It happens as if out of nowhere, suddenly you find yourself in a car accident, and the aftermath can be overwhelming. The stress from a wreck will usually entail bodily injury and property damage, which means lost wages and medical bills, not to mention those nasty insurance hikes. The statistics for Los Angeles County alone, show traffic accidents involving a fatality occur on average every 40 hours. In fact, it’s the number 3 cause of injury and death in LA, while maintaining the lead in ths area across the US.
In some cases, it’s not always possible to anticipate the moves of another driver in order to bypass an accident. However, understanding the primary causes could help you to avoid the most common reasons for vehicle collisions.
Here’s the Top 5 Reasons for Accidents:
1. Distracted Driving
This happens when a driver is distracted by their mobile device, talking – even when hands free, texting, or doing something other than keeping their attention on the roadway. On average, 700 people a day are injured due to distracted driving as the cause of accidents.
2. Speeding
Always remember, the faster you drive, the slower your reaction time! Not only does excessive speed increase stopping distance, it reduces the protection of road safety structures such as guardrails, median dividers, and concrete barriers. Speeding is the leading factor in 26% of all traffic fatalities (in 2019), which killed 9,478 people – an average of more than 25 people a day.
3. Drunk Driving
If you choose to drink, please make arrangements for a safe ride home. Those that drink and drive, do so at the risk of all the other drivers on the road, as well as them-selves, since it impairs cognitive function. Drinking compromises one’s ability to operate a vehicle safely while slowing down one’s decision-making and reaction times. The statistics are devastating – every 51 minutes someone is killed by a drunk driver, this is the number 1 cause of death on our roads, and every 2 minutes someone is injured in a drunk driving accident.
4. Reckless Driving
This behavior goes by many names: tail-gating, lane-jumping, and cutting-off others. Please don’t take matters into your own hands when you see drivers jeopardizing their safety and that of others. It’s far better to keep one’s distance, even if it means slowing down, as all of the above-mentioned examples can lead to a collision. Don’t hesitate to call 911, you may just help to prevent a tragic event. When it comes to major car accidents, reckless driving is responsible for 33% of all deaths, and there are more than 13,000 each year, while 30% of accidents are due to the speed involved in reckless driving.
5. Running Intersections
Red means stop! If that light ahead is yellow, it’s signaling to slow down and prepare to come to a complete stop. Speeding through a busy intersection or blowing through a stop sign when other drivers are obeying the traffic rules of the road is the perfect set up for a collision. More people are actually tempted to run those stop signs close to home and this is where they are usually cited by an officer. Just ask yourself if those few precious seconds are really worth risking your life, or the life of others. The stats are this, 50% of serious accidents happen at intersections, and 20% involve fatalities.
Per year, there are 165,000 accidents at intersections where drivers ran a red and 700-800 are fatal accidents due to the same reason.
There are several other factors that can lead to a driving accident, like weather conditions, driving at night, being a young or inexperienced driver, making unsafe lane changes, driving the wrong way on a road, or even vehicle design defects but when it comes to your safety on the road, Ticket Dismissers hopes you will consider some of these factors in helping to avoid a collision. Be safe out there!