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Motor Vehicle Related Deaths

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Motor Vehicle Related Deaths
Tyler Leckey
ENG102
Dr. Teryl Sands
Final Draft ASS2
31 March 2013

Motor Vehicle Related Deaths

According to a Mental Health Weekly Digest article, Alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents claim 17,000 American lives each year- the equivalent of one death every 30 minutes (“Why Drunk Drivers May Get Behind the Wheel”, 2010). According to a 2007 DOT study, there’s an estimated 254.4 million registered vehicles owners in the United States (“Car Accident Injuries”, n.d.). 6 million drivers get into car accidents every year, with an average of 40,000 people ending up with fatal injuries, and 2 million people ending up permanently injured (“Car Accident Statistics Nationwide”, n.d.). Many different situations lead an impaired driver behind the wheel, causing these accidents. Many people make the choice to return behind the wheel after a night of persistent intoxication; drunk drivers have, and continue to be the largest cause of accidents in the world.

Though there are many other causes of car accidents, such as vehicle and roadway factors; however, a study using British and American crash reports, shows that 57% of automobile accidents were because of driver related factors, with the remaining 27% attributed to combined roadway and driver issues, and 6% because of vehicle and driver related causes. The remaining 8% of car accidents are because of solely roadway, and solely vehicle factors, as well as combined roadway, driver and vehicle factors (Sayed, G. Brown, and F. Navin, 1994). Despite the variable causes, 30% of all driver related car accidents are because of speeding; however, the largest percentage of driver related factors are alcohol related, with 40% of all motor vehicle accidents being alcohol related (“Car Accident Statistics Nationwide”, n.d).

The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated that in 1996 local law enforcement agencies made a total of 1,467,300 arrests nationwide for impaired drivers driving under the influence of alcohol,


Cited: Car Accident Injuries. Retrieved from http://www.garyrosenberg-law.com/Personal-Injury/Types-of-Accidents/Car-Accidents/Car-Accident-Injuries.aspx Car Accident Statistics Nationwide. Retrieved from http://www.ftpersonalinjurylawyers.com/blog/car-accident-statistics Smith. S. (1998) FOUR IN TEN CRIMINAL OFFENDERS REPORT ALCOHOL AS A FACTOR IN VIOLENCE. Retrieved from http://bjs.gov/content/pub/press/AC.PR NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis. Children. Retrieved from http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810987.pdf ScienceDaily.com. Why Drunk Drivers May Get Behind the Wheel. Aug, 2010 . Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100817171607.htm
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