According to a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration report, the number of traffic fatalities in Connecticut rose in 2013, which did not reflect the national trend. The national figures, while dropping, are still alarming.
The NHTSA reported that Connecticut suffered 276 traffic fatalities in 2013, which was a 4.5 percent increase from the 264 deaths reported in 2012. Traffic deaths in the United States, however, continued the decline that started seven years earlier except for the 2012 period. The country lost 32,719 lives in car accidents in 2013, which was lower than the 33,782 deaths in 2012.
Connecticut’s alcohol-related deaths in car accidents also rose from 100 in 2012 to 114 in 2013. The United States, for that year, had 10,076 fatalities involving a drunk driver. This was a 2.5 percent decrease from the 10,336 fatalities reported for 2012.
In the United States, 31 percent of total traffic deaths involved a drunk driving accident. Twenty-four percent of impaired drivers had their license suspended within the last three years for traffic offenses. In Connecticut, 38 percent of all highway deaths involved an impaired driver.
Large-truck drivers were the only class of drivers that showed an increase in drunk-driving crashes in 2013 throughout the country. The number of fatal accidents in this category rose from 78 to 92 from 2012 to 2013.
The number of vehicle occupants who died in crashes in 2013 was also the lowest on record, according to the NHTSA. The number of reported injuries in car crashes fell from 2.4 million people in 2012 to 2.3 million in 2013.
All age groups under 55-years-old showed a decline in the number of traffic fatalities in this country. However, deaths among those above 55-years-old rose. The number of pedestrian deaths declined from 4,818 in 2012 to 4,735 in 2013.
Connecticut’s figures indicate that there will continue to be deaths in car accidents in this state. Victims of these accidents and their families should obtain prompt legal representation to help ensure that they can seek compensation for serious injuries, medical expenses, lost wages and other losses.
Source: National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, “2013 Crash Overview,” Accessed on March 14, 2015
