The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released its first report on the prevalence of non-traffic vehicular accidents.  The report, titled “Not-in-Traffic Surveillance 2007,” estimates over 1,700 fatalities and 841,000 injuries occurred in 2007 as a result of both out-of-traffic crashes and non-crash car accidents.

The NHTSA report found that incidents in which forward-moving vehicles struck non-occupants, such as pedestrians or bike riders, accounted for close to 400 wrongful deaths.  Reverse rear end car accidents were responsible for over 200 deaths, and nearly 600 wrongful death car accidents occurred for reasons ranging from vehicle fires and strangulation by automatic windows.

Our firm’s car accident lawyers truly believe this report just goes to show that car accidents can happen at any time, and the causes of wrongful deaths from car accidents come from the common AND uncommon variety.

The founder and president of Kids And Cars, a national nonprofit organization advocating for preventing unnecessary children’s injuries said, “This is an important day, one that has been long in coming.  The release of this report solidifies once and for all that focus must be placed on the interaction of consumers and vehicle … no matter where an incident takes place.”

For over ten years, Kids And Cars has been pressuring the federal government to collect data about non-traffic car accidents, which typically happen on private property and off public record. The NHTSA’s official report signifies a huge step forward in government attention to the little known, and yet highly fatal, phenomenon of non-traffic vehicular accidents.

The experienced car accident lawyers at our firm hope that this useful information about keeping children safe in the unfortunate event of a car accident.  They cannot stress enough the importance of safety in all drivers and passengers – especially child passengers because of their smaller size.  On top of that, no matter who or what you drive, make sure that you are covered by the best car insurance policy that you can find.

Please feel free to call us now at 1-858-551-2090 or you can click here for a free consultation with an experienced car accident attorney.  We have a large bilingual staff that can assist you in either English or Spanish.  No fee if no recovery.