Georgia Injury Law Blog
The United States lags behind several other countries, including those in Europe and Asia in reducing the number of auto accident relatedwrongful deaths. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, this country could be doing a much better job of saving more lives and reducing the number of personal injuries in accidents every year.
It may seem like there’s been much progress in reducing accident numbers in the United States.After all, auto accident wrongful death numbers in this country have been on the decline over the past decade, and last year, were at their lowest levels since record keeping began.With statistics like this, it’s easy for Atlanta car accident lawyers and motorists to become complacent, and believe that American drivers are much safer than anywhere else.
That’s not true at all.A look at the safety records and accident prevention efforts in other countries indicates just how much more progress the U.S. needs to make.
The fact is that many other countries have lower accident fatality rates per vehicle mile traveled.Additionally, other countries are seeing a much more drastic drop in auto accident fatalities, compared to the United States.The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety suggests that there are several factors contributing to this wide chasm between the United States and other countries.
The biggest factor could possibly be the difference in attitude between transportation safety agencies in the United States and those in, say, Europe.In the United States, transportation safety officials seem to believe that being involved in accidents, or being injured or killed in crashes is just part of the price that people pay for being mobile.In other countries, there is a strong sense that accidents that end in serious injuries and deaths, are simply unacceptable.In those countries, transportation safety officials have, not surprisingly, been much more proactive about developing systems that prevent accidents.
There are other differences between the United States and other countries when it comes to saving lives in accidents.For instance, almost every country in Europe mandates motorcycle helmets for all motorcyclists.Additionally, Australia, Japan, Canada and New Zealand also have mandatory motorcycle helmet laws for motorcyclists.In the United States however, there are at least thirty states that do not mandate motorcycle helmet laws.
Seat belt use has been increasing steadily in the United States, hovering at a respectable 84%.However, even here, countries in Europe have made dramatic progress.Seat belt use rates in those countries are much higher than in the US.
Other countries also believe strongly in using frequent sobriety checkpoints to reduce drunk driving.With more checkpoints, law enforcement can easily haul drunk motorists off the streets.Additionally, many European countries have a much lower threshold for blood alcohol level.In Canada, Japan, Australia and in most European countries, the maximum threshold is.05% or below.In the United States, the legally allowed blood alcohol limit is .08%.That might explain the lower numbers of auto accident deaths in European countries.