If it feels to you like the roads in California are getting more dangerous every year, don’t shrug it off. You might be right.
According to data compiled by the National Safety Council, deaths caused by motor vehicle crashes nationwide have seen a sharp increase recently, spiking by 14 percent in the past two years. California has not been immune to the national trend. In fact, if the preliminary data hold up, we saw a 19 percent increase in highway fatalities from 2014 to 2016—worse than the country overall.
San Jose: Not Bad …
We wanted to know how we fare specifically in San Jose, where our offices are located. Watching the news, it sometimes seems like there’s a major crash every few hours and a fatality at least once a day.
It’s not quite that bad, but in less than a week earlier this month, one man was killed and his passenger injured when their car rolled off Highway 85, there was a deadly hit-and-run on Ocala Avenue, and a fatal motorcycle crash occurred on the 101.
You might expect that, as California’s third largest city, we would have plenty of traffic and the accident statistics to go with it, and you’d be right. For 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recorded sixty-four traffic fatalities for San Jose—but that was actually the lowest total number for a large US city (of more than 1 million people) and put us in the better half of the ten largest by rate per population. That year, we also saw the lowest pedestrian fatality rate in that group.
… But Not Great, Either
Up-to-the-minute data is hard to come by, but the state Office of Traffic Safety has published all of California’s numbers by city and county for 2014. In its group (the fourteen largest cities in California), San Jose generally performs better than average.
If we were exactly as bad as we should be based on population, we’d be third worst for everything. In fact, the only thing we were right on target for (unfortunately) was young bicyclists injured or killed on our streets.
Young people were also responsible for our worst safety problem that year: San Jose led large California cities when it comes to crashes caused by drivers under twenty-one who had been drinking (they were involved in fifty crashes in which someone was killed or seriously injured).
San Jose Car Accident Lawyer
Of course, when you‘ve been the victim of a car crash, you’re not really interested in how well your city performs when it comes to motorcycle safety or that your county has fewer speed-related crashes than most others. What matters is making sure those who caused your injuries pay for your medical expenses, lost wages, and any other costs associated with the accident.
At Bohn & Fletcher, LLP, our team of attorneys understands car accident law, and we’ve helped many clients win the compensation they need to get their lives back on track. Give us a call today at 408-556-9780 or contact us via the form below to schedule a free consultation.