Georgia’s deep and proud military tradition takes a back seat to no one, so we know that many of our Jonesboro readers are well-versed in both military and U.S. history. However, it is likely that some will be surprised to learn that more people have died in motor vehicle crashes on U.S. roadways since January of 2000 than U.S. service members were killed in World War I and World War II combined.
While that statistic might surprise, it comes as no surprise that most of those deadly wrecks were caused by three main types of drivers: distracted, drunk or speeding.
The data cited in the recent news article also shows that the opioid epidemic took nearly 100,000 lives between 2006 and 2012. During those same years, distracted, drunk and speeding drivers killed nearly twice as many people (190,455).
In the automotive industry, it is frequently said that 94 percent of car wrecks are caused by human error, and the numbers certainly bear that out.
- 624,000 died in motor vehicle crashes from 2000
- 535,000 American military personnel died in the two World Wars
Let’s break the road fatality figures from 2000 to 2017 down:
- 213,000 of those killed were in crashes that involved drivers who were impaired by alcohol
- 197,000 people were killed in wrecks that involved excess speed
- 78,000 died in crashes that were caused by a distracted driver
We can’t stop motorists from speeding, drunk driving or distracted driving, but our Jonesboro attorneys do help accident injury victims effectively fight for full compensation in personal injury litigation.