Damaged Car Involved In Traffic Accident

Safety experts at the National Safety Council, and insurance companies such as Allstate and Geico, were surprised by the 14 percent increase in fatal auto accidents during the first half of 2015.Geico is part of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway group. Figures for the second half haven’t yet been compiled.

Insurers say drivers could be facing a period of rising premiums. Some companies are reacting to the statistics with rate increases and others are expected to follow.

What caused the accidents?

Buffett’s statement about drivers being worse is not quite on target, though driving longer hours on trips and on crowded roads can be stressful.

* Roadways were more dangerous in 2015 as travel increased to a record 1.54 trillion miles through June, according to the Federal Highway Administration. The average number of miles individual Americans drove remained at the same level as in 2007, but there were more people driving.

* Low gasoline prices, the lowest since 2010, encouraged more travel.

* The low unemployment rate of 5.1 percent meant people could afford to take more trips, according to the American Automobile Association. Allstate president Matt Winter told analysts that increased vehicle complexity could be a factor, but it’s typical for people to drive more and have more accidents as the economy rebounds from a recession.

What you can do?

Traditional cautions are even more important on crowded roads: Take it easy and don’t be aggressive. Allow more time to reach your destination. Drive defensively. Be ready for another driver to make a mistake.

The DOT named 22 cities eligible for the grants. Unfortunately, Tampa is not on the list, despite ranking second in the nation in pedestrian fatalities in a survey by Transportation for America, a nonprofit transportation safety organization. Four other Florida cities – Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, and Orlando – made the list and are eligible for the grants.

The grants are limited in size and scope and will not be used to make any upgrades to infrastructure. They total $2 million and are intended for education and enforcement initiatives.

Another tool available to communities to improve pedestrian safety is a new NHTSA website called “Everyone is a Pedestrian.” The site brings together resources and tips that communities can use to keep pedestrians safe, such as information to help parents teach children about safe walking, reports on effective existing projects to improve safety, and guides for community safety advocates.

“Pedsafe,” a project of the Federal Highway Administration, is another website available to communities with pedestrian safety issues. It contains suggestions for engineering, education, and enforcement initiatives, including case studies of actual implementations of those ideas.

“We continue to see high rates of pedestrian fatalities in major cities and across every demographic,” said David Strickland, administrator of the NHTSA, in the agency’s announcement. “To help stop the recent increase in deaths and injuries, we need everyone to play a role in pedestrian safety. Working with partners on the federal, state, local and individual level, we hope to turn this concerning trend around.”

One attention-grabbing fact in the recent NHTSA report is that alcohol played a role in nearly half of all auto accidents in which a pedestrian died. That means either the driver or pedestrian had been drinking. And over one third of the pedestrians killed were legally drunk.

According to NHTSA reports, pedestrian fatalities declined each year from 2005 to 2009. Despite this mitigating factor, a two-year trend of increasing deaths should not be taken lightly. It is the responsibility of safety groups, individual drivers and pedestrians, and all levels of government to work together to improve the safety of our roads for all users.

Alston & Baker, an Affiliation of Professional Associations: The Law Office of Robert C. Alston, Esq., P.A. and The Law Office of Marcie L. Baker, Esq., P.A. To contact a Zephyrhills divorce lawyer call 1.888.500.5245 or visit http://www.alstonbakerlaw.com.