Articles Posted in Accident Research

Back in 1961, death records from motor vehicle accidents reached a record 11-year low of roughly 49 deaths per billion miles traveled on our public roads and peaked in 1966 with 55 deaths per billion miles of travel in 1966.

We’ve been fortunate enough to see a continuous decrease in these rates and have come to see a death rate as low as roughly 11 deaths per billion miles traveled. We saw this recent low record of deaths resulting from car accidents in Chicago and elsewhere in 2009, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).Many credit this decrease to the creation by Congress of the National Highway Safety Bureau, the forerunner of the current National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) back in 1966. In ’67 and ’68, the first edition of federal motor vehicle safety standards was created.

Our Chicago car accident attorneys understand that these low records are something to celebrate, but we also recognize the need for more motorist participation in safe driving habits if we’re going to continue making progress moving forward. Low fatality rates can also result in less attention being paid to safety concerns, or to complacency. As we’ve reported frequently, much of the reduction in the past few years can be attributed to the economic downturn — the risk of serious and fatal accidents is expected to rise again with economic recovery.

“This is exciting news, but there are still far too many people dying in traffic accidents,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Drivers need to keep their hands on the steering wheel and their focus on the road in order to stay safe.”

There are a number of other contributors to this decreasing rate besides the federal motor vehicle safety standards. Some would like to show recognition to seat belt laws that some states have enacted, safety advocate groups against drunk driving, the economic downturn, laws banning cell phone use, graduated licensing laws and road improvements.

A large number of people would like to credit the new wave of vehicle crash worthiness tests for the decrease in these fatality rates. These tests began back in 1978 as the NHTSA started the first comparative safety test and released the information to the public. This test and the release of this information caused automakers to begin improvements to their vehicles safety standards.

Other organizations have jumped on the bandwagon and started to rate cars based on their safety features. From this, the IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK was created. This system allow consumers to choose their vehicles based on a safety and performance rating and to determine which vehicles are most likely to keep them safe in the event of an accident.

But where do we go from here?

Many are awaiting new crash avoidance technology, currently available in some new model cars, to take a majority of the risks of an accident out of the driver’s hands and into the brain of the car. New technologies like these can help one to avoid collisions, to avoid veering out of a lane and to help stop the car if a driver fails to do so.

Many new vehicles come equipped with side-view assist, turn-by-turn navigation, adaptive headlamps and other features to ease the stress of driving. While these new technologies are meant to help avoid collisions, the IISH reports that these technologies are relevant in nearly 2 million accidents each year and are present in more than 10,000 fatal accidents.

Many safe driving advocates would like to see more road improvements to decrease these rates even more. Many would like to see more roundabouts. Roundabouts are intersection designs that both move more traffic and improve safety. These safe traffic intersections are just beginning to show up in the United States. If is estimated that if just 10 percent of intersections in our county with traffic lights were converted to roundabouts, we would be able to prevent approximately 70,000 accidents each year, with nearly 500 of them fatal.

“This continuing decline in highway deaths is encouraging, but our work is far from over,” said National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland. “We want to see those numbers drop further. We will not stop as long as there are still lives lost on our nation’s highways. We must continue our efforts to ensure seat belts are always used and stay focused on reducing distracted and impaired driving.”

According to the NHTSA, fatal traffic accidents in the Unites States in 2009 took the lives of more than 25,000 vehicle occupants and injured another 2.35 million. Illinois saw more than 700 vehicles involved in fatal traffic accidents in 2009 alone. Of all SUVs, pickup trucks, vans, and other forms of vehicle transportation, passenger vehicles, which a majority of us drive, were involved in the greatest number of fatal accidents on out state’s roadways.

With all of these advancements in road laws and regulations, car feature upgrades and roadway improvements, the most beneficial and effective way to decrease the number of car accident fatalities and increase the safety of motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists is to focus the attention inward and concentrate on our own driving habits.
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Over 20 percent of drivers in the United States, approximately 36.9 million of them, would fail a driving test if they had to take one today, Yahoo news is reporting. This is according to a new survey of motorists nationwide done by GMAC Insurance.

Our Chicago injury lawyers note that this statistic is actually an improvement compared to last year, when 38 million drivers were unfit to be on the road. Nationally this year the average score was 77.9%, compared to 76.2% in 2010. The results indicate that many drivers on the road could have dangerous driving habits, which could in turn lead to a higher number of Illinois traffic collisions.

Here are some of the highlights of the survey:

-85% of the drivers in the survey did not know the proper actions to take while approaching a yellow light;

-75% of motorists did not know safe following distances;

-Drivers in the Midwest scored the highest on the test, while drivers in the Northeast scored the lowest;

-The oldest group of drivers tested, ages 60 to 65, scored the highest on the test at 80.3%;

-Wyoming scored the highest of all states, where more than 95% of drivers passed the test; and
– Of major cities, Washington D.C. fared the worst on the test.

The annual GMAC drivers test was given to 5130 drivers from the 50 states. It’s a 20 question exam with questions taken from state department of motor vehicles exams.

As a lawyer that has been handling auto accident claims for many years, I can tell you that the results of this test does not surprise me. Every week I deal with personal injury cases where a driver involved either 1. did not know the rules of the road or 2. failed to obey the rules of the road.

