The 2018 Global Status Report on Road Safety has revealed that traffic fatalities have increased and are now listed as the eighth leading cause of death worldwide. There were approximately 1.35 million traffic-related deaths in 2016, the most recent year that information is available. This new study has implications for drivers in New Jersey, where 624 people died in 2018 in traffic-related fatalities.
The World Health Organization (WHO), who released the study, has now put traffic-related deaths ahead of those caused by tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Additionally, traffic deaths are listed as the main cause of death of young adults and children between the ages of 5 and 29. A spokesperson for the organization has expressed concern that traffic safety and preventing traffic fatalities doesn’t get as much attention as other causes of death.
Though WHO ambassadors pointed out that legislation has been passed to help reduce the number of traffic accidents around the world, it isn’t enough to decrease traffic fatalities by the goal of 50 percent by the year 2020. Thirteen percent of the traffic deaths take place in low-income countries, which account for only 1 percent of the world’s vehicles. This places individuals in low-income countries at three times the risk of dying in a car accident. The WHO is encouraging more to be done to make traffic safer in these countries.
Around the world, distracted and drunk drivers cause thousands of car accidents that result in serious injuries and fatalities. These accidents often cause victims to be saddled with costly medical bills and the loss of wages during recovery periods. A lawyer may be able to help an individual or family receive compensation to help. In the case of a traffic fatality, a family may be able to receive compensatory and punitive damages in order to pay for medical bills and funeral costs if it is determined that the driver who caused the accident acted negligently.