What Led to the Sharp Rise in Car Accident Deaths in 2016?
Auto accident involving two cars on a city street
Despite safety improvements made over the last few years, there was a sharp rise in car accident deaths in the United States in 2016. According to WRAL-TV, there were more traffic fatalities on US roads last year than there had been in almost a decade. These numbers come courtesy of the National Safety Council (NSC). Per the NSC’s data, there was a 6 percent increase in deadly auto crashes in 2016 compared to 2015. Last year marked the first time since 2007 that there were over 40,000 car accident deaths in a single year in the US.
Why Were There More Fatal Car Accidents in 2016 Than in Prior Years?
There were three major factors leading to the rise in car accident deaths in 2016 according to the WRAL-TV report:
In addition to those factors, the article mentioned that distracted driving, such as texting while driving, is increasingly playing a role in deadly car wrecks.
While automobile safety technology continues to advance, including rearview cameras, automatic emergency braking, electronic stability control and blind-spot monitors, it has not yet stemmed the tide of fatal auto wrecks on our roads. However, it appears that current safety technology will soon be joined by other advances, such as vehicle-to-vehicle communication, which could enable cars and trucks to communicate wirelessly to avoid traffic accidents, as well as self-driving cars. Maybe once auto safety reaches that level, deadly car wrecks will become a thing of the past.
What do you think the solution could be for cutting down on the number of deadly car crashes in the US? Tell us how you would fix this crisis in the comment section below or on our Facebook, or Twitter.