The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) says "crashes are not accidents." Accidents are described as crashes that occur without anyone's fault or negligence. In most crashes, people involved usually accept responsibility for for the crash.
Statistics
The following statistics were obtained from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Ohio Crash Facts: 2008 Data, published by the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
All motorists, motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians:
2008 USA Stats
37,261 fatalities on the United States highways
102 people died every day
4 people died every hour
1 person died every 15 minutes in a traffic crash
2.35 million people were injured
2008 Nationwide Highway Fatalities
28,933 Fatalities in passenger cars and light trucks
Another 2,221,00 injured
802 were killed in large trucks with 23,000 injured
4,378 Pedestrians were killed and 69,000 injured
718 Bicyclists were killed and 52,000 injured
approximately 13% of bicyclists who were killed were age 15 and under
2008 Motorcyclist Fatalities Increased for the 11th Straight Year!
Motorcylist fatalities now account for 13% of all traffic deaths
5,290 Motorcyclists died
96,000 were injured
Ohio ranks 5th in the 50 United States for motorcyclist fatalities. This is not a TOP TEN that we should want to be in!
2008 Ohio Crash Stats
Ohio has 8,757,280 licensed driversand ID card holders
2,856,099 driver licenses were issured
I
284,158 motorcycle endorsements (licenses) were issued, renewed or added to a driver license
Ohio driver licenses are only renewed every 4 years
Ohio had 320,876 traffic crashes
14,425 were alcohol related
What caused the other 306,451 crashes?
Ohio had 1191 fatalities on its roadways
Someone's loved one was killed on our roads every 7.4 hours
307.1 people were injured daily
48 children were killed and 9,025 were injured
214 Motorcyclists were killed in Ohio
a 35% increase in 3 years
77,296 victims were injured
The largest group of Ohio's of driver and pedestrian fatalities (235) were between the ages of 21-25 with another 14,398 injuries
224 young people between 16-20 years old claimed second place for the highest number of Ohio's driver and pedestrian fatalities with another 18,680 injuries
Causes:
Ohio reported crashes 320,876 in 2008. According to Ohio Crash Facts: 2008 Data, the following five top causes of crashes in Ohio account for 59.4% of the reported crashes:
1. Followed too Closely (71,557)
2. Failure to Control (46,853)
3. Falure to Yield (37,459)
4. Unsafe Speed (19,289)
5. Improper Lane Change (18,428)
The top 5 Ohio motorist errors that resulted in fatalities are:
1. Failure to control (178)
2. Unsafe speed (173)
3. Improper lane change (120)
4. Failure to Yield (107)
5. Left of center (101)
Ohio has 270,000 registered street motorcycles and 632,000 endorsed (licensed) motorcyclists.
NHTSA reports that, historically, 2/3 of crashes involving motorcyclists and another vehicle are caused by the other motorist, not the motorcyclist.
According to NHTSA, traffic crashes cost society $230.6 billion/year.
Something has to be done to reduce traffic crashes. We believe that if motorists learn the significant impact that their actions have on innocent vicitims and families, most will be more aware of their actions, careful and less negligent, thereby, avoidable tragedies will be reduced.
It is up to all of us, as motorists, to take action to prevent horrible, life changing tragedies that are avoidable.