DOT: Highway Accident Fatalities across US Are at Lowest Levels in Decades
Last year, the number of deaths in highway accidents across the US dropped to approximately 9% lower than in 2008. That heartwarming news comes to us via the Department of Transportation which has just released data into highway fatalities for 2009. According to the DOT, last year, there were 33,963 deaths in highway accidents across the country.
Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood says that three factors have been responsible for the declining death rates.
1. The rates of seatbelt use have increased tremendously.
2. Automobiles today are much safer and do a far better job of keeping motorists and occupants safer.
3. Stronger law enforcement efforts have contributed to a decline in drunk driving accident rates over the past few years.
As an Atlanta car accident lawyer, I have been concerned about some of Georgia’s laws that likely contribute to higher death rates for our motorists. For instance, our state continues to be one of the few in the country that has no mandated seatbelt laws for all. Georgia's laws require all motorists to be buckled up, except for pickup drivers. There have been efforts to pass laws that require pickup drivers to buckle up like the rest of us, but these efforts have met with little success. There is no reason why pickup truck drivers should be exempted from following a rule that will ultimately help keep them safe and alive in a collision.
As an accident lawyer in Atlanta, I would also love to see stricter laws against texting while driving in Georgia. There have been enough studies to show the detrimental effect that texting while driving can have on a motorist’s concentration. Yet Georgia has made little progress towards passing and implementing such laws.
A total of 33,963 deaths might be a drop from the previous year, but as far as I'm concerned, it is 33,963 fatalities too many. In Georgia, we could be doing a lot more to bring our accident fatality rates down. All it requires is for our lawmakers to be a little more farsighted and aggressive about safety.
