California Car Accident Fatalities Statistics And Trends

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for Americans aged 3-33 years old. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), despite the 5,811,000 reported and unreported car crashes, the number of overall traffic fatalities reported in 2008 was the lowest since 1961.

In the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 2008 Fatality Analysis Reporting System, there is a 9.7 percent decline in the number of people killed in motor vehicle crashes in the United States. California Car Accident Statistics

Car accidents statistics in California show a marked improvement. In 2008, Californias traffic fatalities decreased 13.6 percent, reaching its lowest level since the federal government began recording traffic fatalities in 1975.

California traffic fatalities decreased 3,974 in 2007 to 3,434 in 2008, this represents the largest reduction and California has taken the lead among five other states who saw a decrease of at least 200 car accident deaths.

There are two factors in particular which can be attributed to Californias decreased fatality rate, the first being the states adherence to its primary enforcement of seat belt laws and the second, its DUI law enforcement efforts.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave California the highest rating in the nation for laws pertaining to DUI, Young Driver Licensing, Seat Belt Use, Child Restraint Use, Motorcycle Helmet Use, and Red Light Cameras in its April 2009 report. California Seat Belt Use

In 2008, Californias seat belt usage rate is 95.7 percent which is an improvement from its 2007 rate of 94.6 percent. This means that 356,697 more people buckled up in 2008.

The national average of seat belt use is 83 percent and it can be noted that Californias seat belt use rate is much higher.

The percent of unrestrained passenger vehicle occupant fatalities in California is also the lowest among all other states at 36 percent. The states child safety seat usage rate reached a record high of 94.4% in 2008.

The NHTSA estimates that 1,791 Californian lives were saved at the current seat belt use rate. California DUI Efforts

Although there is a reduction from 2007s 1,616 to 2008s 1,029 fatalities which are alcohol-related, 30 percent of Californias total car accident deaths in 2008 involved alcohol-impaired car accidents.

This goes to show that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in order to curb DUI deaths.

The authorities however, show that they are hard at work in cutting the cost as the Department of Justice said that the Statewide DUI arrests increased 3.4 percent from 197,248 in 2006 to 203,866 in 2007. California traffic enforcers have made the most number of DUI arrests since 1994.

Despite Californias good record in 2008, it is still advisable that all drivers exercise due care and caution on the roads to avoid being a statistic.