What Percentage of Hit and Runs in Sacramento are Fatal?
Hit and Run accidents have seen a dramatic rise across the U.S. with one study from the American Automobile Association showing a staggering 62% increase from 2009 to 2016. Although not as dramatic as the nationwide increase, Sacramento has seen an increase in hit and runs as well.
Not all hit and runs are fatal which is a good thing, because in Sacramento from 2017 to 2018, there were 2,233 hit and run accidents, according to a recent study by Autoaccident.com. Out of these, 777 were injures and 22 were fatalities.This translates to only 1% of hit and runs being fatalities, but any deaths are a tragedy to the loved ones of those who died.
What Makes a Hit and Run so Traumatic
Car accidents can be as traumatic to those involved as survivors of physical assaults or of those returning from a battlefront, according to a report from the National Center for Biotechnology Information. This includes the survivors of a hit and run fatality.
For those who’ve suffered the loss of a loved one, the fact that it was a hit and run adds anxiety and anguish to an already traumatic event. The reason for this is the feeling of victimization that hit and run survivors feel.
Sacramento Hit and Run Fatalities
Using data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the American Automobile Association reported that 2016 was a record year for hit and run deaths at 2049 out or 737,000 hit and run accidents in the U.S.
This shows that as a percentage, .02%, Sacramento’s hit and run fatality rate is 5 times the national average. This begs the question of why is Sacramento’s hit and run death rate so high? There is no quick and easy answer, but we can look at some of the other Sacramento statistics to find out what’s happening.
Pedestrians
Aroung 65% of all hit and run fatalities include pedestrians and cyclists. The city of Sacramento has had a Vizion Zero plan in place since August of 2018, and the plan includes infrastructure changes for the city that encourages people to get out of their cars and walk or cycle to commute to work or go shopping when in the city.
While there is no direct data tying this to an increased number of pedestrian hit and run fatalties, the Sacramento Bee reported that Sacramento has seen a record of number of pedestrian deaths in 2016 and 2017.
The author of the article suggests that even while cities like Sacramento are putting money into improvements for both cycling and pedestrian safety, the state is building more roads and the roads are not designed for the safety of all users, namely pedestrians and cyslists.
Hot Spots
The Autoaccident.com study pinpoints the hotspots in Sacramento that account for the majority of hit and run accidents. The highest spot is the interserction of 12th Ave and SR-99 with a number that dwargs all others at 84 during the two-year persiod.
This type of data can be useful in making changes to the dynamics of these hotspots to determin why they are so dangerous. This isn’t as easy when it cimes to a hit and run because of the psychological factor that compels the driver to flee the scene.
However, hotspot areas can be targeted for more cameras, increased patrol, and an implementation of safety measure to reduce the number of accidents over all.
Armed wit the proper data, the city of Sacramento can divert rescources and funds to improve safety and awareness and hopefully get the number of deadly hit and run accidents in the city in line with the decrease in overall traffic fatalities.
