USA Registers 7.7% Increase in Traffic Fatalities in 2015

nsnbc : About 35,000 in the United States died in traffic accidents in 2015, reveal newly released official data. The death toll marks a shocking 7.7% increase in traffic-related fatalities.

The burning wreckage of  the Mercedes of the late journalist Michael Hastings.

The burning wreckage of the Mercedes of the late journalist Michael Hastings.

Data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) under the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) revealed that nine out of 10 regions within the United States had increased traffic deaths in 2015.

The NHTSA is analyzing the data to determine what factors contributed to the increase in traffic fatalities. The NHTSA is also testing new safety technologies and new ways to improve driver behavior, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

A slightly improved economy and falling gas prices at the pump were believed to be among major reasons for the increased traffic deaths in the United States last year. However, NHTSA head Mark Rosekind said that improved economy only explains part of the increase as 94 percent of car crashes are caused by human behavior or error.

Rosekind added that the government needs to focus its efforts on improving human behavior while promoting vehicle technology that not only protects people in crashes, but helps prevent crashes in the first place.

The remains of the "flying engine" from journalist Michael Hasting's Mercedes.

The remains of the “flying engine” from journalist Michael Hasting’s Mercedes.

The NHTSA has convened a series of six regional safety summits with key stakeholders throughout February and March. As a result, the agency is working to develop new tools to deal with behavioral challenges and launch new initiatives to protect vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.

The DoT is also promoting new guidelines for the development of automated safety technologies which could greatly decrease the number of crashes. In March, the department announced a key safety agreement with automakers requiring more than 99 percent of new vehicles to have automatic emergency braking standard by 2022. The DoT believes that this alone could prevent thousands of crashes every year. The DoT is also working to require vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems on new vehicles, and working with researchers on technologies that could prevent drunk driving.

In comparison to the 35,000 traffic-related fatalities in 2015, there have been 13,438 death in the USA that involved firearms in 2015 and a total of 53.309 gun-related “incidents”.

This number includes 319 cases in which an officer was shot/killed, 1,909 incidents where a police officer shot/killed an alleged perpetrator, 2,361 cases involving home invasion, 1,299 cases where a firearm was used in self-defense and 1,999 “accidental” shootings. There are no data about how many of the fatal traffic accidents involved foul play as suggested in the case of journalist Michael Hastings.

F/AK – nsnbc 04.07.2016

Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2016/07/04/usa-registers-7-7-increase-in-traffic-fatalities-in-2015/

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes