New York Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

According to a New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) study conducted over the last several years, local roadways in Westchester County are much more dangerous than highways such as I-287 or I-95. The study looked at Westchester County fatal accidents, serious car crashes, and accidents per million miles traveled.

Route 1, which stretches from Pelham to Port Chester, is statistically the most dangerous road in Westchester County, with 9.65 accidents per million miles traveled (mmt). In second place as the road where motorists are most likely to be involved in a motor vehicle accident is Route 100B, between Dobbs Ferry and Greenburgh, with 8.65 accidents per mmt. Third most common was Route 119, from White Plains to Tarrytown, with 8.05 accidents per mmt.

Conversely, there were only 1.71 accidents per mmt on I-287 and 1.40 on I-95. The average on the Cross County Parkway was 2.65; Bronx River Parkway averaged 2.63 per mmt; the Hutchinson River Parkway was 1.61, and the Sprain Brook Parkway averaged 1.16 accidents per mmt. The safest road, (ironically concerning the speeds that drivers average on this highway), is I-684 with 0.83 accidents per mmt. This can probably be explained by the fact that 684 is a straight, wide and relatively level highway. The most dangerous small stretch of road in Westchester? The section of Route 9D near the Bear Mountain Bridge, with 13.4 accidents per mmt.

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In a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, (NHTSA), young drivers of either a car or motorcycle (age 15-20) are the most likely to have fatal car crashes in the United States. 15-20 year old drivers comprise 6% of all licensed drivers in the U.S. but had 19% of the fatal accidents in 2007. About two-thirds of people killed in fatal car crashes are the young drivers or their passengers. More than half of the fatal accidents occur on rural roadways. Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for 15-20 year olds based upon mortality data from the National Center For Health Statistics in 2005.

In 2007, young drivers were in 6,669 fatal accidents resulting in 7,650 deaths. There has been a 13% decrease in deaths involving young drivers from 1998 to 2007, with the peak being 9,251 fatalities in 2002. There are three main causes of the much higher percentage of young driver fatalities in this country: failure to wear a seat belt; alcohol involvement, and speeding. According to the study, overall seat belt use among all drivers is 82%, but among young drivers, it is 77%, and in fatal crashes in 2007, 61% were not wearing their seat belts. Regarding alcohol usage, 31% of young drivers involved in fatal accidents in 2007 had some alcohol in their systems, and 26% were over the legal limit of 0.08 percent (BAC).

31% of all fatal crashes in the United States are at least partially attributable to speeding. However, in 2007, a whopping 39% of male drivers age 15-20 killed in auto crashes were speeding when the accident occurred. Young female drivers age 15-20 accounted for 24% of all fatal crashes. Of all ages and genders of motorists, 15-20 year old males are the most likely to be speeding when a fatal car crash occurs.

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