Virginia Traffic Accident and Injury Statistics
Many people can go years without being involved in an injury-causing traffic accident. You may believe that it will not happen to you or your family. However, when you take a look at the statistics regarding the number of accidents and injuries that occur on the roads of Virginia alone, you can see that these crashes happen more often than you may expect. The following annual statistics reported by the Virginia Highway Safety Of ice indicate that the risk of an accident is always present anytime you are driving, riding, or walking near a roadway.
Car Accidents
In a single year in Virginia, 37,003 car occupants were reported injured in crashes; 28,650 of whom were the drivers. Additionally, car accidents caused 321 fatalities. The majority of these accidents happened during daylight hours with no adverse weather conditions or road defects, which demonstrates that driver error plays an important role in causing car accidents and injuries.
Pedestrians
Traffic-related incidents caused injuries to 1,718 people walking near a road and 78 pedestrians did not survive. Surprisingly, 301 of these accidents happened while the pedestrian was crossing the street at an intersection that had a traffic signal. Many intersection accidents involving pedestrians result from a driver’s failure to yield or inattention.
Bicycles
661 bicyclists suffered injuries and 15 were killed due to traffic crashes. Many of these bicycle accidents happened at intersections and involved a failure to yield on the part of the driver involved. Statistics show that most drivers and bicyclists were not impaired at the time of the crash and so distraction or inattention may have been a major cause in many of these crashes.
Motorcycles
Motorcycle crashes in Virginia caused 1,776 injuries and 70 deaths. In most of these accidents, no violation was found on the part of the motorcyclists, which may demonstrate that other drivers are most commonly at fault for motorcycle accidents. Similar to bicycle accidents, a failure to pay attention is a common cause of injuries to motorcyclists.
Pickup Trucks
Occupants and drivers of pickups sustained about 17,400 injuries and 205 people sustained fatal injuries in accidents. Compared to car accidents, more pickup accidents happened at night or in the rain, or they were caused by following too closely or failing to yield.
Commercial Trucks
Large commercial vehicles caused nearly 5,000 accidents, including 3,340 injuries and 77 deaths in Virginia alone. Accidents involving semi-trucks had a significantly higher rate of injury than crashes involving cars, likely due to the
sheer size and weight of commercial trucks.
Call a Richmond Car Accident Attorney as Soon as Possible
Taking a closer look at traffic accident statistics can be sobering and should bring awareness of the risks of being injured in a crash. If you or a family member has been injured, you should not wait to contact the law office of
Emroch & Kilduff to discuss your rights and options. We have offices in Richmond, Petersburg, Tappahannock, Fredericksburg, so please call today at 804-358-1568 for free.
