Charlotte Road Safety Overview
A safe Charlotte driver avoids both the behaviors and circumstances that can lead to injury and fatal crashes. Charlotte road safety statistics can be valuable in helping you and others avoid situations that endanger drivers and passengers.
Traffic Safety Stats To Know For Charlotte Drivers
North Carolina experienced 284,157 motor vehicle crashes in 2023. This reversed a two-year trend of declining collisions that started in 2021. That year, there were 276,026 crashes. The next year, this number decreased to 273,732. Between 2018 and 2022, North Carolina averaged 272,746 crashes a year.
The City of Charlotte was responsible for more than ten percent of the state’s accidents in 2023. Car accidents in Charlotte totaled 32,932 traffic that year. This number was also approximately twice the number of traffic wrecks that occurred in Raleigh that same year. Only 16,778 collisions were reported in Raleigh in 2023.
Between 2021 and 2023, Charlotte recorded 125,075 traffic crashes, while the state reported approximately 1.09 million collisions.
Severe And Fatal Crash Numbers
Although the overall number of motor vehicle crashes in North Carolina increased from 2022 to 2023, the number of fatal wrecks decreased. In 2022, the state recorded 1,647 fatality crashes and reported 1,565 in 2023. There were also 74,161 injury wrecks in 2023, an increase from the 71,963 reported.
Over one-half of all traffic accidents in Charlotte in 2023 resulted in at least one injury or death. Charlotte reported 105 traffic fatalities in 2023 and another 16,066 injuries.
Top Causes Of Auto Accidents
Some of the leading causes of traffic crashes in North Carolina in 2023 included the following:
1. Distracted Driving
Distracted drivers are those who divide their attention and focus between driving and some other activity. While using a cell phone is a classic example of distracted driving, motorists who eat, apply makeup, or read while driving are also distracted. This behavior played a role in 47,986 traffic collisions throughout the state in 2023.
2. Speeding
Speeding is dangerous and leads to crashes because it makes your vehicle more difficult to control and leaves you less time to avoid dangers on the road. The severity of crashes is also directly related to vehicle speed. Over 15,000 North Carolina car wrecks were partly due to one or more motorists driving at an excessive speed.
3. Alcohol Impairment
Your alcohol concentration does not need to be over 0.08% for you to be too impaired to drive. Alcohol slows your reaction time, impairs your judgment, and makes it difficult for you to accurately perceive the road and other people using it. Motorists impaired by alcohol were to blame for over 12,000 crashes in 2023 throughout North Carolina.
4. Lane Departures
A lane departure, which occurs when a vehicle leaves its travel lane unexpectedly, is dangerous and can lead to sideswipe collisions or head-on crashes. Inattentiveness, drowsiness, or impairment are some of the reasons why a driver might suddenly and carelessly enter a lane they should not be in. This event happened in 60,725 crashes across the state in 2023.
What Statistics Show About Charlotte Road Safety
As one of North Carolina’s major metropolitan areas, it is not surprising that a significant number of the state’s motor vehicle wrecks happen within the city’s limits. Some of the decisions that lead to these wrecks are well within a driver’s ability to control.
You cannot control other drivers’ behavior, but you can choose how you drive. By refusing to drink and drive, putting away distractions, obeying the speed limit, and focusing on maintaining your lane, you can reduce the likelihood of being involved in a crash.