Baltimore motorists, who have consistently ranked at the bottom of one insurer’s annual report on bad drivers, were treated to some good news on driving and deaths in a preliminary report recently issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Traffic deaths in Maryland declined for the first nine months in 2021.
There was a 13.2 percent decrease in estimated fatalities for the period from January to September 2021 in Maryland. There were an estimated 424 fatalities in the first nine months of 2020, while the same time frame in 2021 saw an estimated 368 fatalities.
Statewide, driving habits among motorists in the Old Line State fared better than many states, according to the NHTSA report. The data shows that 38 states saw an increase in traffic fatalities in the first nine months of 2021. Two states saw no increase in traffic fatalities in the nine-month period while 10 states and the District of Columbia reported a decrease.
However, the news wasn’t so good for the nationwide figures. The report projects 31,720 traffic fatalities nationwide from January to September 2021, representing a 12 percent increase compared with projections for the same period in 2020. That came on top of an unexpected surge in U.S. traffic deaths in the first nine months of 2020 while many states were in lockdown because of the pandemic.
The projected 12 percent nationwide increase is the highest projected percentage increase over a nine-month period in the 46 years the U.S. Department of Transportation has been recording fatal crash data, according to Patch.com. The projection of 31,720 deaths is the highest nine-month figure since 2006.
Motorist behavior might be the cause of the tragic increase. Both speeding and traveling without a seatbelt escalated during the pandemic, according to research cited by NHTSA.
Maronick Law, LLC is open during the pandemic and will continue to meet your Glen Burnie, Annapolis, Baltimore, Essex, Ocean City, Towson, White Marsh auto accident needs. If you’ve been in a motor vehicle accident, you should talk to a car accident attorney. An Ocean City auto accident lawyer can make sure that you are fully compensated for your injuries and expenses while recovering from the auto accident.
If you have access to Zoom, we can meet with you remotely. The consultation is free. You can contact Thomas Maronick on his cellphone at 202.288.0167, the law office at 410.402.5571 or via the website.