Some car industry statistics can be helpful. Like if you want to know the most popular car on the market today, you look up car buying statistics. These can even tell you car sales by age range and geographic location. Or if you want to know what color car gets the most police stops or looks the dirtiest, you look up car color statistics. But for car industry statistics in car safety, you should look up something like car accident or even car fatality statistics.
Sometimes a scared straight tactic is the best way to teach people some information, in order to convince them of the dangers of their actions. I certainly remember getting all of the horrifying facts and pictures when I was in driver ed in high school. And while you may not be trying to convince yourself to drive better, perhaps some of the more negative facts of the car industry statistics can help you to drive a bit more safely anyway.
1. Bikes and Cars
Bicycle and automobile accidents are not an overly common thing. In fact, there is only an average of one every 8.7 years. This comes out to 37.1 accidents every 621,000 miles. It does not seem like a lot, particularly when you consider the number of accidents in regards to two autos, but it is still a significant number. Car and bike accidents almost always result in fatalities. The bicyclist is not encapsulated in a huge, several ton, metal cage. When a squishy biker connects with a careening ball of metal, the results are never good.
2. Auto Accidents
Every 16 minutes, one person is killed in an automobile accident. In 2010, nearly 5.5 million traffic crashes were reported to the police. That is not counting those accidents where both parties agreed not to call it in. That year saw almost 33,000 fatalities, and nearly 2.3 million injuries from traffic accidents.
In 2011, 71 percent of the vehicle accidents were caused by men. And about 70 percent of the deaths in car accidents were men. Every year has seen the trend of men at least doubling fatalities compared to women. A study has found that this is because men are less likely to wear seat belts, drive the speed limit, and abstain from driving while intoxicated.
No matter your gender, it is best to drive safely and wisely. No one wants to become a statistic. Certainly not a statistic as tragic as auto accidents. So be one of the smart ones, one of the good guys. Drive with these stats in mind.
