Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matt Arnold answers the question: “What if a loved one dies from the injuries sustained in a serious accident while the case is pending?”
Do you feel like traffic delays in Charlotte are getting worse by the year? Well, a new study has confirmed your gut instinct. A new report by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute has analyzed how much time Charlotte motorists spend in traffic jams. The Institute prepared the report in collaboration with INRIX, which captures traffic speed data for major roads in urban areas.
The 2019 Urban Mobility Report by the Institute showed that drivers in metro Charlotte spend an estimated 57 hours per year stuck in traffic jams.
In fact, congestion on Charlotte freeways during evening rush hour accounts for the worst delays, according to the report. Congestion on Charlotte roads builds through the week to peak on Fridays.
However, Charlotte’s traffic delays are not the worst. The city’s rank is 28th, which means drivers in 27 other U.S. cities spend even more hours in traffic jams a year. The report also found a direct link between economic growth and congestion.
The risk of car accidents is also higher during peak hours when traffic congestion is at its worst.
The report says that the link between the two is “as dependable as gravity.” There has been a steady uptick of “wasted wheel time,” or, in other words, time spent in traffic jams, since the end of the financial crisis of 2008.
As financial experts predict a new financial crisis in 2020, the number of hours that drivers in Charlotte and other cities have to spend in congestion delays could begin to drop if the U.S. economy enters a recession.
Traffic Jams Could Rise to 62 Hours by 2025
By contrast, drivers in Raleigh spend about 42 hours a year in traffic jams, according to the report. The national average is spending 54 hours stuck in traffic. Interestingly, 40 years ago, commuters across the nation on average spent only about 20 hours in traffic delays per year, which is equivalent to a little more than three minutes per day.
In 2017, traffic jams wasted about 3.3 billion gallons of fuel and cost U.S. drivers $166 billion, the report says. That is about $1,000 per driver. A sad prediction in the report is that traffic jams are expected to rise to a national average of 62 hours by 2025 if the rates of population growth and congestion are similar to those of 2012 to 2017.
Why are Auto Accidents More Likely During Peak Hours?
While causes of vehicle crashes differ, the risk of being in an auto collision during traffic delays increases significantly as more drivers are likely to:
- Engage in reckless or aggressive driving behaviors;
- Violate traffic laws in an attempt to minimize commute time (speeding, failing to yield, etc.);
- Get distracted behind the wheel;
- Be prone to increased stress levels;
- Engage in drunk driving, especially during after-work hours; and
- Fall asleep behind the wheel.
Regardless of how your rush hour accident in Charlotte or elsewhere in North Carolina occurred, speak with a Charlotte car accident attorney to get a no-obligation consultation. Call us now at 704-370-2828 to speak with our lawyers to explore your legal options or fill out our contact form. Now taking cases throughout North Carolina with offices in Uptown Charlotte, Mooresville and Monroe.
The skilled personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to maximizing the financial recovery and obtaining justice for every personal injury client injured by another party’s negligence. The issues our personal injury clients may be facing include, but are not limited to, slip and fall injuries, wrongful death, product liability, catastrophic injuries, dog bite claims, car and truck accident injuries, motorcycle injuries, traumatic brain injury (TBI), nursing home negligence, spinal cord injury, boating accidents, and defective medical device injury. Our personal injury attorneys understand the devastating impact such an injury can have on a person’s life, and that the effects so often go beyond physical pain and suffering. The personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to helping clients determine the strength of their claims, and to aggressively pursuing the means necessary to achieve the best possible end result for each client’s particular situation.
Source:
https://static.tti.tamu.edu/tti.tamu.edu/documents/mobility-report-2019.pdf
Image Credit:
https://www.freeimages.com/photo/traffic-1468345
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