Car Accident Statistics in California

Accidents are inevitable. What is expected of all those who drive on the roads is to exercise care and always be on the lookout for those who opt not to. Even when one does that, it is still likely that one end up being involved in an accident when they are not at fault, and statistics show the frequency of such crashes. If you or someone you love is in a crash, speak with a San Francisco Law firm, specialized in cases such as car accidents, personal injury, or even paralysis. The Cartwright Law firm is ready to assist with your case, no matter how difficult this is

According to the latest California Highway Patrol Annual Report: 

1. 197,146 fatal and injury traffic accidents happened on California roads in a recent year, and of these, 3,582 were fatal, and 193,564 resulted in injury. “On average, 1 out of every 10,200 persons living in California was killed in a traffic crash; 1 out of every 143 persons was injured, and 1 out of every 73 licensed drivers was involved in a fatal or injury traffic crash,” notes the Report.                       
2. 3,904 occupants of the vehicles and trucks that were involved in the crashes were killed in the 3,582 fatal crashes. Of those who were killed, 2,089 of them were drivers, 690 were passengers of the vehicles involved in the crashes, 963 were pedestrians, and 162 were bicyclists.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
3. 36,037 of the crashes that occurred in California happened in Los Angeles, which is the largest city in the state with approximately 4 million people. This is no surprise because the city is notorious for its extremely heavy traffic compared to other cities, aggressive drivers, and long commutes, which exacerbate the conditions for these accidents to occur.                                                                                   
4. A car accident was reported every 3 minutes, according to the Report, which translates to having 20 accidents occurring each hour on average. However, this number could be off and not accurately reflective of the actual number of accidents that occurred that year because there are many accidents that are not reported to the police or to insurance companies.

Not surprisingly, speeding is the leading cause of car crashes in California. This negligent but avoidable behavior is responsible for almost 32 percent of accidents that resulted in either serious injuries or death, including traumatic spinal injuries that can lead to paralysis. What is remarkable is that aggressive drivers often find ways to try and speed amidst the heavy traffic, especially that which is common in the Los Angeles area.

How Does California Compare to Other States in Accident Statistics?

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 33,244 fatal automobile accidents in the United States in 2019, and of these accidents, many injuries were so serious that they led to 36,096 deaths from those accidents. This translates to having 11.0 deaths per 100,000 people and 1.11 deaths per 100 million miles traveled. The fatality rate for the former ranged from 3.3 in the District of Columbia to 25.4 in Wyoming. The death rate in the latter category ranged from 0.51 in Massachusetts to 1.73 in South Carolina.

California was on the lower end of this in deaths per 100,000 and about average in deaths per 100 million miles traveled.

Leading Causes of Accidents in California

As noted above, speeding is the leading cause of accidents in California. Speeding reduces a driver’s reaction time to hazards as well as the ability to control his or her vehicle. But speeding is only one of the many causes of accidents, with others include the following:

Impaired driving

Thousands of accidents are caused in California by drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs. According to NHTSA, more than one-quarter of car accident deaths in California have occurred in alcohol-related accidents within the last several years. In one year alone, more than 1,120 people in California died in these alcohol-related accidents, which was more than any other state for that year.

Driving under the influence of drugs closely follows alcohol as being a factor in serious accidents. It is also common to have drunk drivers who are also high from using drugs, which is double the risk these drivers pose when they are not killed or killing others with their driving under the influence.

Distraction

Driver distraction has increasingly become a major factor in California. There are no statistics available as to the exact number of distracted driving accidents, but one must assume that number to be alarmingly high.

Available Damages for Auto Accidents

A car accident attorney can help you in assessing and putting together a good case for you to obtain compensation for your injuries. The law provides that if you have been injured in an accident due to someone else’s negligence, that person or entity or their insurance is required to pay you money to make you as whole as you would have been but for the accident. The money the person or entity that caused the accident is required to pay is known as “damages.”

There are two types of damages available to those who have been injured in an accident caused by someone or an entity that was negligent:

Economic Damages

Economic damages are available to compensate someone who has been injured in an accident to recover their monetary losses they have suffered because of their injury. The damages are determined by calculating the amount of money the injured victim has spent because of the accident for things such as medical treatment, rehabilitation, medication, and so on. The expenses need not only be past or present expenses, but they can also be anticipated expenses, especially in those cases where treatment or rehabilitation will take a long time before the victim recovers fully.

Other examples of economic damages include lost income or wages and loss of earning capacity. 

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages are compensation for things that are not economic losses. These include:

1. Emotional Distress
2. Pain and Suffering
3. Loss of Enjoyment of Life

There is a less common type of compensation that is available to some accident victims, and this is punitive damages, a special type of compensation available only in rare cases where the person or entity who caused the accident is shown to have acted with wanton disregard of the safety of others or maliciously.

Speak with a San Francisco Paralysis Attorney

If you have been injured in an accident, the personal injury team at The Cartwright Law Firm, Inc. is ready to help. We assist clients with a wide range of injuries, from concussions to paralyzing spinal injuries. Please contact our office today for a free case review. Call: 415-433-0444.