Shocking Washington State car accident statistics

Posted in Firm News, Motor Vehicle Accidents on November 29, 2016

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We all know the dangers of driving and how important it is to pay attention on the road. The more we know about car accidents, the more we can do to prevent them from happening.

Let’s take a look at some statistics about car accidents in Washington State. This information is based on data contained in the 2014 Washington State Collision Data Summary.

Where accidents occur

Population plays a major role in the number of accidents occurring in any given location. King County is the most populous county in Washington State, and Lincoln County is the fifth least populous.

  • King County had the highest collision rate in Washington, with 235.6 collisions per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
  • Lincoln County had the lowest collision rate, with 68.8 collisions per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.

Seattle had a total of 13,971 accidents in 2014, the highest in the state.

The causes of accidents

It’s no surprise that distracted driving and driver inattention are the primary causes of car accidents. Variations of distracted/inattentive driving are seen three times on this list:

  1. Inattention/driver distractions (43,485 accidents)
  2. Inattention (31,910 accidents)
  3. Failure to yield right-of-way to motor vehicle (17,252 accidents)
  4. Following too closely (16,835 accidents)
  5. *Unknown driver distraction (6,515 accidents)
  6. Under the influence of alcohol/drugs (5,895 accidents)

*The fifth most common cause in the report was cited as “other”, which was omitted for this article.

The number of drivers involved in collisions, by gender:

“Are men or women better drivers?” Although this data reveals that men are involved in more traffic accidents than women, we are no closer to answering this age-old question. Men typically drive more than women, and there are many other factors at play that affect these numbers.

  • Males: 103,792
  • Females: 76,177
  • Unknown: 12,663

Additional crash statistics:

Statistics tell us a lot about the nature of car accidents throughout Washington State. Consider the following:

  • A car crash occurred every 5 seconds in Washington
  • The highest number of crashes occurred on Fridays
  • The least number of crashes occurred on Sundays
  • The hour in which the most accidents occurred was 5:00 p.m. to 5:59 p.m.
  • The month when the most accidents occurred was October
  • The month when the least number of accidents occurred was March

If you find yourself driving in the 5 o’clock hour on a Friday in October, be careful: Your odds of being involved in an accident are higher than other times of the year.

By analyzing common causes of car accidents and factors putting us at risk behind the wheel, each of us can do our part to help make Washington’s roads safer.

Have you been injured in a car accident? Schedule a free consultation with a personal injury attorney in Seattle by calling 1-844-ELK-WEST.