This is great news, but it still means over 32,000 people died in 2013 due to traffic accidents. David Friedman, Deputy Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), has done a breakdown of the figures. He said that close to an average of 90 people lose their lives each day and over 250 people are injured every hour in traffic accidents.

What are some contributing factors in these accidents? And how does North Carolina rate in the traffic fatality rankings?

Rating North Carolina Highways

In 2010, The Daily Beast put out an article entitled America’s 100 Deadliest Highways. Where did North Carolina rank on this list? Three North Carolina highways made it onto the list: I-95 at #44, I-85 at #66, and I-77 at #77. Data was compiled over a four year period, from 2004 to 2008. In total, the number of fatalities amounted to 397.

When comparing that number to the US total of over 30,000 per year, it may seem insignificant. We need to remember, though, that these numbers represent individuals, not just numbers on a piece of paper. Even one life lost due to a traffic accident should be too much.

In order to prevent fatal traffic accidents, we must first look at the causes.

Causes of Fatal Traffic Accidents

The following are four of the ten common causes of fatal traffic accidents that we will be discussing.

Next week we will discuss six more contributing factors of fatal traffic accidents. We will also show how you can do your part to avoid them.

The post Traffic Fatalities: The Most Common Causes appeared first on Law Office of John C. Fitzpatrick | Durham Attorneys | DWI, Criminal Defense, Car Accidents.