You and your friends and family in Kentucky have no doubt heard your share of reports detailing serious car accidents that result in the loss of human life. Despite better safety features and even accident prevention features built into new automobiles along with strict laws about things like drinking and driving, too many people continue to be killed in senseless wrecks that need not ever happen. Just how many people die every year in car accidents statewide?
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 834 vehicular fatalities in Kentucky in 2016. That is more than in any of the previous four years including a jump from the 761 deaths the previous year. These deaths included drivers, passengers, motorcyclists and pedestrians alike. Factors such as drunk driving, excessive speed and the involvement of semi trucks or other large commercial vehicles were also noted.
In the five years from 2012 through 2016, the state saw 869 drunk driving deaths, 679 deaths in which speed was a factor and another 409 deaths in crashes involving large trucks. Motorcyclists accounted for a total of 481 of the people killed in that timeframe. People on foot accounted for yet another 309 of the deceased. Clearly the laws that are in place and the safety advances in vehicle technology are alone not enough to stop drivers from making bad and truly tragic decisions.
If you would like to learn more about the realities of fatal car accidents in Kentucky, please feel free to visit the motor vehicle crash assistance and compensation page of our Kentucky personal injury website.