Car accidents are dangerously prevalent in the United States. While many of them result in simple collisions that aren’t life-threatening, many also result in injury or even wrongful death.
The following list below are some of the most common causes of car accidents and how you can prevent them from happening when you’re behind the wheel.
- Distracted Driving
In 2015 alone, distracted driving caused the deaths of 3,477 people. Distracted driving is considered the number one cause of death and injury in car accidents. When a driver is distracted, it’s typically caused by cell phone use, such as talking or texting, or eating food. By diverting your attention away from the road, you’re losing reaction time to potential dangers or collisions.
Turn your cell phone off while you drive so you’re not distracted by incoming calls or texts. Wait to eat until you get home or pull off to the side of the the road so that your hands are free. - Speeding
Speeding limits your reaction time the same way distracted driving does. The speed limit exists in order to keep drivers safe from collisions with rails, animals, pedestrians, and other vehicles.
Additionally, while you may think you know what you’re doing behind the wheel even when going 10, 20, or 30 miles over the speed limit there’s a chance that other drivers don’t know what they’re doing, which puts you in greater danger when you limit your reaction time to their mistakes. - Drunk Driving
Even if you aren’t distracted or speeding, having a BAC level of .07% or above puts you at risk of causing an accident behind the wheel. Alcohol causes a sense of imbalance, an impairment of sight and hearing, and reduced reaction time. This makes you a significant danger behind the wheel. If you plan on drinking, be sure to have a designated driver or a planned ride to take you home safely. - Reckless Driving
Another common cause of car accidents are drivers who don’t limit their reaction time, but are aggressive on the road. They’re the drivers that ride your bumper, that change lanes without turning on their signal, and are impatient in traffic. Make sure that while you’re driving you follow the rules of the road and avoid these kinds of drivers at all costs. Their aggressive nature can cause an unfortunate series of car accidents if other drivers react just as aggressively on the road.
Cars are fast ways of travel, but they can also be incredibly dangerous if they’re not driven with care and according to the law. Speeding, distracted driving, and drunk driving can reduce the amount of time drivers have to react to sudden obstacles. And reckless driving, which drunk driving is a part of, can often cost the lives of innocent drivers.
The Dangers of Accidents In the Trucking Industry
While reckless and distracted driving may cause car accidents that can be harmless save for the clashing of the vehicles themselves, it’s important for drivers to take great care specifically around commercial truckers on the road such as the drivers of an 18 wheeler.
The driver of an 18 wheeler is unable to see your vehicle when you are directly behind them and so any reckless driving can often result in that 18 wheeler taking apart your car as well as your life. Trucks can often weigh over 20 times that of a car, 30 times if the truck is an 18 wheeler, and so if a truck should crash into yours, the fatality rate is not in your favor.
Therefore, stay safe on the road and drive according to the law. If you have been the victim of a car or truck accident, consult a truck accident lawyer to see what legal options are available to you.