Mississippi Crash Statistics
Mississippi has been slow to adopt all of the traffic safety rules recommended by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and while the overall number of fatalities has decreased, some troublesome areas, including negative driving behaviors, persist.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 757 drivers were involved in accidents that killed 607 people in 2014. Though these numbers are far too high, they do represent a significant decrease in fatalities from 2005 when 1,163 drivers were involved in 931 traffic fatalities.
Passenger car data for all seat positions show that of the 475 passenger car occupant fatalities that occurred in 2014, an estimated 279 individuals were not wearing their seat belts. The NHTSA estimated that if all passengers wore their restraints every time they got into a vehicle, an additional 112 lives could have been saved.
The sad truth is millions of people of people choose to drive drunk in the U.S. every year. In Mississippi, alcohol was a key factor in the deaths of 178 people, which is both down from 208 the year prior and the ten-year high of 335 in 2006.
Speeding is a contributing factor in thousands of deaths across the country each year. Yet, speed-related fatalities are decreasing in the state, from a high of 365 speed related deaths in 2006 down to 96 in 2014.
Helmets are mandatory for all motorcycle riders and because of this, the number of unhelmeted fatalities is low. In fact, of the 41 motorcyclists who were involved in fatal crashes, six were not wearing a helmet.
If we take a closer look at the types of fatal accidents occurring across the state, we see that in 2014-
- 366 people died in single vehicle accidents
- 81 died in crashes involving at least one large truck
- 96 deaths involved one or more speeding drivers
- 151 deaths occurred in rollovers
- 325 involved at least one vehicle departing the roadway
- 112 involved intersection traffic
Pedestrian safety is marginally improving while bicycle safety hasn’t changed much. Walkers and joggers who are involved in fatal motor vehicle accidents have decreased from a high of 72 in 2005 to 53 in 2014, up from a ten-year low of 47. Bicyclists were involved in 6 fatal accidents in 2014, down from a high of 10 and up from a low of three.
While the work being done by the state is commendable, more must be done if we hope to reach zero preventable traffic deaths.
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