I don’t usually find public annual reports fascinating, but the State of Ohio has produced one of the most thorough and readable documents on highway safety that I have ever seen.

If you want to know anything about traffic safety statistics in Ohio in 2008, take a look at Ohio’s “2008 Crash Facts”.  It is not available in print and when you see the size, you will know why.

As I scanned the document, it occurred to me that traffic accidents are such a significant part of our modern human drama they merit a huge volume to document the damage and loss.  We all know someone who was injured or killed in a motor vehicle accident. Many of us have been in accidents ourselves. Automobile, motorcycle and truck accidents take an enormous toll on individuals, families and communities. The State of Ohio has taken much trouble to document many details to help fill in the details. As a personal injury attorney, my calling is to help repair the lives of the victims…by helping get them the financial settlements that address the loss and pain suffered as the result of someone else’s misdeeds.

A cover letter from the Henry Guzman, Director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, reports both good news and bad news in crash statistics:

“In 2008, Ohio continued to make improvements in highway safety. The traffic crash fatality rate continued to go down, to a near-historic low of 1,191 fatalities. Alcohol related fatalities and the number of people who died unbelted on Ohio’s roads also declined.

“One of our biggest concerns is a continuing increase in motorcycle fatalities. Motorcycle fatalities have increased on Ohio’s roads by 35 percent over the past three years. In the past year they jumped dramatically, from 190 in 2007 to 213 in 2008.”

The detailed report highlights many factors that cause and contribute to motor vehicle accidents and goes into granular detail. It even lists which stationary objects were most often hit by cars. (Trees are #1on the list!)
As an attorney who has spent his professional life defending the rights of accident victims, I find the statistics chilling. For Ohio in 2008, they report:

  • Approximately 3.0 fatal crashes each day.
  • Approximately 3.3 persons were killed each day.
  • One person was killed every 7.4 hours.
  • There were 307.1 persons injured every day.
  • One person was injured every 4.7 minutes.
  • Of drivers involved in crashes, 53.7 % are males, 42.2 % are females, and 4.1 % are gender not stated.
  • Alcohol impaired drivers were involved in 4.45 % of all crashes.
  • Alcohol impaired drivers were involved in 37.70 % of all fatalities.
  • 75.9 % of all alcohol impaired drivers involved in crashes were males.
  • 63.8 % of all crashes occurred during the daylight.
  • Motor vehicle crashes killed 48.0 children and injured 9,025.

This tells me that number of lives lost through wrongful death on the highway is still far too prevalent. Preventative measures like improved highway condition and design, better law enforcement, consistently good driver education and tough drunk driving laws all demand our attention. Motorcycle accidents are now a major concern. One is that in a distressed economy, more people may be riding their motorcycles  for economical reasons. Training and safety programs are sometimes cut when budgets are tight. And, highway drivers need to be constantly reminded to be on the lookout for motorcycles, which can seem to come from nowhere.

The answers for people injured or who have lost loved ones in a highway wrongful death often lie in getting competent legal assistance in order to receive compensation for the pain and loss. While the accidents are a personal tragedy, the personal injury attorney is the person you want in your corner if you were injured in a automobile, truck or motorcycle accident or if you are the survivor of someone who died in a highway-related wrongful death.

Read more: http://www.hausmannmcnally.com/hausmann-mcnally/ohio-2008-crash-facts-report/