Car Accidents are Way Down Due to COVID-19

    LOS ANGELES, CA, February 12, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) collected data on recent traffic accident trends. For every single month since the pandemic started, our state has seen remarkably fewer car, truck, motorcycle, and other auto accidents. Jacoby & Meyers recently analyzed this data on our blog post, "How Car Accidents Have Been Impacted By the COVID-19 Pandemic."

Perhaps this is unsurprising, since COVID-19 restrictions have kept a large percentage of the population behind closed doors. However, it may be more surprising that the pandemic resulted in the sharpest reduction of traffic accidents in recent memory.

In most natural disasters and widespread historical events, fatal car crashes are greatly reduced. Usually, that is because the nature of these events, just like the recent pandemic, keeps people from travelling on the roads.

Below, we've listed some of this decade's worst natural disasters (in the U.S.) in order of their reduction of fatal car accidents. You can see that even in this group, COVID-19's impact stands out:

Hurricane Sandy (2012) — Traffic fatalities were down 11%
California wildfires (2018) — Down 14.4%
Hurricane Harvey (2017) — Down 18.8%
Hurricane Irene (2011) — Down 21%
COVID-19 pandemic — California traffic fatalities dropped nearly 50%

Unfortunately, a reduction in car crashes doesn't mean a complete absence of vehicle-related injuries.

A lack of traffic has allowed the average speeds on L.A. roads to increase an astonishing 75% over their usual averages. Other risky behaviors have, on average, increased during the pandemic.

Drivers in 2020, nationwide, were more likely to speed, drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and operate a vehicle without a seatbelt.

Statistics can be misleading. Just because there are fewer people on the roads, and fewer car accidents in general, that doesn't mean the roads are necessarily safe. At Jacoby & Meyers, our Los Angeles car accident lawyers still regularly see clients injured in wrecks due to other drivers' actions.

With the drivers on the road more likely to engage in these risky behaviors, you need to be more vigilant than ever while operating your vehicle.

About Jacoby & Meyers

Jacoby & Meyers is a personal injury law firm that has been helping the citizens of Los Angeles since its founding in 1972. The firm represents injured victims of car accidents, slip and fall cases, medical malpractice lawsuits, defective product claims, and all other cases involving personal injury law. Attorneys at Jacoby & Meyers have recovered over $1 billion in compensation for their clients.

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