The roads across the nation are getting increasingly dangerous with a spike in auto accidents causing injuries and fatalities. In Memphis and throughout Tennessee, this is also a major concern.
For people in Tennessee, however, they might not realize the level of risk they face. ConsumerAffairs recently released its analysis of fatal accident statistics in the U.S. and it found that Tennessee had four cities in its top 20 with Memphis labeled the worst overall.
While this should give pause to people in the state and encourage them to be cautious, some accidents cannot be avoided and it is imperative to know the options after there has been a crash.
Tennessee accounted for 20% of the worst 20 cities for fatal accidents
The researchers used the numbers compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation including fatality statistics from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. It assessed how many people in each city were killed per 100,000. Then it looked at how many were because of bad driving, alcohol and driving at excessive speed.
While the term “bad” driving could sound difficult to quantify, it included drivers going the wrong way on one-way roads, those who failed to yield, improper turns, illegal passing, reckless lane changes, aggressiveness and carelessness. Cities with fewer than 100,000 people were not part of the analysis.
In 2021, there were 34 fatalities per 100,000 people in the state. This was far worse than the average in the U.S. of 12. Memphis had 203 road fatalities for that year. The other cities on the list were Chattanooga, which had 19; Clarksville with 17; and Knoxville with 12.
Given these numbers, people must be aware of the dangers they face
To improve safety, several proposals are being advanced including better automatic braking installed in vehicles. Still, even if safety measures are taken, there is a crackdown on the dangerous driving behaviors and people are more vigilant, auto accidents will continue to cause catastrophic injuries and death.
An auto crash goes beyond the injuries and medical care that will be needed to recover. It includes long-term damage, issues taking part in family activities, trouble working as before and a struggle in trying to get back to normal.
If there is a fatality, the family left behind will have a list of challenges they need to overcome. The entire incident must be assessed to decide how to move forward. Those involved need to think about their future and have help in deciding what steps to take.