After years of decline, traffic fatalities have been trending upward since 2014. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of auto crashes reported to the police in 2015 jumped 3.8 percent from the year before, to 6.3 million incidents—and that's in addition to the roughly 10 million annual crashes that aren't reported.
The total number of injuries also has grown: Some 2.44 million people were injured in automotive crashes last year, up a statistically significant 4.5 percent vs. 2014. Needless to say, hospitals are seeing more and more patients as a result. What is the root cause of this increase in traffic accidents?
It turns out there are several.
Distracted driving
What NHTSA calls "Human Choices"—usually bad ones—are responsible for most of the auto accidents. For example, right in line with the growth in smartphone use, choosing to text and drive has become a leading cause of crashes. Again based on recent NHTSA analysis, 16 percent of all police-reported traffic incidents were classified as "distraction-affected" in 2014, when an estimated 441,000 people were injured during those crashes. And the numbers are rising: 2015 saw an 8.8 percent increase in fatalities from distraction-affected situations, which was part of an overall 7.2 percent spike in crash deaths last year—the largest annual increase since 1966.
Seat-belt usage
The decision to buckle-up is a key choice that affects crash survivability, which is a good thing. However, many people who survive crashes do not leave without injury, and, therefore, hospital visits. A 2015 Department of Transportation survey showed seat-belt use had risen almost 2 percent from the year before, with an estimated 88.7 percent of respondents now relying on safety restraints on a regular basis. Keeping that in mind, and looking at accidents with at least one fatality, 12.5 percent more people survived those crashes when belted in than compared to the same scenario in 2014. In other words, more people are using seat belts to survive serious auto accidents—which means more people living to see the need for medical attention.
Driving under the influence
Alcohol also remains a major influence on auto crashes. Indeed, though the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities is near historically low levels, there was a 3.2 percent increase between 2014 and 2015, the most recent period for which a full year of data is available. According to the NHTSA, 290,000 people were injured in drunk driving accidents in 2015.
Drivers doing more driving
A further factor in bringing more auto-accident victims to hospitals is the ever-growing number of miles being travelled every year. In fact, per the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Highway Policy Information, the moving 12-month total of miles driven in this country hit an all-time record of 3.2 trillion in July—an advance of 5.7 billion miles compared to July 2015. There are many reasons behind that, too, including relatively low gas prices. Meanwhile, evidence from Scientific American indicates that an increased number of older drivers are deciding to stay behind the wheel as the U.S. population ages, and that improving economic conditions are leading to an increase in miles driven. After finding a "strong" correlation between monthly temperature and auto fatalities, NHTSA also ventured that "warmer weather and milder winters might result in people driving more and further."
The future outlook of crash-related injuries
Technology is making our cars safer. Consider the case of automatic emergency braking. This technology can detect potential crash situations ahead of the driver's vehicle and automatically apply the brakes to help avoid an impact. NHTSA, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and 20 of the top-selling automakers in the United States recently committed to fast-tracking this technology so that it's standard in "virtually all new cars" by 2022. With this increased adoption of the braking technology, by three years, NHTSA expects 28,000 crashes and 12,000 injuries will be prevented. An equally important outcome will be increased survival rates in certain other crash scenarios, albeit with injuries.
Fully autonomous, self-driving cars with vehicle-to-vehicle communications are expected to be ready for prime time by 2020, and they also bring the potential to drastically reduce automotive crashes, deaths and injuries. Yet until drivers themselves are ready for autonomous vehicles, the timeline for those benefits is uncertain.
Regardless of changes in technology and other factors, the Federal Highway Administration predicts that the total number of vehicle miles travelled in the United States will grow by "23 to 27 percent over the next 30 years." And because miles travelled also happened to have the highest correlation with auto fatalities in NHTSA research, that's a sure sign that the latest uptick in crash-related patients is likely to continue for hospitals.
Charles Krome is an automotive expert and writer for CARFAX. He is passionate about driver safety and keeping up with car tech trends that could make our roads a safer place in the future.
The views, opinions and positions expressed within these guest posts are those of the author alone and do not represent those of Becker's Hospital Review/Becker's Healthcare. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them.