Fort Walton Beach Personal Injury Law Blog

Drivers who cause deadly two-vehicle car accidents in Florida and across the U.S. are much more likely to test positive for prescription opioid use, according to a recent study published in JAMA Network Open. One of the study's co-authors said that the findings show America's opioid crisis is impacting traffic safety.

Researchers analyzed crash data from 18,321 fatal two-vehicle accidents listed in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, which is maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's National Center for Statistics. They found that the drivers who were blamed for causing the wrecks were almost twice as likely to test positive for opioids and alcohol as those who were not at fault. They also found that 7.1% of drivers who caused deadly crashes tested positive for opioids in 2017. In comparison, just 2% tested positive in 1993. The study additionally found that failure to stay in one's lane was the most common driver error leading to these fatal crashes.

Florida residents should know what factors are normally involved in truck accidents. This way, they may be more vigilant when sharing the road with big rigs. There are five common factors, the most widespread being driver error. Truckers, like anyone else, can be found driving drowsy, driving distracted, speeding or driving under the influence of alcohol.

Some truckers are not trained properly on braking techniques, so it makes sense that bad weather would be another common cause of 18-wheeler accidents. Harsh braking over wet, icy or snowy roads can lead to a truck skidding, hydroplaning and even jackknifing.

People are busy, and in their effort to get from place to place on time, many Florida drivers opt to eat their meals on the go. In fact, you may be a person who occasionally hits the drive-thru on your way to work or you may swing by your favorite coffee shop to grab a drink in the afternoon. Eating and drinking while driving is very common, and it is also very dangerous. 

If a person is consuming food while also driving down the road, his or her focus is not where it should be. Doing anything other than solely focusing on the road can be quite risky, and it can place others on the road at risk as well. In reality, eating and driving is a form of distracted driving, which makes it reckless and unnecessary.

Florida readers might be interested to learn that traffic fatalities decreased by 2.4% across the United States in 2018, according to a new report released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Further, the traffic accident death rate dropped from 1.17 per 100 million miles driven in 2017 to 1.13 in 2018, which is a decrease of 3.4%.

However, the news isn't so good for vulnerable road users, including pedestrians and cyclists. According to the NHTSA report, which was issued on Oct. 22, 6,283 pedestrians were struck and killed by cars in 2018, which represents an increase of 3.4% from 2017. It is also the highest number of pedestrians to be killed since 1990. Meanwhile, 857 cyclists were killed last year, which represents a spike of 6.3%. Worse, deaths among female cyclists skyrocketed 29.2% in 2018. In comparison, deaths among male cyclists went up just 3.2%.