Oregon drivers may be happy to know that U.S. highway deaths decreased in the year 2018 for the second straight year, and this decrease has continued into 2019. One of the reasons why there are fewer car accidents is because of technology that has been installed in newer vehicles to make them safer.
While it is a definitely good news that fewer lives are taken on U.S. roads, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to make being out on the road safer for drivers, pedestrians, motorcyclists and bicyclists. Sadly, 36,560 people died on U.S. roads in the year 2018. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is taking steps to use new technology to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and reduce the number of deaths in these categories. The organization is also studying changes in its five-star crash assessment program in order to make improvements.
According to statistics provided by the NHTSA, there are a few areas where the statistics did not show improvement. There was a 6.3% increase in the number of individuals who were killed on bicycles and other peddled vehicles. Pedestrian deaths went up 3.4%. The statistics show that 76% of pedestrian deaths occurred after dark while about half of bicyclist deaths occurred after dark. Some of the cyclists and pedestrians had alcohol in their systems.
An individual with a member of their family who was a fatal car accident victim may wish to speak with a motor vehicle accident attorney. The attorney may be able to provide information about how to get compensation for funeral expenses in a fatal drunk driving accident. The attorney might use evidence gathered from a police investigation to show that the victim was not at fault or use eyewitness testimony to provide information on how the event took place.
