Every time you get into your vehicle in Florida, you know that there always exists the potential that you may be involved in an accident. Certainly you cannot let that prevent you from living your life but being aware of accident volumes and trends is important. Data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that most of 2016 was deadlier than 2015 on U.S. roads and highways.
Vehicular fatalities from January to September of 2016 jumped by eight percent nationally over the same period in 2015. In the southeast region which the NHTSA considers Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee the increase was even higher. Here, 15 percent more people died in the first nine months of 2016 compared to the same months in 2015.
Nationally the increases were seen to grow each quarter through the year. In the first quarter, the U.S. experienced a seven percent rise in fatalities followed by a rise just over seven percent in the second quarter. In the third quarter, however, deaths in motor vehicle accidents increased by 10.3 percent. This is the second year in a row in which the nation has seen more deaths on the road in this period. For the prior two years, a decrease in traffic fatalities was recorded.
Many factors may be part of the fatality increase but one may be that more miles were driven than in the prior year. If you would like to learn more about getting help after a vehicle accident, please feel free to visit the automotive crash compensation page of our Florida personal injury website.