Car Accidents are one of the leading causes of death in Los Angeles
In a city that lives in a hurry and has large numbers of people moving from one place to another, companies transporting goods, tourists, cyclists, motorcyclists, etc., traffic accidents are more ordinary than we would like. And indeed, car accidents are the third leading cause of fatalities in our city.
Every 40 hours, someone dies as a result of a traffic accident. Sometimes it is a driver, sometimes it is two, other times it can be a cyclist or a pedestrian, but we are all exposed to suffering an accident like that.
According to data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 3,623 deaths from traffic accidents were reported in 2016, of which 1,056 were the result of speeding.
In 2018, 36,750 people died on the roads across the country. Even with all the new safety features that automakers are continually adapting to their models, fatalities continue to occur.
Most accidents are due to human factors. In addition to the speeding mentioned above, distracted driving, whether using the cell phone to talk or text, eat, put on makeup, play with other devices in the car, and so on, are distracting activities that take our attention off the road, even for just a few seconds. Seconds that can be the difference between life and death.
Did you know, for example, that taking your gaze off the road for five seconds is equivalent to driving across a football field with your eyes closed? Imagine everything you could find in your path in that distance. Terrible, right? Knowing this, we can clearly understand how 93 percent of accidents are due to human error, and only a remaining 7 percent due to weather conditions, construction sites, road obstacles, etc.
The fatality rate among pedestrians has also been on the rise since pedestrians are the most vulnerable people that as drivers we can find on the road.
We must realize that we have to accept much more responsibility as drivers. These figures are somber. It could be you or a loved one.
