How often are fatal car accidents happening in Oklahoma? How does recent data compare to previous years? The answers could help shed light on why those crashes are occurring and what can be done to prevent them.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) 2019 data for Oklahoma, there were:
- 584 fatal car accidents
- 640 total fatalities in those accidents
- 206 fatalities suffered by people in passenger cars
- 235 fatalities suffered by people in SUVs
- 320 fatal single-vehicle and multivehicle accidents
- 330 fatalities were suffered by drunk drivers
- 212 fatalities were suffered by motorists without a seatbelt
- 422 fatal accidents occurred in rural areas
Preliminary data from the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office (OSHO) reports:
- 40 or so fatalities per month in 2020, or 480 predicted for the year
- 221 fatalities in 2021 so far (date ending May 25, 2021)
What Does This Information Tell Us?
The first major takeaway from the IIHS and OSHO data is that there seems to be a large drop in the total number of traffic fatalities in Oklahoma for 2020. While this is encouraging, it might prove to be misleading. Coronavirus pandemic lockdowns kept the streets of Oklahoma much emptier than a typical year, so there should have been much lower chances of a car accident happening. Yet the predicted drop is only 25% lower than the 2019 fatality totals. If traffic dropped by 50% in some areas for the better part of the year, then the total fatality decrease should be more than 25%, so this suggests that there were fewer drivers causing accidents more frequently in 2020 than in 2019.
The second noticeable takeaway from these data sets is that drunk driving is still a major issue on Oklahoma’s roads. More than half of the fatal crashes involved a drunk driver. With drunk driving accidents happening most frequently after nightfall and on weekends, this information can be used to loosely conclude that the most dangerous times to drive on Oklahoma roads are during those same hours.
It is also interesting to note that SUV motorists suffered more fatalities than motorists in smaller cars. SUVs are often sold under the pretense that they are automatically safer than smaller vehicles, but this appears not to necessarily be the case. It is not clear how many of those fatal SUV accidents involved a rollover, but SUVs have long been criticized for their increased rollover risks.
What You Can Do After Losing a Loved One in a Crash
If you have lost a loved one in a fatal car accident that was not their fault, then you need to take time to mourn. You should also consider filing a wrongful death claim against the driver who caused the fatal crash. But handling a legal case and mourning are two things that often conflict with one another.
To mourn and grieve healthily, you should leave your claim or lawsuit up to the attorneys of Martin Jean & Jackson, who have more than a century of combined legal experience. We have offices in Oklahoma City, Ponca City, Stillwater, and Tulsa. Schedule a free initial consultation at the office nearest you by calling .
