More than 41,000 people lose their lives in motor vehicle crashes each year and over two million more suffer disabling injuries.
Traffic death rates are three times greater at night than during the day, yet many of us are unaware of night driving's special hazards or don't know effective ways to deal with them.
Every 30 minutes someone dies in an alcohol-related crash. Young drivers are at particular risk to be involved in alcohol-related crashes.
Alcohol is a factor in 6% of all traffic crashes, and over 40% of all fatal crashes.
37% of drivers have nodded off for at least a moment or fallen asleep while driving at least once in their driving career - 8% have done so in the past six months.
Statistics show that in two-vehicle fatal crashes involving as older and a younger driver, it is 3.1 times as likely that the vehicle driven by the older person will be struck. In 27% of these two-vehicle fatal crashes the older driver was turning left.
On any given day, 20% of seniors are driving under the effects of benxodiazepines (Valium, Xanax, Ativan, Librium and others). These medications can seriously decrease your ability to drive safely, as can many others.
Car accidents are more dangerous for seniors than for younger people. A person 65 or older who is involved in a car accident is more likely to be seriously hurt more likely to require hospitalization, and more likely to die than a younger people involved in the same crash. In particular, fatal crash rates rise sharply after a driver has reached the age of 70.
More than 3,800 young drivers in the 15 - 20 age group are killed every year in traffic crashes. More than 326,000 young drivers are injured.
14% of all deaths due to motor vehicle accidents are teen drivers. About 30% of the crashes killing young drivers involve alcohol.
Of teen drivers fatally injured in automobiles, more than 1/3 were speed related accidents.
Teen drivers are more likely than older drivers to be the cause of their accidents.
People age 16 - 19 have the highest traffic-related fatality rate of any age group.
Traffic accidents are the leading cause of disability and spinal cord injuries among youth.
|