BAC and Nevada hit-and-run car accidents

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) goals are twofold when it comes to protecting and serving the nation. Firstly, they seek to prevent accidents, injuries and fatalities related to car accidents. Secondly, they intend to investigate the accidents that occur to better understand what caused them. This, in hopes, will address their first goal of preventing injuries and fatalities on Nevada roads and around the nation. Data compiled by NHTSA hints to why hit-and-run car accidents occur.

Certain things found in a recent investigation were no-brainers. For example, an accident with a pedestrian and a motor vehicle is more likely to happen at night than during the day. Naturally, there is less visibility for drivers and pedestrians alike, which can result in a bad situation. However, there are several facts compiled by NHTSA that are key to understanding and preventing hit-and-run accidents between motor vehicle and pedestrian.

Thankfully, pedestrian hit-and-run accidents have decreased from the years of 1997 and 2006. Nonetheless, the probability that the pedestrian involved in the accident losing their life increased. Correlated to that, the higher the Blood Alcohol Concentration of an impaired driver, the greater the likelihood the pedestrian will be killed in the accident. This proves that alcohol impaired drivers are a huge risk to pedestrians.

The best piece of evidence that can be taken away from the NHTSA’s report is that pedestrian deaths can be prevented. This can be done by driver’s choosing not to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol. If all drivers did this, it is almost guaranteed that pedestrian deaths would decrease. In the meantime, pedestrians should be aware of their surroundings at all times, especially at night.

Source: DOT.gov, ” National Pedestrian Crash Report ,” accessed on Jan. 31, 2015