Mississippi Car Accidents: Statistics On Fatalities And Injuries

During the COVID-19 pandemic, traffic in many states appeared to slow down as businesses shut and workers transitioned to work from home setups. With the decrease in daily commuting by many Mississippi workers, it would seem that the incidents of car accidents in Mississippi and other states would be on the decline in 2020 and into 2021, consistent with the pandemic period. However, statistics from the Federal Highway Administration regarding the number of car accidents in Mississippi tends to show otherwise. In fact, the number of fatalities and serious injuries resulting from car accidents in Mississippi has increased quite shockingly, with record numbers reported for 2020.

The report, which summarizes each state’s safety performance targets for each year, along with, among other statistics, the number of fatalities and car accidents per state, shows that there were under 700 fatalities from car accidents in Mississippi from the years 2014-2019. During that period, the year with the highest number of fatalities was 2017, with 685 fatalities, and the year with the fewest fatalities from car accidents being 2014, with 607 accidents. However, in 2020, the number of fatalities from car accidents spiked to 752. This well-exceeded the target set for the state, of 682 fatalities for 2020. The fatality rate demonstrated by the report for 2020 is 1.90 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.

Serious injuries resulting from car accidents also spiked in 2020 from previous years. From 2014 to 2018, serious injuries resulting from car accidents stayed under 1,000 per year, with a low of 633 serious injuries from car accidents in 2014, and a high of 781 serious injuries from car accidents in 2016. In 2019, the numbers increased three-fold to 1,579 serious injuries resulting from car accidents in that year, and then more than doubled again in 2020, with a reported 3,6030 serious injuries resulting from car accidents occurring in Mississippi. This well-exceeded Mississippi’s stated target of 1,452.6 serious injuries resulting from car accidents for the year 2020.

Legal Help for Car Accident Victims 

With many employees returning back to work in 2021 and 2022, it remains to be seen whether fatalities and serious injuries resulting from car accidents will remain on the rise in Mississippi and other states. While drivers should always practice good safety habits while on the road, and follow the rules, sometimes car accidents are unavoidable, and even good drivers end up in bad car accidents. When a car accident occurs, one of the first things a car accident victim should do is contact an experienced car accident attorney about their rights, options, and next steps. The Hattiesburg personal injury lawyers at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe, PLLC, are experienced in car accident law and offer a free and confidential consultation. Contact us today for help.

Source:

fhwa.dot.gov/tpm/reporting/state/safety.cfm?state=Mississippi