Government officials and automakers often make improved car safety a priority in an effort to make roadways safer for those in Illinois, Missouri, and throughout the rest of the nation. Car crashes unfortunately cause multiple injuries and deaths each year. However, statistics released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicate that increased car safety measures may be partly to credit for the dropping rate of driver deaths in car crashes over the past few years.
The Insurance Institute conducted a study of fatal car accidents involving vehicles from model year 2011. The study followed particular models over the length of a year and measured how many deaths occurred in those specific vehicles over that time. According to the results that have been released, the number of driver deaths (at a rate per million registered vehicles) fell from 48 deaths from 2008 to 2009 models to 28 driver deaths for 2011 through 2012.
Some industry insiders believe that better car safety designs and technology are in large part to credit for the decreased rate of driver deaths. Others point out that the sluggish economy may have also played a role in this fact by decreasing the amount of time Americans are spending on the road. One of the Insurance Institute’s officers stated that even taking that fact into account, this drop in driver deaths is a significant one in just a matter of three years. He further reported that vehicles are performing much better in crash tests as well.
One disturbing trend revealed by the study is the fact that the disparity between the vehicles that performed well and those that were the most dangerous is significant. While nine vehicles had an astonishing record of 0 deaths per million registered vehicles, three vehicles from 2011 had driver death rates greater than 100 deaths per million. The model with the highest rate of driver deaths, the Kia Rio, had 149 deaths per million registered vehicles.
The rate of decreased driver fatalities in these vehicles is certainly promising news when to comes to car safety, but that doesn’t mean that people aren’t still suffering serious injuries in car accidents. Those who are injured in these types of car crashes may find themselves wondering how they are going to cover their medical and other related expenses. Fortunately, personal injury laws provide injured victims the chance to seek financial restitution through the filing of a civil lawsuit.
Further, those Missouri and Illinois residents who have lost loved ones in car crashes may also be able to file wrongful death lawsuits to seek financial reimbursement in civil court. Car safety design and technology may be improving, but people still tragically lose their lives each year. If you or a loved one has been injured due to another person’s negligence, please call my St. Louis car accident law firm at 1-888-586-7041 to schedule a meeting. We can discuss the facts of your case and inform you on your rights under the law to seek restitution through the civil courts.
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Source Article: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/study-chances-of-dying-in-a-car-crash-plunged-over/article_329112f1-1f6c-500d-823d-c28d6e16369d.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed