ELLABELLE, GEORGIA
AFTER 4 PEOPLE DIED IN STOCKTON BOULEVARD, CALIFORNIA, 5
MORE DIED IN GEORGIA.
Five people died early Wednesday after several passenger
vehicles and big trucks crashed on Interstate 16 west of Savannah, forcing
authorities to close eastbound lanes of the busy highway for hours as they
evacuated injured motorists and cleaned up the wreckage.
Seven total vehicles, including two tractor-trailers, were
involved in the collision on the highway that connects Macon and Savannah.
Those killed were traveling in two separate passenger vehicles, one of which
caught fire during the crash, said Sgt. Chris Rodewolt of the Georgia State
Patrol. Three people suffered injuries.
State troopers weren't immediately able to say what caused
the crash at about 6 a.m. Wednesday in Bryan County, 20 miles west of Savannah.
Rodewolt said weather conditions didn't appear to be a factor.
"There was no fog or smoke. It was clear as a
bell," Rodewolt said. "We did have heavy, heavy traffic."
At the time of the deadly crash, motorists were approaching
the scene of another wreck that had occurred a few miles away on I-16. But
troopers weren't immediately able to say whether the earlier wreck affected
traffic conditions that contributed to the fatal crash.
Two mangled passenger vehicles could be seen at the bottom
of an embankment beside the interstate. In front of them, just off the highway,
was a tractor-trailer with its cab smashed into the back of a tanker truck.
Some motorists were stuck at a standstill for more than six
hours as road crews and tow trucks worked to clear the wreckage. Even after
those vehicles were allowed to pass, troopers kept a 6-mile stretch of
eastbound I-16 closed as they continued to investigate the crash scene.
Authorities were withholding the names of the five people
killed until they had notified the victims' families, Rodewolt said.
Forget for a moment terrorism and gun violence. The real terror is on the US roads where 34,000 people died last year and we are on a record pace for deaths this year. Hundreds of thousands got injured as well. It is a true bloodbath out there.
UNITED STATES STILL HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST ROAD ACCIDENT DEATH AND INJURY RATES IN THE WORLD: 34,000 DIE AND 2.5 MILLION INJURED EACH YEAR.
Despite the improvements in road safety, the United States has one of the highest death rates at about 1 person dead per 10,000 people. Unfortunately, only undeveloped countries have higher death rate.
Some states, such as Texas and West Virginia (sorry, WV, despite your tremendous progress in traffic safety, you are still at the top of the worst-death-rate list) have death rates of nearly 1.5 percent, i.e., fifty percent more people die compared to the national death rate.
Approximately 34,000 people are getting killed each year. In the 1950s and 1960s, about 55,000 people used to die on the roads – so, there has been improvement in the number of dead.
However, the number of injured is rising. Roughly 2.5 million are injured (yes, you read it correctly – 2.5 million injured) per year. That is, 1 percent (1%) of the population that is eligible to drive is injured every year.
It is worse than a war zone out there.
So, please be safe and be on the lookout for weaving-through-the-traffic drivers, crazy drivers, reckless drivers, sick drivers, medical-condition drivers, sleepy drivers, negligent drivers, stupid drivers, careless drivers, drunk drivers, speeding drivers, drugged drivers, texting drivers, talking-on-the-phone drivers, looking-at-the-GPS drivers, hurry-hurry drivers, tailgating drivers, upset drivers, eating-while-driving drivers, putting-the-lipstick-on-while-driving drivers, elderly drivers, and so on.