Trends:

Trends and stats about 2004 death rates

In the year 2004 there was over 42,000 fatalities due to traffic accidents in the United States.  Over 5,000 of them were innocent pedestrians, cyclists, and more.

Most accidents occurred in the month of August.  In regards to day of week most accidents occurred on a Saturday, and in regards to the time of day most accidents occurred between 3pm and 6pm local time.*  You could almost guess these figures.  According to M.M. user input the highest hour is at 3pm.

Why are there so many accidents every year?  Being one that drives more than most I can tell you it is because people just don't pay attention.  The words "Pay Attention" can be found on many of the pages on this site.  Ask a truck driver or a cab driver.  They will tell you the same.  Ask a pilot how they fly a plane, all the professionals are forced to do it because they are out there everyday.  They have to pay attention.

The average Joe however who does their daily grind of just 37 miles or less a day hardly gets to see the road and the dangers it offers.  I have seen lots of  aggressive scary drivers, and somehow or another they are not the ones I see getting into accidents.  The ones that are flipping their cars, and crashing into the center divides are the sleepers or book readers.  According to FARS 24% are people just driving their car right off the road or into another car.   This is the highest percentage.  It does not specify there condition, as if they were drunk. Intentional lane changes on the other hand is considered one of the safest maneuvers one can make.

20.3% was the second highest percentage with the title of speeding.  The definition of speeding is driving faster than the speed limit. The speed limit is created by engineers who have calculated many factors that you may not be aware of.  If you have deemed yourself the "I know better", the reality is you probably don't.  I know you will get better gas mileage if you slow down, and if you pay attention as well you could reduce your chance of getting in an accident by as much as 40%!

* FARS