Traffic fatalities in 2009 are down nationwide, according to statistics released this past weekend by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which reviewed data for the first six months of the year.
So far in 2009, 16,626 people have been killed in traffic accidents, a 7 percent reduction compared to the 17,871 traffic deaths reported in the first half of 2008.
The Chicago car accident lawyers and personal injury and wrongful death attorneys at Abels & Annes continue to monitor state and national traffic statistics. While overall traffic deaths are declining, instances of drunk driving and motorcycle accident fatalities continued to increase last year.
And in Cook County, bicycle and pedestrian fatalities continue to be a problem. Through September, more than one-third of Chicago’s 110 traffic fatalities involved a Chicago pedestrian accident or a Chicago bicycle accident.
In Ilinois, where crash statistics are available through the end of September, the downward trend in traffic fatalities continues: 698 motorists died in 628 fatal crashes through the first 9 months of the year, compared to 796 fatalities last year. The 96 fewer fatalities represents a 12 percent decrease year-over-year.
Of the 628 fatal accidents, 204 deaths were attributed to alcohol-involved traffic crashes and 131 involved unlicensed drivers, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Also of note, is that the pace of decline in nationwide traffic fatalities slowed as the economy recovered. In the first quarter of 2009, a 10 percent reduction in fatal accidents was reported, compared to the 4 percent reduction in the second quarter amid a significant recovery in the stock market and reports of an improving economy.
Traditionally, the deadliest time on the nation’s roads has been the second half of the year — which includes back-to-school, and the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays as well as the start of the winter driving season.
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