Last year saw the largest increase in annual traffic deaths in the past 50 years as a total of 35,092 lives were lost, a 7.2 percent increase over 2014. If you or a family member have been in injured in a car accident contact one of our South Bend personal injury attorneys for a free consultation.
Distracted driving was a factor in 10 percent of those fatalities, which is an increase of 8.8 percent compared to 2014, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
However, a new survey from online insurance quote aggregator Everquote shows that many drivers who engage in distracted driving still consider themselves to be safe drivers.
An overwhelming 96 percent of survey respondents said they were safe drivers, yet 56 percent of those same respondents say they use their phones when driving.
Everquote surveyed 2,300 drivers and utilized data gathered from 35,000 users of the Everdrive app.
The app data showed that 96 percent of drivers had used their phone while driving at least once in the last 30 days. Moreover, the average driver spends 0.4 miles per 11 miles driven on the phone.
Speeding is also a growing problem on the road, as the NHTSA found that speeding fatalities in 2015 were up 3 percent over 2014, totaling 9,557 deaths.
Everdrive app data shows that drivers spend more than half of their driving time at speeds 10 mph or more above the posted speed limit. National data shows that a speed increase of 10mph can increase accident risk by 9.1 percent.
Have you been injured in an accident caused by a distracted driver? If so, you may be entitled to compensation for your medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. The experienced South Bend car accident lawyers at Pfeifer, Morgan & Stesiak will fight to maximize compensation and hold the negligent driver responsible.
Call (574) 444-0741 for help with your claim.
