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Car Accidents Statistics

According to car accidents statistics, there is an average of one death in every twelve minutes in the United States of America – that is about a hundred and twenty-three deaths per day.

Auto collision-related deaths constitute the majority of the fatalities for US citizens below 40 years of age with the most deaths coming from the younger drivers.

Of the many vehicular accidents every year, 40 percent are due to drunk driving. This car accidents statistics explains why sanctions for drunk driving are turning to be more and more severe.

Studies show that the enforcement of specific rules regarding driving reduces the number of fatalities from car accidents.

Specific rules that have lowered the number of deaths are

• Severe sanctions for drunk driving
• "Drive Safely with Seatbelts" Campaign

Numbers show that around 59% of all drivers who died from a car accident were not wearing seat belts.

Surprisingly, more drivers died from not wearing a seatbelt than from accidents with drunk drivers.

There are four major contributors to the occurrence of a vehicular accident - mechanical problems, poor road design and/or maintenance, weather conditions and improper driving practices. They are discussed below and are ordered from the least to the most contribution to fatalities. Usually, two of these contributors come into play in an auto accident.

Mechanical Problem

Automobiles should be designed to adhere to international safety standards prior to production and release for public consumption. But the final testing of the vehicles cannot account for the 100% functionality of all the auto parts.

Even the design process is abberant because it cannot accommodate all the safety features against the different accident scenarios. Except for brand-wide recalls (major problems with the auto design), mechanical problems only constitute 5 percent of all vehicular accidents.

Poor Road Design and/or Maintenance

The only instance road design and/or maintenance comes into play in car accidents is in cases of a blind corner, blocked traffic safety signs and temporary road rerouting due to construction. Even with these, the road design and maintenance only become hazardous when the driver is driving too fast to see the changes in the road.

Weather Conditions

The weather can worsen road conditions but this only becomes extremely dangerous when the driver is driving irresponsibly. Yes, storms, snow and ice can make the roads hard to drive in but a driver who pays close attention, who is not over speeding, who has maintained his car in perfect condition can always make a safe trip through any weather condition.

Improper Driving Practices

Car accidents statistics in Europe showed that 80 percent of the drivers who got into a car accident blamed another for the collision, and that only 5 percent confessed to being at fault while 15 percent gave answers that are a little bit of both. The most common improper driving practices that resulted in a car accident include not paying attention to the road (being distracted with cell phones, applying make-up while driving, etc.), aggression and speeding. The last being the improper practice that caused the most number of car accidents.

Unfortunatly, finding concrete car accidents statistics in the U.S. can be difficult, as city and state goverments claim "privacy" when disclosing the reasons and/or type of accidents.

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