Here are some of the rules that are most often violated:

My office often receives phone calls from drivers who have been injured when they failed to yield the right-of-way to oncoming traffic while making a left turn. They usually have similar excuses, such as the other driver came out of nowhere, or the other driver must have been speeding because otherwise they would have seen them. We always decline these cases. At the same time, we often represent drivers who were injured by motorists who failed to yield while turning left.

Some of the other most common violations I come across would be driving too fast for conditions and following too closely. Usually this rule of the road violation results in the driver rear ending the vehicle in front of them.

Another violation I often deal with, which can be the most deadly, is failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. So often motorists in urban areas are busy looking out for the danger of other vehicles, they forget to keep a proper lookout for pedestrians who are defenseless and can be severely injured by even a light impact.

The same can be said for bicycle accidents. In my experience, drivers turning left will often yield to oncoming motor vehicle traffic and forget to pay attention to bicyclists. Or drivers forget to look for bike riders when opening car doors. Even slow speed bike accidents can result in serious trauma.

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The new STANDUP Act is now urging states in the U.S. to adopt Graduated Driver Licensing laws to make sure teens meet specific minimum driving requirements, according to the National Safety Council. The new recommendations aim to help reduce the number of teen car accidents in Chicago and elsewhere in the United States.

Illinois was one of the first states to adopt a graduation driver’s licensing program, a move that has been credited with significantly reducing the number of fatal teen car crashes in Illinois each year.

Car accidents remain the number one cause of death for teens. Car accidents take the lives of more teens than the next three leading causes of death combined, which are homicide, suicide and disease. Statistics report that approximately 3,000 teens were killed, and more than 350,000 were injured in accidents involving teen drivers last year.Our Chicago car accident lawyers understand that teen drivers lack experience and safety knowledge as they possess much less driving time on the road than veteran drivers. It is important for parents and the community to come forward to discuss with teens the responsibilities and possible consequences of making poor driving decisions.

“Teen driving safety has become a national public safety issue,” said Janet Froetscher, president and CEO of the National Safety Council. “Every day, 15 people die in motor vehicle crashes involving teen drivers including teens, their passengers, people in other vehicles and pedestrians. The STANDUP Act encourages states to pass stronger GDL laws, which are proven to reduce teen driving crashes by up to 40 percent.”

States must meet the following requirements under the STANDUP Act:

–Three stages of licensing for these young drivers, including learner’s permits, intermediate stages, and full licensing, should be used.

–Age 16 should be the earliest age at which a teen can begin the permit process.

–Nighttime driving while unsupervised should be restricted, or closely monitored, during the intermediate stages of the learner’s permit until the teen receives their full license at the age of 18.

–Driving while using cell phone, texting, or any other distracting devices should be prohibited, at the very least, until the age of 18.

–Unrestricted, full licensing should not occur before the age of 18.

–Passengers should be restricted. It is suggested that no more than one non-familial passenger that is under age 21 be present in the vehicle unless a licensed driver over the age of 21 is present.

Illinois experienced nearly 150 deaths because of car accidents that involved at least one teen driver in 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers you this parent-teen driving contract to help reach an agreement between you and your child regarding safe driving habits and rules.
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A professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago has come to the conclusion that red light cameras in the city do not decrease the number of Chicago car accidents. The professor’s reasoning was reported today in the Vancouver Sun.

The City of Chicago is claiming that right angle accidents at intersections with red light cameras were reduced by 20%, and that all types of accidents were reduced by 10%. Professor Rajiv Shah seems to agree with that statistic (actually at around a 21% decrease when analyzing traffic trends from 2001 through 2008), but the problem is that accident rates have actually declined all across the City of Chicago, including on freeways, near schools and construction sites, and on city streets.

The professor’s theory for the decrease in accidents is that Chicago residents drove around 1 billion less miles in 2008 than they drove in 2002. So his belief is essentially that less miles driven equals less accidents, and therefore read light cameras have not played a significant role in accident reduction.

Shah then analyzed the Illinois Department of Transportation’s data for red light cameras installed between 2006 and 2007, and there were some concerning results. He found that the year after the cameras were installed, accidents of all types at those intersections had a 6% increase. He believes that this was due to an increase of rear end accidents at those locations.

In my own personal experience, I can understand the theory. I regularly pass by red light cameras at two intersections on the North Shore of Chicago at Willow Road. I know the cameras are there, and when a light turns yellow I tend to jam on the brakes (and then look in the rearview mirror and hope that I’m not going to get hit from behind). I seem to do this even though I feel it would be safer to go through the intersection.

The article goes on to point out that there is some evidence that red light cameras have led to a decrease in severe Chicago accidents. However, the decrease only adds up to only a 1.5% difference, and the professor feels that this percentage is so small that it is “statistically meaningless”. (The Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications compared 10 red light camera intersections to 10 regular intersections and found a 5.3% decrease in severe accidents at red light cameras, as compared to only 3.8% decrease at normal traffic signals).

Shah goes on in the article to give the opinion that in Chicago red light cameras are really all about revenue. In 2009 alone, red light cameras produced over $60 million in fines.

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