Recently, the Maine Department of Public Safety, in conjunction with the Bureau of Highway Safety and the Maine Department of Transportation (DOT), released crash data that was compiled over the past ten years. This report may serve as an essential resource when Maine car accident victims try to collect damages from an at-fault motorist. The crash data provides safety officials and motorists with valuable information regarding common causes of Maine car accidents. The report evaluates relevant contributing factors such as time of day, day of the week, type of driver, type of vehicle, and driver behavior.
For ease of use, the report reflects five-year annual averages and only covers the most frequently requested crash information. Generally, the report found that after seeing a dip around 2010, Maine crash rates have steadily increased over the last five years. Over this time, there have been over 8,000 crashes resulting in severe injuries and over 150 fatalities. Most serious injury crashes occurred on Fridays, Thursdays, and Wednesdays. Whereas, the majority of fatal car accidents occurred on Saturdays and Fridays. Interestingly, both types of accidents occurred mainly between 9 pm and 2 am, even though this is generally a low traffic volume time of day.
The report included crash rates by driver age, but did not differentiate between fault. However, drivers between the ages of 16-24, and then 65-69, seem to be involved in the majority of the crashes. They also evaluated the number of drivers with suspended licenses, finding that about, on average, 2.5% of car accidents involved a driver with a suspended license. The report also provided detailed information regarding the number of vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, ATVs, and snowmobiles involved in these accidents.
The researchers looked at the most common types of accidents including, rear-ends, head-on collisions, off-road accidents, bicycle collisions, rollovers, pedestrian-involved accidents, as well as those involving moose and deer. Researchers found that most severe injury and fatal crashes involved a rear-end, lane departure, or another intersection movement. Driver actions such as failure to yield right-of-way, following too closely, or driving too fast for conditions were the cause of most serious injury accidents. Whereas, excessive speeding, running off the roadway, and failure to keep in the proper lane were the main reasons for fatal accidents.
This report shines a light on the dangers that many Maine motorists, passengers, and pedestrians face when they travel. Individuals who suffer injuries in these types of accidents should discuss their case with an experienced Maine car accident attorney.
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