Car accidents are the cause of over 35,000 deaths and countless personal injuries in the United States each year. What is the cause of these car accidents and how we can prevent them from happening? After all, car accidents are the leading cause of preventable deaths and personal injuries in this country.
1. Cell Phone Distractions
Cell phones are one of the leading and problematic causes of motor vehicle accidents. Texting while operating a vehicle is extremely dangerous not only to yourself, but others in the vehicle and those on the road. An estimated 1,600,000 car accidents per year are the result of cell phone distractions.
Tips for Avoiding Cell Phone Distractions when Driving: Put your phone away to avoid temptation. Many vehicles also offer app integration that will read texts and feature voice texting for responding.
If you are worried about your children texting and driving there are several apps available that block texts and calls while driving.
If you were involved in a car accident and have suffered personal injuries as a result of a distracted driver, contact a personal injury lawyer.
2. Speeding or reckless driving
Speeding & reckless driving is another notable cause of car accidents. Running red lights, switching lanes continuously, and tailgating are acts of reckless driving that can result in an accident.
Tips for Avoiding Speeding & Driving: It’s important to remember that there is nothing worth dying for and there is nothing worth killing other people for, especially the risk of showing up somewhere late. Most of the time people speed to avoid being late or missing something. Setting clocks and reminders ahead of time is the best way to eliminate the need to speed.
If you are worried about your children speeding, there are many automotive manufactures that have apps that alert parents if their young driver is driving faster than the parameters set by the parent.
If you were involved in a car accident and have suffered personal injuries as a result of a reckless driver, contact a personal injury lawyer.
3. Eating/Applying makeup/etc…while driving
Oftentimes people try to save time with multi-tasking. When it comes to driving, this is a very bad idea. Multitasking in the car is extremely dangerous and often shifts the focus of driving to the other task. Because of this, you are two times more likely to get in a car crash if you are multitasking while you are driving.
Tips for Avoiding multitasking & Driving: Much like speeding, people often multitask to conserve time. However, to keep yourself and others safe, this should be avoided at all costs.
If you were involved in a car accident and have suffered personal injuries as a result of a distracted driver, contact a personal injury lawyer.
4. Drinking and Driving
It’s never a good idea to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol. Drinking impairs your driving and your reaction times. This puts not only you at risk, but also everyone else on the roads as well.
Tips for Avoiding Drinking & Driving: There is absolutely no excuse to drink alcohol and get behind the wheel of a car. You are putting yourself at the risk of a night in jail, an expensive ticket and even worse an accident that could kill yourself and others. If you know you will be enjoying alcohol, be sure to arrange a sober ride home.
If you were involved in a car accident and have suffered personal injuries as a result of a intoxicated driver, contact a personal injury lawyer.
5. In-Car Distractions
Distractions such as your friends, the radio, your air conditioner, your cell phone are constantly causing us to lose focus of the road. Taking your eyes off of the road for any reason can result in a car accident.
Tips to Avoid Distractions in the Car: Have a set routine for switching songs, change the station or adjust the temperature. Make it a habit to only do so when the car is stopped or, an even better solution, choose your radio station, playlist and/or temperature settings before you put the car in drive. It is also vital that the people in your car know you need to dedicate all of your attention to the road and cannot be bothered while the car is in drive.
If you were involved in a car accident and have suffered personal injuries as a result of a distracted driver, contact a personal injury lawyer.
6. DRIVER FATIGUE
Driver fatigue can range from sleeping at the wheel to just tired from not enough sleep which can result in slower reaction times.
Tips for Avoiding Fatigued Driving: Ensure you’re well rested before driving. If you are tired and think you’re at risk of falling asleep or losing focus, pull over and find another ride home or to your destination.
If you were involved in a car accident and have suffered personal injuries as a result of a fatigued driver, contact a personal injury lawyer.
Practicing safe, focused driving is the best way to avoid an accident, however, other drivers may not be as careful. If you were involved in an automobile accident from a distracted or reckless driver, you may need a car accident lawyer. Joshi & Patel offer a free case evaluation, no obligation consultation. Once it has been determined that you have a case, we will work for you on a contingent fee basis. In other words, you don’t pay your car accident attorney fees up-front. Instead, you sign an agreement to pay us a percentage of your settlement amount. You pay us absolutely nothing unless you recover.
**Many of our blog articles discuss the law. All information provided about the law is very general in nature and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Every situation is different, and should be analyzed by a lawyer who can provide individualized advice based on the facts involved in your unique situation, and a consideration of all of the nuances of the statutes and case law that apply at the time.
