Just over a month into 2024, and road transportation authorities are already reporting record driving volumes across the United States. As historically seen, high rates of driving typically translate into a higher rate of car accidents.
According to the Department of Transportation, in 2023, US drivers took to the roads in record numbers, traveling 3.263 trillion miles. That was a significant increase of 2.1% and a new yearly record. Overall, according to transportation authorities, road travel across the country last year increased by 67.5 billion miles with an increase of 2.2% in December. Travel is back not just to pre – pandemic levels, but also higher than the levels recorded before 2020.
There have been a couple of solid reasons for the increase in vehicular traffic. Foremost has been the return to the workplace for many American workers. Employers are terminating their work from home phases, and companies are actively encouraging their employees to return to offices. In an uncertain job market, many employees have chosen to obey the call to return to the workplace, rather than insist on a work from home arrangement. That has meant more congested car traffic in Georgia and across the country. Holiday traffic in 2023 was also at significantly high volumes, and many Americans who had been limited by their ability to travel since 2020 chose to travel during holidays to meet family and friends. Adding to the desire to travel by road has been significantly lower gasoline prices. Low gas prices typically translate into higher road travel for Americans.
The number of car accident wrongful deaths recorded immediately after the pandemic was very high, thanks in no small part to the increase in rash driving behaviors and speeding by drivers encouraged by the lower volume of traffic on the roads. There has been some progress made in stopping those increases. It is too early now to receive the final numbers for 2023, but the number of car accident wrongful deaths recorded in the first 9 months of the year seems to have dropped to 30,435. What is really needed now is for traffic enforcement to crack down on irresponsible driving behaviors that had become prevalent during the pandemic like speeding and rash driving.
Other common causes of car accidents include drunk driving and distracted driving, and it is important for law enforcement officers in Georgia to continue to focus on clamping down on such behaviors that increase car accident risks for all drivers.
The Atlanta car accident lawyers at Katz Personal Injury Lawyers are dedicated to the representation of persons who have suffered injuries in car accidents, motorcycle accidents and other types of auto accidents in the metro Atlanta region and across the state of Georgia. If you or a loved one have suffered injuries in a car accident, talk to an attorney at our firm and discuss your legal options for a claim for damages. You may qualify for damages that include medical costs, lost income, pain and suffering and other forms of compensation. Talk to a lawyer at our firm and discuss your case. Initial consultations are free.