Auto Injury

Deadly Car Accidents Rose to All-Time High in 2021

February 7, 2022 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky reports that according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of car accident deaths in the United States rose dramatically during the first three quarters of 2021, to a shocking number of nearly 32,000, with ten percent of those deaths happening in Florida. Sadly, this rise follows the post-pandemic surge noted once the Covid-19 lockdowns were lifted.

The government estimates that the number of car accident deaths during the period last year from January through September rose by twelve percent compared to the same time frame in 2020, a rise which was the highest recorded in over forty years, the greatest rise since the government’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System began monitoring traffic deaths. In fact, the number of car accident deaths of the year’s first nine months was the highest during those months since 2006. As expected, Florida, which was one of the first states to lift pandemic restrictions, was one of the states which lead the rise in traffic accident deaths. The rise in fatalities correlates to 1.36 traffic deaths per 100 million vehicle miles driven, which statistically was a slight rise from the 1.35 per miles traveled measured in 2020. Interestingly, the deadly rise diminished during the third quarter of 2021 versus the same quarter of 2020.

In light of this shocking rise, the Department of Transportation vowed to roll out a nationwide plan, called the National Roadway Safety Strategy, in hopes of reversing this deadly trend. Specifically, part of the recently passed infrastructure law will encourage states to build safer roads, with dedicated bicycle and bus lanes, increase lighting along rural roads and install more crosswalks. Given the difficulties local police departments are having deploying officers for traffic patrols, plans also call for installation of speed cameras, which are disfavored by motorists, but provide for greater and more cost-effective speed enforcement. Evidence is clear that reducing speeding motorists correlates to an equivalent drop in violent crashes, meaning lives are saved.

Deadly Car Accidents Rise in 2020

March 22, 2021 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

Despite driving significantly fewer miles over the past year due to Covid-19, there were actually almost 3,000 more car accident deaths in 2020, as compared to 2019. According to a recent study by the National Safety Council, over 42,000 people lost their lives in car accidents over the past twelve months – an eight percent increase from the prior year. Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky knows too well of the carnage on our roadways over the past year, having helped many families who were victims of deadly crashes in Miami, Plantation and Boca Raton.

While safety advocates had hoped for a silver-lining during Covid, that a significant drop in vehicular traffic would result in an equally impactful drop in car accident deaths; the sad part is that those who choose to drive during the lockdowns actually demonstrated riskier driving behavior, including driving at high speeds. The dangerous driving was also documented by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which confirmed that more speeding meant deadlier crashes. Those findings seem out of place when looking back at Florida’s March and April, 2020, state of emergency and stay-at-home orders.

Most observers point to Covid-19 as significant contributing factor in the rise in deadly crashes – a statistic which is omitted from the Covid-19 reported death numbers. The safety council calculated that Americans drove nearly thirteen percent less over the past year; yet, the rate of driving deaths per 100 million vehicle miles driven increased by nearly twenty-five percent to 1.49, the greatest percentage increase in over 100 years.

Deadly Car Accidents On the Rise in Florida

March 6, 2019 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

More traffic wrongful death data from Ft. Lauderdale car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky,while the number of people killed in traffic crashes in 2017 exceeded 37,000, a drop of nearly 2% from the prior year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; according to the World Health Organization, the number of traffic-related deaths rose to move than 1.35 million last year. The WHO’s report on Road Safety determined that deaths from car accident are now the 8^thleading cause of death, resulting in more than $800 billion dollars of damages world-wide last year alone.

And of course, Florida again is considered one of the most deadly states for car accident deaths, partially due to some of the most lenient driving laws in the country.

Car accident dangers are evaluated in the study in 5 categories including occupant protection, child passenger safety, teen driving, drunk driving and distracted driving. Florida drivers demonstrated some of the most dangerous behaviors resulting in 2,922 fatal crashes with over three thousand car accident wrongful deaths in 2017.U.S. crash deaths fell slightly in 2017 but still reflected the second-deadliest year on the road in the last decade. As expected, given Florida’s recent rise in legal marijuana use, some of the most frequent causes of deadly car accident include drugged driving and distracted driving.

Drowsy Driving Causes More Car Accidents and Injuries Than Previously Thought

February 17, 2018 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

As Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers, we are always on the watch for news which our clients and friends can use to help prevent deadly Florida car accidents. Along those lines, a recent report demonstrates that drowsy driving, where drivers are too tired to safely drive a car or truck, is more widespread than previous studies assumed.

