Paper: Fatal Car Crash Statistics Can Be Reduced By Thousands with Vehicle Technology

by John Gomez | Last Updated: September 8, 2016

Every day, it seems that vehicles are coming equipped with new and promising forms of technology. Some companies have even released, at least on a limited basis, self-driving cars. Increased safety on the roads is one of the benefits of these advancements. Some have disagreed with this notion and believe that technology does not prevent many accidents. However, the conclusions of a recently published paper support that idea of increased safety. Specifically, the paper indicates that adding three different technologies to vehicles could lower fatal car crash statistics substantially. The authors also state that every American driver could have these advantages at his or her disposal with a relatively small investment. This position is sure to generate strong reactions from several different types of professionals.

About the Fatal Car Crash Paper

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University formulated the paper, and anyone who would like to read the full abstract can find it here. The authors start with a premise of adding three specific technologies to every light-duty vehicle in the United States. These technologies include:

Blind spot monitoring
Lane departure warning
Forward collision warning systems

The authors then analyzed the 2012 data relating to auto accidents in the United States. More than 30,000 people died in crashes across the country during that year. Based on the specifics of these accidents, the authors stated that if the three technologies above had been available in every light-duty vehicle in the United States, the following changes would have occurred:

As many as 1.3 million crashes could have been avoided or been less severe.
This includes 133,000 car accidents that led to at least one injury.
This also includes 10,100 fatal car accidents.

In addition to the obvious benefits in terms of human safety, the paper also stated the following:

Equipping every light-duty vehicle in the United States would cost approximately $13 billion.
The average cost per vehicle to install these technologies would be approximately $600.
Avoiding all relevant crashes would collectively save as much as $200 billion per year.

The most common cause of crashes included in this paper is distracted driving. The research includes accidents caused by other factors as well. Each of these technologies is designed to help minimize the dangers of distracted driving and a general lack of focus. As of now, distracted driving leads to nearly 3,000 deaths and 420,000 injuries per year in the United States.

Fatal Car Crash Fallout

It’s always worth the effort to prevent a fatal car crash. Perhaps some will begin to test the theories proposed by this paper in the near future or other statistics regarding vehicles with these technologies will become more readily available. Unfortunately, the San Diego car accident lawyers at Gomez Trial Attorneys will likely continue to hear from people who have lost loved ones in crashes. If this tragedy has befallen your family, you need to do what you can to focus on your grieving and healing process and allow experienced professionals to handle the legal fallout of such a terrible situation. As such, you should contact the firm today for a free case evaluation.

John Gomez

John Gomez founded the firm alone in 2005. Today, John acts as President and Lead Trial Attorney. He has been voted by his peers as a top ten San Diego litigator in three separate fields: Personal Injury, Insurance and Corporate Litigation. Since 2000, he has recovered over $800 million in settlements and verdicts for his clients with more than 160 separate recoveries of one million dollars or more. A prolific trial lawyer, John has tried to jury verdict more than 60 separate cases.

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