Texas Car Accident Statistics

According to NHTSA, motor vehicle accidents claim 42,000 lives each year and are responsible for millions of injuries. Automobile accidents cost Americans $230 billion in property loss, medical and emergency bills, productivity loss and other costs.

It is estimated that 30% of all automobile crashes are alcohol related. According to car accident statistics by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents kill someone every 31 minutes, and (non-fatally) injure someone every two minutes. In 2005, 14,409 traffic fatalities occurred in vehicles in which at least one driver or non-occupant had a BAC of 0.08 or greater. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration predicts that at least three of out every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol related crash at some time in their lives. Twenty percent of children 0-14 years old who are killed in motor vehicle crashes are killed in alcohol related crashes.

Speeding is another factor often associated with automobile accidents. An increase in speed reduces the amount of available time needed to avoid a crash, which increases the likelihood of crashing and the severity of a crash once it occurs. The relative proportion of speeding-related crashes to all crashes decreases with increasing driver age, according to the NHTSA. Recent car accident statistics have revealed that 39% of male drivers aged 15 to 20 who were involved in fatal crashes, were speeding at the time of the crash.

Many fatalities and debilitating injuries could be prevented if drivers and vehicle occupants would use their seat belts. 55% of the people who were killed in automobile accidents last year were not wearing seat belts. Seat belt use, reinforced by safety belt laws, is a proven life saver. Seat belts are credited with preventing 11,900 fatalities are year and 325,000 serious injuries annually. Six out of ten children who died in passenger vehicle crashes last year were not wearing their seat belts, according to NHTSA.

The needless deaths and injuries that result from not using seat belts cost society an estimated $26 billion annually in medical care, lost productivity and other injury related costs. Average inpatient costs for traffic crash victims who did not use seat belts were 50% higher than for victims who were belted. Adult seat belt use is the best predictor of child occupant restraint use. A driver who is buckled up is three times more likely to restrain a child passenger.

In some cases, design and manufacturing defects in a vehicle may cause crashes that result in serious injury or death. Manufacturers have a legal responsibility to notify consumers if their vehicles have dangerous defects, but that does not always happen.

By E. Michael Grossman

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