Not a day goes by that someone, somewhere in the US is involved in a personal injury accident. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, over 3,000 people die in crashes worldwide every day. Makes you stop and think doesn’t it? How do the numbers stack up in the US?
The good news is that since 2005, which was a banner year for auto accident fatalities, the number of crashes overall has declined. In 2005, the figures were an estimated 6,420,000 car crashes with 42,636 deaths. Many of the victims of these crashes sought the expert assistance of an auto accident attorney to claim compensation.
In 2009, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) numbers show roughly 33,963 deaths – a decline of 8.9% over 2008 figures, which stood at 37,261 fatalities. If you do some quick math, the projections over the next couple of years should see the numbers declining even further, and they may hit the lowest ever recorded statistics since 1954. From the point of view of an auto accident attorney, this would be good news.
Any time the accident numbers decline is cause to celebrate the impact of safety training and driver education. Nonetheless, there will still be the inevitable car crash whose victims need to hire the services of a skilled auto accident attorney. People need to be informed about their rights when it comes to being in an accident. Dealing with personal injury claims is difficult without quality representation from a seasoned auto accident attorney. Contact Attorney Emery Brett Ledger for a FREE detailed Evaluation of your matter.
It’s important for those who have been involved in a collision to know what options they have open to them, as their claims may vary from serious injury to wrongful death. In order to understand how to proceed, how to deal with the insurance companies, how to file a lawsuit and what compensation may be possible after being in a wreck, you need to speak to an auto accident attorney.
If the death toll is showing an average of 115 people die every day in a car crash in the US, it means people are victims of a fatal accident every 13 minutes. Whether this is due to reckless driving, someone texting while on a cell phone, watching a movie on their laptop, poor road conditions or being in the wrong place at the wrong time, there are painful financial and personal consequences. A competent auto accident attorney will tell you right up front that traffic accident victims are entitled to compensation for their losses and their pain and suffering.
But what about the new and enhanced safety features the cars of the 21st century brag about – the new lower speed airbags that don’t deploy with the same chest crushing impact as the older ones, the child friendly side airbags that blow in and up, not directly into the heads of smaller children, the sturdier frames in SUVs that help stabilize them in a rollover and other things like a car that won’t let you drive if you have been drinking? Do these things help when it comes to an accident?
As an auto accident attorney with a number of years experience, I have seen a great many new safety features added to vehicles, and this can only be a good thing, provided it saves lives and isn’t just about having something tekkie and new; something that sounds good, but doesn’t perform as it’s supposed to when you rely on it. The best example of this is the Toyota massive recall of cars that took off suddenly without any warning and could not be stopped by the driver because the computer chip onboard was defective.
As an auto injury attorney, I would have to say that a great many of the newer features onboard a vehicle today do help when it comes to being involved in an accident. The thing is that not everyone can afford to own or drive a vehicle with these features. The net result? There are a lot of older vehicles on the road that don’t withstand impact the same way as the newer models. In fact, many of the older cars, which may not be properly maintained either, are accidents about to happen, and do happen, because my practice as an auto accident attorney sees cases like this.
It’s been my experience over the years of serving my community as an auto accident attorney that the older cars involved in crashes seem to have the worst injuries – particularly when it comes to steering wheel injuries, blunt force trauma from the dashboard and windshield and seatbelts that are worn and torn from excess use.
The bottom line is that cars don’t really kill people; people in the cars kill people and more than anyone, an auto accident attorney would see this type of carnage up close and personal on a daily basis. As an experienced auto accident attorney, I have seen traumatic brain injury, serious head injuries, spinal and neck injuries, wicked fractures and crushed and broken bones. It is my job to tell my clients what they are entitled to in terms of compensation, what needs to be present to put together a solid case and how we need to proceed quickly and not file too late.