A recent study by the AAA shows that sleepy motorist are to blame for nearly ten percent of all car accidents. “Drowsy driving is a bigger traffic safety issue than federal estimates show,” said David Yang, executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “Drivers who don’t get enough sleep are putting everyone on the road at risk.” Plantation personal injury lawyer Joseph Lipsky could not agree more.

The AAA formulated their results after they studied nearly 4,000 drivers over a number of months. Through the use of dashboard cameras and other monitoring devices, the scientist followed motorists over a nearly three year period. The results of the study showed the driver being followed were involved in more than 700 car accidents. Drowsy driving was a contributing factor in almost ten percent of those car and truck accidents. And of those nearly 700 crashes, more than ten percent resulted in significant property damage or personal injury. Those results were much greater than the Department of Highway Safety Administration’s estimates that only 1-2 percent of car accidents involved a drowsy driver.

No Surprise, Florida’s Drivers Cause More Car Accidents

August 31, 2017 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

As car accident attorneys helping seriously injured accident victims throughout Florida, including Fort Lauderdale, Miami and the Palm Beaches, we are not surprised that a recent survey determined that Florida has the worst drivers in America. The study reviewed crash and police information accumulated from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which reviews the number of wrongful deaths per miles driven in each state; the number of driving under the influence (DUI) arrests per state, as reported to the FBI; the ratio of insured versus uninsured motorists in each state; and Google’s analytics regarding the number of searches about speeding tickets and traffic tickets in each stated.

As everyone who suffers through the daily drive upon Florida’s highways, including the Florida Turnpike, I-75, I-95 and SR 826 knows, the study could only have one “winner” once it analyzed all the data. Incredibly, while most drivers think they drive well, the data reveals that that is not the case. In Florida, that data shows that our reputation is well earned. Florida’s drivers “won” for the 2^nd year in a row, a dubious honor as the nations’ worst. Florida’s honor is attributed to the number of deadly car accidents, ranking 9^th in the nation and we also had the 9^th greatest number of internet searches for traffic tickets. Surprisingly, Florida ranked at the bottom regarding the number of DUI arrest.

In addition to being the state with the worst drivers, Florida also has the most dangerous road, U.S. 1. According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, U.S. 1 has a fatality rate of 2.8, with more than 1,011 car accidents with more than 1,000 wrongful deaths over the past ten years. Not too far behind I-95 running through Broward and Miami-Dade Counties with a fatality rate of 1.73 accidents per mile.

Cars Need Better Headlights to Avoid Accidents

June 5, 2017 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

While many drivers take precautions to drive safely in hopes of preventing being seriously injured in a car accident, many vehicle owners overlook a critical safety feature of their vehicles which puts them in a great risk of being involved in the accident they are hoping to avoid. That safety feature is the vehicle’s headlights. Improperly maintained or installed headlights create a danger not only for a driver, but for preventing pedestrian accidents – as they may not been in enough time to avoid being stuck.

Research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety demonstrated that the majority of headlights on a number of small SUV, including the Jeep Wrangler, Mitsubishi Outlander and Nissan Rogue had poorly performing headlights. Even so-called luxury vehicles such as the Mercedes C-class had poorly rated headlight systems.

Incredibly, it is actually old federal regulations which are the cause of numerous vehicles with poorly rated headlights. While many manufactures actually want to install items including adaptive beams, regulations prevent them from installing the same technology they have on vehicles being sold around the world. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has failed to take action on a number of manufactures requests to install newer headlight systems, such as curving headlights which actually turn themselves into a turn a vehicle is making. In fact, Toyota’s request which they made over four years ago, are still pending.

Drivers of Small Cars More Likely to Die in Car Accidents

May 30, 2017 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

While it may seem like common sense, many prospective car buyers do not realize the dangers associated with driving a small vehicle as compared to the safety of driving a larger vehicle. Research shows that drivers of small vehicles are more likely to be in a deadly car accident than those driving large vehicles. These drastic safety differences between the safest and most dangerous vehicles becomes more concerning when there are so many drivers on the road, such as this past Memorial Day weekend, when nearly 40 million were on the roadways who unfortunately have hundreds of car accidents.

Proof of the dangers and higher mortality rates associated with driving a small vehicle are evident in a recent study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. According to the head of research, “physics matter. The bigger the vehicle, the safer you are in an accident.” Additionally, many larger vehicles tend to be more expensive than entry level ones, meaning they generally come equipped with more safety equipment which also helps their drivers survive even highway car accidents. Some of the more prominent safety and accident prevention technology in more expensive vehicles include automatic braking, additional airbags and pre-tensioning seat-belts.

