Studies Show Preventable Deaths and Accidents Caused More Fatalities in Recent Years
When an accident causes a fatality, the loss of life is devastating – especially because accidents are preventable when reasonable care is exercised. Unfortunately, accidental deaths are on the rise as National Safety Council explains.
If an accident has caused your loved one to lose his or her life, you should consult with a Colorado Springs personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. An attorney can provide you with help in understanding whether you can take legal action to hold another person or company accountable for the fatal accident. If you have a claim, your attorney can also help you to fight for the compensation you deserve.
Preventable Accidents Caused Fatalities in 2016
According to National Safety Council, data from 2016 shows that preventable accidental injury became the third leading cause of death during the course of that year. This marked the first time in history when accidents were the third leading cause of fatalities in the United States since records started to be kept.
There were a total of 161,374 people killed in the United States in 2016 as a result of accidental injuries. Based on the information available about the total number of accidental injuries that took place in 2017, there was one person in America killed by an accidental death every three minutes. In addition, there was also one person hurt by a preventable accident every second within the United States.
This is a marked increase compared with prior years. Between 2015 and 2016, there was a 10 percent increase in the number of people who died accidentally. This amounts to 14,803 more people losing their lives due to accidents over the course of 2016 compared with just one year prior. The year-to-year increase was the biggest increase since 1936.
There was also a big increase between 2014 and 2016. In fact, the two-year increase in the number of accidental deaths was the biggest increase since 1903. The two-year increase in the number of accidental deaths was 18.6 percent.
The increase in deaths due to accidental injury was driven by a rise in many different kinds of accidental injuries. For example, there was a big increase in the number of car accident deaths in 2016 compared with during the prior year. There were 6.8 percent more motor vehicle fatalities in 2016 compared with in 2015 and there were a total of 40,327 people killed in car accidents over the course of the year. The two-year increase in auto accident fatalities was 14 percent. This 14 percent increase in people killed in car crashes from 2014 to 2016 was the biggest two year jump in 53 years.
The president of the National Safety Council indicates that complacency is to blame for this rise in accidental deaths, because people just accept that accidents will happen and people will die because of it. However, there is no reason for accidents to happen because preventable accidents are, by nature, preventable if due care is exercised.
If a preventable accident results in someone you love dying, you need to get help from a Colorado Springs personal injury lawyer to understand your rights and take appropriate legal action. Contact an attorney today to find out what you can do to pursue a claim for compensation if someone's failure to exercise care cause you to lose a loved one.
