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Have fatal car accident rates been climbing again? 

On Behalf of | Feb 11, 2023 | Car Accidents |

Over the decades, if you asked road safety experts what was happening with fatal car accidents, they would likely be proud to tell you that the totals were dropping. Even as the population of the United States has grown, there has been a downward trend in fatal car accidents since about the 1970s.

However, it is true that the statistics have now been climbing back up again. There have been reversals like this in the past, where you would see a brief climb before another period of decline. But this has now stretched on for three years in a row, raising concerns that fatal accidents are not following their usual trends and that the roads are getting more dangerous.

Why is it happening?

The first question most people ask after they learn about this trend is exactly what has changed and why it’s happening now. Due to the events of the last few years, a big part of the reason for it is that traffic levels declined. It was originally assumed that this would lead to lower fatal accident totals, but the opposite happened, and the statistics increased. Experts found that driving behaviors had become riskier and that people were making more mistakes, leading to a greater number of fatal accidents even though there were fewer cars on the road.

Some of these risky driving behaviors include things like driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence of drugs, breaking the speed limit, aggressively passing and much more. Essentially, drivers just started to be a lot less careful, and so they began causing more and more severe accidents.

If you’ve been injured by another driver, then it’s important for you to know how to seek financial compensation for your losses.

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