road debris accidents

Thousands of accidents in the United States every year are linked not to drunk driving, or speeding, but to road debris. According to a new study, these accidents killed as many as 500 people between 2011 and 2014.

The data were released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, and found that road debris was responsible for more than 200,000 car accidents in the United States over a four-year period. These resulted in approximately 39,000 injuries and 500 fatalities. An analysis of the data indicate worse news. It appears that accidents that are linked directly to road debris have increased by 40% since the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety began analyzing these risks back in 2011.

Most accidents seem to be the result of drivers swerving the car in order to avoid hitting a piece of debris on the road. About 37% of all fatalities occurred in accidents like these. In these cases, the driver is at a high risk of losing control of the steering and the vehicle.

Apart from DUI drivers and distracted motorists, Atlanta drivers face other equally dangerous risks from silent killers – road debris that has fallen off from pickup trucks, flatbed trucks and tractor trailers. Such debris regularly cause car accidents on Atlanta roads. If you are an Atlanta injury lawyer, you have seen the impact of this debris first hand in the auto accident cases which come through your office.

The number of people being killed every year in accidents caused by road debris is a matter of debate, and accidents don’t result every time objects fall off a truck or any other vehicle.However, when such debris takes motorists unawares causing them to brake suddenly, the results can be devastating.Besides, accidents can also be caused when the object flies directly into vehicles behind or around the car, crashing through windshields and injuring or killing occupants inside.

Last December, one person in Atlanta sustained serious injuries in an accident that was traced to road debris.In that accident, the woman had been driving on a highway when some debris, including tools and clamps, fell off a truck and onto the highway.Most of the cars that were behind the truck were able to avoid the debris, but the woman wasn’t as fortunate.A piece of equipment that had fallen off the truck crashed through the windshield of her car, and struck the driver in the head and face.She sustained serious injuries.

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