Despite the increase in driver’s education and car safety features, we find ourselves dealing with the effects of car accidents far too often. Indeed, car accidents are still a leading cause of injury and death, not to mention added stress and financial burden. Below are 10 eye-popping facts to keep in mind.
- The majority of car accidents occur within 3 miles of the driver’s home.
- When you talk on a cell phone while driving you are increasing your chance of being in an accident by 400 percent.
- Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When traveling at 55mph, that’s enough time to cover the length of a football field blindfolded.
- Nearly one million high school teens drank alcohol and got behind the wheel in 2011.
- Among drivers in fatal motor-vehicle traffic crashes, men are almost twice as likely as women to have been intoxicated.
- Teens are four times more likely to die or be injured in a car crash than older people.
- The economic costs of crashes in 2010 totaled $277 billion. The $277 billion cost of motor vehicle crashes represents the equivalent of nearly $897 for each of the 308.7 million people living in the United States, and 1.9 percent of the $14.96 trillion real U.S. Gross Domestic Product for 2010.
- Montana is the state with the highest death rate due to car accidents.
- You will file a claim for a collision about once every 17.9 years.
- Unless action is taken, road traffic injuries are predicted to become the fifth leading cause of death by 2030.
If you have been in a car accident and would like to estimate the value of your claim, use the Car Accident Claim Calculator.