Articles Posted in Auto Accident

2020 was a difficult year for everyone, as the impact of COVID-19 will be felt for years to come. We all remember the early days of the pandemic, with school closures, lockdowns, and people working from home. While motor vehicle traffic significantly decreased in 2020 due to less cars being on the road, Shelby County residents may be surprised to learn that in 2020, pedestrian fatalities increased by a shocking 60% from 2019, according to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

The 2020 pedestrian fatality statistic represents a large increase from prior years. For the sake of comparison, pedestrian deaths in the Memphis area in the preceding years were as follows: 40 in 2019, 32 in 2018, and 38 in 2017. Deaths trended higher nationally as well, per the Governor’s Highway Safety Association.

The victims ranged from 11 years old to 75 years old. Pedestrian fatalities occurred all over town, including Midtown, East Memphis, South Memphis, and Germantown. 64 of these pedestrian deaths were on foot, while 2 were on bicycles.

Life as we knew it radically changed once COVID-19 became a global pandemic. Social distancing, school closures, lockdowns, and business shutdowns changed peoples’ behaviors in major ways. In March 2020, states began implementing measures to slow the spread of the Coronavirus, namely stay-at-home and safer-at-home orders designed to reduce human to human contact and transmission of the virus. In most states, only “essential businesses” could remain open, and the results were drastic: most of the residents of any given city remained at home on a day-to-day basis. Despite roads being much less crowded, the National Safety Council reported that in March 2020, the motor vehicle accident fatality rate actually increased by 14%.

From January-March 2020, some Southern states have seen among the biggest increases in deadly car accidents: Arkansas (+16%), Tennessee (+6%), and Louisiana (+23%). These figures come even as the total number of vehicle miles driven across the United States in March 2020 decreased 18.6% compared to March 2019. Why are fatal accident rates going up even when most Americans were sheltering at home?

The Tennessee Highway Patrol is investigating a 63% increase in deadly car crashes in Shelby County in the first 5 months of 2020, as compared to the same period of 2019. From January 1 – May 26, 2020, THP has reported at least 80 traffic fatalities in Shelby County, but in the same period in 2019, there were 49 lives lost in car wrecks.

Did you know that scientifically speaking, driving while fatigued has similar effects to driving while intoxicated? Yes, it is true – driving after being awake for 20 hours is almost like driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% according to the National Safety Council. You don’t have to be awake for 20+ hours for the effects of fatigue to kick in. If you are more tired than normal, you can still suffer from lower reaction times and temporary lapses in judgment, all of which affect your ability to operate a vehicle safely. Just one split second of inattention on the road can lead to a crash that can upend someone’s life in an instant.

Drowsy Driving Statistics

Nowadays, people seem to be as busy as ever with work, friends, and family demands all piling up. We want to try to make everything work, and this desire to fit everything in can cause us to push ourselves. Unfortunately, operating on too little rest leads to accidents throughout the country every day.

Pedestrian deaths have sharply increased over the past decade – in fact, the Governors Highway Safety Association estimates a 35% increase from 2008-2018. In 2009, the U.S. saw 4,109 pedestrian fatalities, and that number jumped to 6,000 in 2017. These facts surprise many, given the increase in technology and safety features within motor vehicles. Many new model cars come equipped with the latest in safety technology like automatic emergency braking (AEB), object detection sensors, blind spot warnings, and adaptive lighting.  A new AAA study shows this new technology still has a ways to go.

While the new technology does help reduce overall accidents, the question is whether they are as effective when it comes to avoiding crashes with pedestrians. For example, a car that has AEB with pedestrian detection should spot a pedestrian, issue an alarm to the driver, then brake or slow down if the driver does not react quickly enough. AAA recently conducted testing with four 2019 model cars – Chevrolet Malibu, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, and Tesla Model 3 – and crash dummies mimicking humans. AAA sought to test the effectiveness of the pedestrian detection systems.

The testing revealed some interesting findings:

By now, everybody knows the dangers of driving drunk or intoxicated. Unfortunately, the problem doesn’t appear to be going away. The NHTSA estimates 30 people die in drunk driving crashes each day in the United States.

Alcohol causes negative side effects in your central nervous system, making it difficult to drive safely. In most states, the legal limit is a blood alcohol concentration of .08. If your BAC reaches this level, you will have poor muscle coordination and may suffer from lapses in judgment. Perception also becomes more difficult. However, even if your BAC is below the legal limit, you can still suffer from reduced coordination and lower reaction times.

Accidents involving drunk drivers can cause lots of damage – vehicle damage and personal injuries (in fact, per the NHTSA, drunk driving wrecks cost society $44 billion per year). If you’ve been hit by a drunk driver, there are certain steps you can take in order to protect your rights and properly recover for your losses.