Reckless Driving and Car Crashes

Reckless Driving

By Robert James De Vera

ART 3170-02

What is reckless driving?

Reckless driving is the act of driving with a complete disregard towards other drivers. For example, drunk driving is reckless driving. This is because you are not only endangering yourself, but the lives of others as well. By driving drunk you will not be fully aware of your environment and this can lead to traffic collisions. Other causes of reckless driving may consist of, but are not exclusive to: texting while driving, speeding, a general lack of attention, and so on and so forth. 

What are the statistics?

• In 2017, approximately 200,000 injuries were reported due to reckless driving
• In 2017, up to 3,582 fatal vehicular collisions were reported
• In 2017, around 3,900 deaths were caused by reckless driving from accidents
• In 2017, roughly 36,000 traffic collisions occurred in California

According to the West Coast Trial Lawyers, it's estimated that around 1 in 10,200 Californians were killed due to a car-related accident. In a car accident, it is reported that 1 out of 143 people are injured and that 1 out of 73 licensed drivers are involved in a fatal car accident. Additionally, California is the state with the highest amount of car accidents, injuries, and deaths.

• In 2017, every 3 minutes a car accident was reported in California
• In 2017, it is approximated that around 20 car collision incidents were reported every hour
• In 2018, the number of motorcyclists that were hit by a car increased by 7%

Why does this matter?

This matters to me, personally, because driving is my preferred and primary means of transportation. It is the most efficient means of getting around, in comparison to if I were to bike or skate. Additionally, I would not have to rely on other people for transportations unlike services like Uber or Lyft. With the roads being unsafe, due to reckless drivers, anything can occur at any moment in time. This does include the possibility of any vehicular accident, fatal or not, there will be repercussions.

Reckless driving is still a prominent issue, not only within my community, but in others as well. After research, it isn't a surprise because California is the state with the highest amount of car accidents and deaths. Furthermore, I, myself, have been involved in a vehicular collision. Luckily for me, however, it wasn't fatal and no one died or was injured. Unfortunately, I do have friends that have been injured in a car accident. Even worse, my friend passed away recently due to a car accident. 

Another reason as to why I chose this issue because I notice reckless driving almost everyday in my area. There are so many people out there that either don't know how to drive safely or choose not to. As said previously, driving is my primary means of transportation, and if the rads aren't safe, then it's likely that I, myself, will get into an accident at any given moment.

I assume that, due to technology, reckless driving will remain an important and reoccurring issue. Nowadays, there are more objects that are causing drivers to become more distracted than ever. Objects such as smartphones, smart watches, car TVs/touchscreens, and so and and so forth, are very tempting to look at. The slightest split in attention can mean life or death, not only for yourself but for the unfortunate person, or even people that happened to be in your line of sight. 

Sources Used:

https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/state-by-state

https://www.rkmlaw.net/california-auto-accident-statistics/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/675550/motor-vehicle-deaths-california/ https://westcoasttriallawyers.com/ca/los-angeles-car-accidents-lawyer/california-car-accident-statistics/