You have no doubt noticed that new car models include an increasing number of features designed to improve safety. Some of these features, like airbags, focus on reducing injuries in the event of an accident. Other features, like forward collision warning, are geared toward prevent accidents altogether. Noticing these improvements, you might assume that Georgia roads and highways are safer than in years past. Unfortunately, that is not necessarily the case.
According to records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of people who died in motor vehicle accidents in Georgia in 2017 was significantly higher than in three out of four of the previous years. In 2013 and 2014, the state experienced 1,180 and 1,164 traffic fatalities, respectively. In 2015, another 1,432 people died. The following year saw another jump to 1,556. The 1,540 deaths in 2017 marked only a slight decline from that.
Drivers who choose to drink and drive or to speed were responsible for a high percentage of the deaths in Georgia. Both of these are factors totally within the control of drivers and that, clearly, even the best safety technology is unable to combat. In Whitfield County, 68 people died in accidents between 2013 and 2017. Speed was a noted factor in 16 of those deaths. Alcohol was also a contributing factor in 16 deaths.
If you would like to learn more about how you can seek help after you or a loved one has been involved in a car accident caused by another driver’s negligence, please feel free to visit the crash compensation page of our Georgia personal injury website.
