. Over the five years previous to 2010, there was a significant decrease in traffic deaths due to car accident injury. According to the Sacramento Bee article the period marked the fewest California traffic deaths since WWII. Sacramento car crash injuries and deaths were likely minimized, in part, because of the adoption of seat belt use. In addition, the introduction of safety technology such as airbags have helped keep drivers safer in Sacramento.
Car accident injury and death, however, is arcing upward again, inspiring our personal injury attorneys to wonder how to keep people safe in Sacramento. Clearly, car crash injury is adversely impacted by the use of our newest technology – smart phones and accessible apps. Just as technology has made it safer for drivers, it’s currently creating an enhanced threat to drivers in Sacramento. Our car accident injury and death rates are surely affected by the heightened incidence of distracted driving that leads to Sacramento car crash injuries. Traffic officials cannot be certain about distracted driving statistics because drivers often deny cell phone use after a Sacramento car accident. Injuries and deaths will continue to increase until laws are consistently enforced and fines are meaningful to distracted drivers in Sacramento. Car accident injuries due to the use of electronic devices may decrease if the makers of the technologies also participate in creating safety solutions to prevent car crash injuries and death. Thus far, blocking technology and other potential solutions have met with public opposition.
In Sacramento, car crash injuries won’t diminish until drivers take complete responsibility for public safety. In a survey, the Office of traffic Safety reports that 9.2 percent of drivers admit to being distracted while driving throughout the state and in Sacramento. Still, car accident injuries due to distracted driving do not reflect the true number of motorists violating the law in Sacramento. Our personal injury attorneys and traffic officials bemoan the fact that every day, there’s a new app on the market tempting drivers and threatening a Sacramento Car accident.
Injuries and deaths on the roadways won’t vanish from Sacramento. Car crash injury increase, however, can be reversed throughout California and certainly in Sacramento. Our personal injury attorneys at Sette Law support enforcement of traffic laws and urge our residents to make our roadways safer for families in Sacramento. Car crash injuries are, unfortunately, becoming a daily occurrence in our Sacramento. Our personal injury attorneys want to see a turn-around in the troubling statistics we see in the recent statistical rise and promote driving habits that keep friends and neighbors safe from Sacramento car accident injuries.