The IIHS went through 4 years of car accidents which resulted in nearly 3,000 wrongful deaths, which was a significant increase compared to the prior four year period, and analyzed that data over 200 models of vehicles, each of which have at least 100,000 models on the roads. The eye-opening results demonstrated that the Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio had the highest death rates, with over 100 Hyundai Accent drivers’ deaths. As you can imagine, Hyundai, in trying to explain away the results, claims their vehicle meets all US safety standards.

Keep Kids in Car Seats to Prevent Personal Injuries

November 17, 2016 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

Miami car accident attorney Joseph Lipsky hopes all parents take note, and help turn around a disturbing trend; parents not using proper child safety restraints in their vehicles. Although the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has taken significant efforts in educating and assisting law enforcement in enforcement required child safety restraints, recent evidence demonstrates a rise in the number of children between 4 and 7 years of age, who are not properly restrained, and subject to serious injury in the event of a car accident. Incredibly, almost forty percent of all kids between the ages of 4 and 7 are not properly restrained.

Many parents are in a hurry to reward their children by moving them from baby seats to boosters. Unfortunately, the desire to advance children into a more “grown up” type seat actually places that child in danger. Research indicates that almost fifteen percent of kids younger than 3 were allowed to use booster seats too soon. However, this quick graduation to boosters is better than the nearly 55% of kids who are simply allowed to ride in a vehicle with no booster, only restrained by an adult seatbelt.

Too often parents disregard well publicized safety recommendations that children between the ages of 4 and 7 should not use a booster seat until they reach a large enough weight and height. Children who have not reached at least 35 inches and a weight of at least 40 pounds should remain in their harnessed child seat. Thereafter, children should use a booster seat until they are at least 4 feet nine inches tall. Adult seatbelts are designed for an adult weighing greater than 125 pounds. When a child uses an adult seatbelt, their risk of serious injury is alarmingly high. However, when a child uses the appropriate seat and safety equipment, there is a nearly 50% decrease in the likelihood of serious injury in the event of a car accident.

Teen Driver Safety Week is Here – Help Prevent Car Accidents

October 17, 2016 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

As this is National Teen Driver Safety Week, all parents of teenage drivers, including Florida car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky, remind parents to speak with their children about the importance of safe driving. Considering car accidents are the leading cause of wrongful deaths for teenage drivers, with nearly 3,000 annually, in addition to the over 125,000 teenagers who suffer personal injuries in car accidents each year, parents need to take time this week to stress the importance of safe driving with their teenagers.

Topics parents need to discuss should include the most common causes of teenage driver accidents and injuries, to wit: alcohol use, not using a seat belt, texting while driving/distracted driving, speeding and having too many passengers in the car. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration considers these situations as the “5 to Drive” rules for safety. The ‘5 to Drive’ rules provide a clear and simple list for parents and teenage drivers to discuss and learn from, in hopes of avoiding a crash.

As summarized by the NHTSA, the “5 to Drive” campaign “5 to Drive” campaign rules are:

A Rise in Deadly Teenage Car Accident Requires More Driver Training

October 13, 2016 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

As the parent of a teenage driver, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney Joseph Lipsky knows too well about the frequency of teenage driver related car accidents; and the ongoing need to reduce the wrongful deaths and injuries which unfortunately happen too often in those crashes. According to a recently released report from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), older teenage drivers, those between the ages of 18 and 20, demonstrate a higher frequency of being involved in a crashes resulting in wrongful deaths, as compared to younger teenage drivers.

These deadly increases fly in the face of continuing efforts by the State of Florida to reduce teenage driving car accidents. Yet, the plain fact is that teenage drivers account for nearly 50% more car accidents than adult driver. Sadly, wrongful deaths from teenage driving car accidents rose nearly 10 percent last year. Considering that teenage drivers are nearly three times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash, ongoing driver education is a subject which affects everyone on Florida’s roads, not just those teenage drivers.

The report, which was underwritten by Ford, advocates that states more carefully monitor the unending number of teenage driver car accident wrongful deaths and direct greater resources at those older teenage drivers. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), last year’s rise in teenage driver wrongful deaths actually reverses reductions seen over the past decade. Additionally, the majority of deadly teenage car accidents happen on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings between 9 p.m. and midnight.