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Car accidents can produce severe injuries, and being involved in an auto accident can also mean damaged vehicles, pain and suffering, lost income, and much more.
While getting the proper help if you’ve been injured is essential, you also want to understand Los Angeles car accidents and the aftermath they can cause. That can give you information to use when working with your attorney. Here’s what you need to know.
Los Angeles car accident statistics can seem troubling, mainly because many people are injured or killed on LA-area roads yearly. Traffic deaths and other car accident concerns are high, partially because of the number of drivers on the roadways.
Another reason for traffic fatalities and higher car crash numbers is that there are some aggressive drivers in the Los Angeles area. With the amount of traffic commuters must contend with daily; frustration can sometimes be a problem that leads to errors in judgment behind the wheel.
Driving in LA requires vigilance and diligence, from distracted and angry drivers to DUIs, medical events, and other reasons for traffic accidents. Even the most careful of drivers may not always be able to avoid an accident, though, due to the negligence of other drivers on the road.
In Los Angeles, car accidents are everyday occurrences. There are multiple motor vehicles involved in accidents every day. Fortunately, most motor vehicle accidents aren’t that severe. They’re fender-benders, and they’re more of a nuisance than anything.
That’s only sometimes the case, though. Severe or fatal injuries can also occur in a car crash, and there are more significant car accidents in the LA area every day. Knowing the Los Angeles car accident statistics can help you make meaningful choices about when and where you drive in the area.
In 2021 there were more than 40,600 car accidents in Los Angeles County. Despite the Vision Zero initiative started in 2015, designed to make traffic deaths a thing of the past by 2025, the number of fatal traffic accidents continues to rise yearly.
Naturally, this is a troubling trend. With more people in the area and on the roads than ever, Los Angeles car accident statistics tell the tale of increasing fatal car accidents. For the same year, nearly 4,500 of the more than 40,600 accidents were either fatal accidents or resulted in severe injuries. That’s 11% of accidents, which is a significant number of people impacted.
Over the years, car accidents in Los Angeles County have continued to rise. That includes hit-and-run crashes, DUI traffic accidents, pedestrian fatalities, and other motorists who were seriously or fatally injured.
Even during the pandemic, when fewer cars were on the roadways, LA continued to have car accident fatalities and serious injuries reported higher than in other areas. There are more than 7.5 million registered vehicles in Los Angeles County, which translates to many vehicles on the roads, nearly all the time.
However, even when compared with other major cities, Los Angeles’s car accident statistics are not encouraging. Car accidents happen frequently, and LA is a dangerous place to drive. Speeding drivers, texting drivers, and other issues with driver error combine to put drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists at risk. Fatal accidents were up 5% in 2022 and 30% in 2021 compared to the previous year.
There has been a lot of talk about reducing traffic accidents, particularly fatal accidents. Still, the number of people dying in county accidents continues to increase. More than just the number of cars on the road is the problem, too. Another part of the issue is that the speed limits are frequently raised, and speeding on residential streets and other areas besides the freeway continues to be serious.
More than 32% of car accidents in 2021 were rear-end collisions, indicating the likelihood of distracted driving. Impaired drivers may also cause these collisions, as they sometimes need to realize that the vehicle in front of them is slowing or stopping.
As for the severe or fatal injuries reported and the types of traffic accidents most commonly cited, property damage still happens more often than other injuries. That’s because many traffic accidents are minor and don’t cause serious harm to people in the car, pedestrians, or bicyclists.
However, fatal accidents account for many accidents, with fatal hit-and-runs up 25% from 2020 to 2021. Pedestrians and bicyclists are often the victims of fatal car accidents in the LA area, as well, because there are so many of them. Distracted drivers may overlook them, and there isn’t always time for the victim to get out of the way.
Someone is killed in a car crash in Los Angeles County approximately every 30 hours, and fatal car accidents continue to rise. Of course, the goal is to lower or eliminate these accidents. With so many vehicles on the road, though, and many pedestrians and bicyclists, car accident statistics continue to paint an unpleasant picture for the future.
Additionally, injury-causing accidents that aren’t fatal are some of the most important and most common. Not only can these create a lot of harm, but they can also mean months or even years of trying to get back to where a person was before the accident. Even with a personal injury claim, there may still be a significant amount of healing to do.
There are several leading causes of car accident issues in Los Angeles. That doesn’t mean every accident will fall into one of these categories. Most accidents that create catastrophic injuries and life-changing harm come from one or more of the issues below.
Being distracted behind the wheel is a recipe for disaster for the driver and others around them. Driver error due to inattention accounts for serious harm in many traffic accidents throughout Los Angeles and the surrounding area.
Most people think of texting when they think about distracted driving, but there are many other ways a driver can be distracted. Talking to a passenger, dealing with children or pets in the back seat, making a phone call, changing the radio station, and eating or drinking are additional ways a driver can lose focus on the road, resulting in serious consequences and deadly traffic accidents.
Speeding is another dangerous way that drivers can cause a car accident. The speed limits in Los Angeles are often raised, and people still go much faster than the posted speed. Some like to race, others are in a hurry, and still, others assume there aren’t any consequences. Whatever makes someone speed, it can often cause a car accident.
Driving impaired is extremely dangerous, but it happens daily in Los Angeles. There may be more of a risk on a weekend night, but drunk drivers are out during the day. Driving drunk can easily cause a car accident because the driver’s judgment and abilities are not the same when impaired. It’s important to note that the driver could also be impaired by other substances besides alcohol.
Los Angeles doesn’t have winter weather conditions, but it can occasionally get heavy rainfall. They can also experience wildfire smoke, smog, and windy conditions. The weather doesn’t play as big of a role in LA car accident statistics as in some other locations, but it can still cause accidents and put drivers at risk during certain weather events.
The condition of the roadways, the construction taking place on them, and related factors can all come together to cause a car accident. Traffic accident deaths have happened in construction zones and to motorcyclists and others who have experienced adverse road conditions in the Los Angeles area.
It’s not just teenagers with brand-new driver’s licenses that can cause a motor vehicle accident. How many car accidents are caused by older, more established drivers? It turns out that motor vehicle crashes also happen to drivers who have some experience but are still young and those who are elderly and may not have a good reaction time behind the wheel.
Sixteen and seventeen-year-old drivers cause the most car accidents and the highest number of injuries. That includes injuries to themselves, as well as to others. Teens may disobey or need help understanding traffic laws and may be more likely to speed.
More men than women cause car accidents. While there may be stereotypes regarding women drivers, men tend to drive more aggressively behind the wheel. Especially for young men in their teens and twenties, driving fast and experimenting with what their vehicle will do is commonly cited as a risk factor for car accidents.
Nearly 3,000 car accidents in Los Angeles in 2021 involved vehicles and pedestrians. Additionally, crashes where a bicyclist was injured went up 34% between 2020 and 2021, and crashes that killed a bicyclist rose 40%. Pedestrian injury crashes also rose, up 40% in that same time.
Car accident statistics show that accidents occur all over the LA area. South LA and the San Fernando Valley area are seeing rises in car accidents. The reason is that those locations’ broad, fast streets encourage speeding and other dangerous behaviors.
If you’ve been injured in a car accident and need to make a personal injury claim, JDW Personal Injury is here to help. We understand the severity and significance of car accidents in the Los Angeles area and will diligently work to help you receive the compensation you deserve.Reach out to us today for a free consultation regarding your case.
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