If you live in Arizona, you may wonder how your state stacks up against others when it comes to roadside safety. You may have heard friends malign or praise the state’s drivers, but what do Arizona car accident statistics have to say? Here are a few facts to help you take care on the road.
Basic Arizona Car Accident Statistics
Our Phoenix car accident attorneys know that Arizona isn’t known for its fantastic drivers, but it’s important to realize that different parts of the state host different risk levels. As with most places in the U.S., the most dangerous areas are in heavily populated cities such as Phoenix.
Overall Rankings
According to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study, Arizona ranks as having the eighth-worst drivers in the country. This ranking, however, is just up from 2020’s data, in which the Grand Canyon State ranked sixth. To reach its unflattering conclusions, the NHTSA researchers compiled fatality statistics, drunk driving records, and other public data from every state. Officials have recently pointed to carelessness and intoxication as the most serious concerns to be worked out in coming years.
Interestingly, the states most frequently ranked as the worst places to drive are the southernmost in the U.S. Whether these Arizona car accident statistics say something about the climate or the culture, however, has yet to be determined.
Fatalities
While most Arizona crashes don’t result in a fatality, about 40% of all reported accidents result in at least one injury. Over the most recent years, about 1,000 people died per year in traffic accidents. This is around three deaths per day, which comes in at 1.5 deaths per 100 million miles driven — well over the national average. Approximately 2% of incidents involving bicycles lead to a fatality. Our wrongful death lawyers in Phoenix have experience representing fatal car accident cases throughout Arizona.
Injuries
About 55,000 people per year, or 150 per day, are injured in traffic accidents. Because a large portion of these injuries are serious or life-threatening, this volume of accidents has placed a comparatively high strain on hospitals, health care clinics, and emergency response organizations.
Alcohol and Drugs
Alcohol is involved in more than 30% of fatal car accidents in the Southwest. While only around 4% of total accidents involve an intoxicated driver, alcohol and other drugs impair critical decision-making skills and dangerously hamper response times.
Arizona Car Accident Statistics Trends
While things in the state have been improving since 2006, a historically bad year, yearly fatality rates appear to be on the rise again. 2020 was the worst year in more than a decade, followed closely by 2021.
Arizona suffers from many chronic problems that threaten the safety of motorists, including frequent distracted driving, poor road quality, unexpected weather changes, and widespread alcohol use. The complexity of these problems has made it hard for highway officials to address the state’s less-than-stellar safety record. Since there is no single cause of accidents, the way forward is murky at best.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a vehicle crash, don’t let yourself become a victim of Arizona car accident statistics. Our team of Phoenix personal injury lawyers are skilled in handling serious injury claims and can help you seek compensation after an accident. Contact us at Sargon Law Group today for a free consultation.
Sources:
https://www.jkphoenixpersonalinjuryattorney.com/car-accident-statistics/
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-traffic/2021/10/06/2020-saw-spike-deaths-arizona-traffic-crashes-may-carry-2021/5893798001/
https://www.phillipslaw.com/az-auto-crash-statistics
https://www.azfamily.com/2022/03/11/arizona-ranks-top-10-having-the-worst-drivers/#:
https://news.azpm.org/p/newsfeature/2021/12/28/204990-traffic-fatalities-in-arizona-on-track-to-surpass-2020/