The roads in the Seattle area can be very crowded each day and people can find many vehicles on the roads at almost any time of day. With all of these vehicles on the roads, it is important that drivers drive safely to ensure their own safety as well as the safety of the other people on the roads. Unfortunately, not every does this though and as a result there are many motor vehicle accidents every day.
The severity of these accidents can vary greatly, but some of them are very serious and many people lose their lives in fatal accidents. Like any motor vehicle accident, fatal accidents are caused because of many different factors.
Fatal Motor Vehicle Accident Statistics
Over the last five years, there has been an average of approximately 542 people who die each year in Washington. The lowest amount of fatalities occurred in 2019 with 524 fatalities and the high year was 2017 with 563 fatalities.
Of the total amount of fatalities that occurred over the years of 2015 – 2019, 620 involved drivers who were impaired by alcohol, 1,018 tested positive for drugs and 889 were the result of some form of distracted driving. The most fatalities occurred to people between 21-25 years old who comprised 301 of all of the fatalities and the large majority of the fatalities were males who accounted for 1,902 of them. Not surprisingly the King County had the largest number of fatalities with 532.
Many of the fatalities that occur in the Seattle area could have been avoided, if drivers were not under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol or distracted. The family of the victims of these accidents can be absolutely devastated with the lost of a loved one. While nothing will ever be able to bring the victim back, the family may be able to obtain compensation from the responsible driver, which can at least ease any financial burdens associated with the loss. Experienced attorneys understand how devastating these accidents can be and may be a useful resource.