Car accidents are an unfortunate reality in modern society. Regardless of how many safety features manufacturers install in them and how many rules drivers are expected to follow, millions of auto accidents occur every year.
California has some of the most dramatic car accident statistics of any state in the country. This is in part because it has the highest population of all U.S. states.
California Has the Most Auto Accident Fatalities
There were 3,259 car accident fatalities in California in 2018, which represents roughly 10% of all automobile accidents in the country. However, it isn’t all bad news for California residents.
Despite these high numbers, 15 states have a higher rate of car accident fatalities than California. Those states just have lower populations, so they have fewer yearly fatalities.
That said, the average fatality rate for all accidents in the U.S. is less than 1%. But the fatality rate for car accidents in California is between 1% and 2%.
Driving Under the Influence Accounts for a Large Percentage of Fatalities
Approximately 30% of California’s car accident fatalities occur due to drunk driving. This is almost exactly equal to the national average. While this number is still way too high, the good news is that it has been slowly decreasing over the past three decades.
Los Angeles Has Almost Twice as Many Auto Accidents as the Rest of the State
In 2020, there were 630 reported car accidents in Los Angeles County. This represents roughly 20% of car accidents in the state. However, the population of Los Angeles is only roughly 10% of the entire state’s population.
This means that people in Los Angeles are getting into car accidents at roughly twice the rate of the rest of the state. Some of this is due to the high amount of tourism that the city experiences. But it also reflects negatively on the state of the roads in and around the city.
Seat Belt Usage Limits Fatalities
Roughly 80% of Californians wear a seat belt when they ride in a car. However, this number fluctuates based on the person’s age range. The ages with the lowest usage rate are 18 to 24 and 25 to 34.
Unsurprisingly, this correlates to car accident fatality rates. The group with the highest fatality rate in California is those aged 20 to 24.
Nearly Half of Auto Accident Fatalities Involve Speeding
Speed limits exist for a reason. Over 40% of car accident fatalities in California involve at least one driver who was speeding. A significant portion of these accidents also involves driving under the influence. After all, drunk people are more likely to drive faster than is safe for road conditions.
Contact Steinberg Injury Lawyers After a California Car Accident
If you find yourself becoming one of these unfortunate statistics by being injured in a car accident in California, you deserve the best help there is. Contact Steinberg Injury Lawyers today to consult with an attorney who will help you obtain money to recover quickly.
