There is no number that can be appropriately assigned to the anguish suffered due to the loss of a loved one. Heartache is one emotion that we all fear, but it’s also something that we all expect to experience for one reason or another. Car accidents, unfortunately, remain a prime catalyst for depressed moods and solemn outlooks. Auto crashes have, undeniably, an incredibly high emotional cost. But what about the monetary cost of accidents?
To fully understand the costs, you have to understand the magnitude of the problem. The Center for Disease Control and the Journal of Traffic Injury Prevention agree in their findings that every 12 minutes someone dies in a car crash in the U.S. Furthermore, every 10 seconds, someone is injured or taken to the hospital emergency room because of an accident.
Auto accidents in Florida place a heavy financial burden on the public. The most frustrating component of the equation is that a very large percentage of accidents are preventable. Poor safety measures, like not buckling seatbelts and texting while driving, are to blame for a great deal of vehicle-related deaths and injuries. In the Sunshine State, BILLIONS of dollars are spent each year in response to car accidents. In an era of a down-economy, couldn’t those BILLIONS of dollars be spent in a more productive way? Probably, but for now, they’re spent controlling the damage in the aftermath of auto accidents. So, how can we fix the problem? Essentially, the solution is two-pronged. While safety features must be improved, it is imperative that unfit drivers are kept from operating vehicles.
Guess what the leading cause of death is for Floridians between the ages of six and thirty-four. If you guessed “car accidents,” you’re right. Nearly 40,000 people die each year in the U.S. because of car crashes. And over two million adults are treated in ERs each year.
The numbers, while jaw-dropping, aren’t necessarily surprising. As a personal injury law firm, we see the results of awful car crashes on a daily basis. Our job is to help them cope with their loss in all aspects, including implementing the institution of legal proceedings when necessary. But we’re the first to tell you we’d love to have no business because that would mean that the streets are entirely safe. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case, and so we make the best of a mucky situation by doing our best to help the victims.
While nobody can eliminate the problem, we feel that we can help reduce its impact. What can be done to help off-set the number of auto accidents? A few things. First, motorcycle riders should be required to wear helmets. It’s too often that we see people injured in a motorcycle accident who would have been fine if weren’t for their choice to not wear a helmet. Second, we need to get drunk drivers off the road. We can do this by engaging more police forces in implementing sobriety checkpoints. We can also continue efforts to crack-down on drivers who negligently choose to not wear a seatbelt.
Car accidents don’t just affect those involved. They affect the entire community, and indirectly, the state and the country. Too much is spent (both emotionally and financially) trying to right the wrongs that could have been prevented. There is too much negligence in play on the roadways of Florida.
If you feel that you have been injured due to the negligence of another please contact the Law Offices of Aronberg & Aronberg at 561-266-9191 or email us at daronberg@build.simple.biz.
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