Early this morning, a driver on the wrong side of I-85 southbound hit another vehicle, resulting in at least one fatality and shutting down the freeway. This fatal crash is just the latest example of dangerous driving behaviors that can become deadly.
Driving by these accidents, many people may wonder what happened. The Auto Insurance Center, a car insurance information site, wondered about this as well. They compiled National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) fatal accident data from 2009 to 2013 to determine the cause of the most fatal accidents in each state. The data includes driver, passenger and pedestrian fatalities.
To determine fatality rates for each state, the Auto Insurance Center "took the total number of crashes associated with each of these causes by state and divided that number by each state's population to arrive at a per-capita metric for accurate comparison."
In most states, including Georgia, failure to stay in the proper lane is the cause of most fatal car accidents. Georgia is also one of the five states most affected by improper or erratic lane changing and fatal accidents during a police pursuit. Georgia's fatality rates were in the lower range for both drunk driving and speeding, but are not completely non-existent.
"It doesn't take extreme conditions or intentional recklessness behind the wheel for tragedy to strike," the Auto Insurance Center concludes. "Scary as it sounds, the factors to blame for the worst outcomes on the road are pretty common. While they don't always end in a fatal crash, it's important to remember that they very well could."
When a crash happens, fatal or not, it is important to remember your legal rights. You may want to contact an attorney to discuss your options.
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