Common Causes of Car Accidents
In a typical car accident injury case, there is usually an at-fault driver whose activity or behavior resulted in the crash. The law holds that drivers are legally liable for any losses a victim suffers because of injuries they sustained in the accident. In many cases, the accident occurred because the at-fault driver broke a traffic law. There are certain traffic laws that are more commonly broken than others that contribute to these crashes. The following are the ones a car accident lawyer sees in many of the cases they handle.
Texting and Driving
Tragically, despite the massive amounts of information, education, and public service announcements about the dangers, people still text and drive. All it takes is seconds of a driver taking their eyes off the road for a tragedy to happen. And surprisingly, it is not just young people who cannot keep their hands off their phones when driving, but drivers of all ages admit to being guilty of this activity. All states have laws that prohibit texting and driving, and more and more states have begun to pass hands-free laws that ban drivers to hold their phones in their hands. Safety advocates advise drivers to keep phones put away out of sight while driving so they won’t be tempted to look. Cell phone manufacturers have also begun developing phones that have a “driving mode” which will help drivers resist that temptation.
Driving under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs
Although statistics show that the number of alcohol-related accidents has decreased, there has also been an increase in the number of drug-related crashes that occur. One of the main reasons for this increase is the opioid epidemic that is happening across the country. One of the most alarming causes of crashes is overdosing while driving, where a driver suffers a drug overdose while behind the wheel and crashes into one or more vehicles or pedestrians.
Speeding
Municipalities do not just arbitrarily choose a speed limit for a street or road. Speed limits are chosen based on engineering aspects and the population of the area, as well as several other factors. When a driver ignores a posted speed limit, they put themselves and others at a high risk of being injured or killed in a crash. The ability to slow down or stop because of an abrupt change in traffic or other reason may be hampered, leading to a crash.
Tailgating
When a driver follows too closely behind another vehicle, they often are unable to stop in time if the vehicle in front makes a sudden stop. Drivers should follow the three-second rule, at a minimum. This means that there should be at least three seconds that pass between the time the vehicle in front of you passes an object and your vehicle passes the same object.
Contact a Personal Injury Law Firm Today
If you’ve been injured in a car accident caused by another party, contact a skilled car accident lawyer, for help.