In the year 2002 nonfatal accidents affected 23.7 million individuals who were forced to obtain medical attention for an injury. That comes to about 1 in 12!

Insured‘s “Reported” crashes of a motor vehicle (when Americans were on-the-job and driving while working) caused 27,558 injuries.

It has now been learned that in the United States, the motor vehicle death total was up a full 2%, in 2003. That brought the death total to 44,800. PLUS: In 2003, there were also 2,400,000 disabling motor vehicle accident injuries.

THREE OF THE MOST "ROUTINE" MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT CLAIMS IN 2003 WERE:

#1. A Collision With Another Motor Vehicle: 1,780,00 nonfatal injuries and 19,900 deaths.

#2. Hitting A Pedestrian: 80,000 non-fatal injuries and 5,600 deaths.

#3. The Motor Vehicle Striking A Fixed Object: 400,000 nonfatal injuries and 13,000 deaths.

FOUR “SPEED FACTS”: AS OF 2005 - - THE FOLLOWING 4 ITEMS HAVE PROVED TO BE TRUE:

#1. Speeding was a factor in 30% of the fatal crashes in 2001.

#2. Excessive speed reduces a driver’s ability to respond to unexpected road hazards, and increases the distance needed for braking. It also increases the severity of a crash.

#3. As of 2001 the economic cost of speeding to society has come to exceed 40 billion dollars a year!

#4. It has been determined that (in the year 2002) speed, excessive land changing, following too close and running a red light were associated with 1/3rd of traffic crashes and 2/3rds of the fatal crashes.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE EFFECT OF ABOLISHING THE NATIONAL SPEED LIMIT? Since Congress repealed the National Maximum Speed Limit in 1995, 44 states have raised their speed limits, but only some of them on certain portions of their roads.

IT’S IMPORTANT TO NOTE: Results prove that crashes have increased in those states that raised their speed limits:

The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety reported a 20% increase in motor vehicle accident deaths in the 24 states that were foolish enough to raise their speed limits.

Deaths did not increase in those states where the speed limits were not raised.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines “Speeding” as, “Exceeding the posted speed limit or driving too fast for road conditions”.

For drivers involved in fatal crashes, young males are most likely to be speeding. Records show that the likelihood of a person involved in a speed related crash decreases as the driver’s age increase‘s. (In 2001, 36% of the male drivers, between the ages of 15 to 20, who were involved in fatal crashes, were speeding at the time).

The higher the speed, the greater the risk of serious injury or death in a crash. Increasing speed increases the severity of the crash. For example, a frontal impact at 35 MPH is one third more violent to the motor vehicle, the driver and/or passenger’s than at 30 MPH - - only 5 MPH less!

IT’S CLEAR , T0 SAVE BOTH OURSELVES AND “OTHERS” (TOO OFTEN THOSE WHOM WE LOVE) FROM TERRIBLE INJURIES (AND/OR THE “DEATH” OF YOU, ME OR THEY) THAT WE MUST (ALL OF US) SLOW DOWN!

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By:  Dan Baldyga   Email: dbpaw@comcast.net. Copyright (c) 2005 By Daniel G. Baldyga. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission. Dan Baldyga’s third and latest book, AUTO ACCIDENT PERSONAL INJURY INSURANCE CLAIM (How To Evaluate And Settle Your Loss) can be found on the internet at http://www.caraccidentclaims.com OR http://www.autoaccidentcaims.com. This book reveals “How To” handle your Property Damage claim so you won’t be taken advantage of. It also goes into detail regarding BASE (The Baldyga Auto Accident Settlement Evaluation Formula). THE BASE FORMULA explains how to determine the value of the “Pain and Suffering” you endured - - because of your personal injury!