For the third year in a row, the number of traffic-related deaths across the country exceeded 40,000.
This grim statistic comes even though safety technology in vehicles has really never been better. Some cars can now brake automatically even if the driver of the car is not paying attention and thus misses an emergency developing on the road. Likewise, some vehicles actually have systems that can warn a driver that he or she is about to crash.
According to experts, though, the key is that only some vehicles have this advanced safety technology. Most do not. As such, it is just too soon in the game for these new technologies to have a real impact on reducing the number of fatalities, even though there is evidence that the technology does in fact serve its purpose.
On the other hand, distracted driving, drunk driving and speeding all remain problems on the road, even though there was some encouraging signs that these issues are slowly getting better.
Furthermore, it seemed that deadly incidents of drugged driving or driving with a dangerous combination of drugs and alcohol in one’s system were on the rise.
Not all of the news from this report, which was prepared by the National Safety Council, was bad. Indeed, between 2017 and 2018, the number of deaths on the country’s roads dropped slightly, by about 230, or 1 percent. Still, the 2018 number was 14 percent higher than where it was in 2014.
The bottom line in all of this is that, sadly, some families in Charlotte, North Carolina, are going to lose a loved one or relative in a fatal car accident. While no amount of money can bring a loved one back, it is nice for families to know that they have legal options under such circumstances.