Every day about eight people are killed in the United States in crashes that involve a distracted driver. This is one of the most common causes of car accidents — and one of the easiest to avoid, too.
If you want to stay safe on the road and do everything you can to avoid car accidents, you’ve come to the right place.
Check out these most common causes of auto accidents so that you can work to prevent them.
Table of Contents
Distracted Driving
This is the most common of car accident causes and is responsible for the majority of road accidents. Distracted driving is exactly what it sounds like. It involves losing focus on the act of driving in favor of doing something else.
In recent days, the distractions have become more tempting: smartphones. Texting and driving, eating and driving, scrolling apps on your phone, or looking at something else, are all cases of distracted driving.
Texting and driving is the most common distraction and causes a frightening number of accidents.
Speeding
You’ve heard it a thousand times: speed kills. This is one of the worst auto accident causes because if someone causes an accident while speeding, it’s likely to be a severe or fatal crash.
Running late for work, rushing to get somewhere, or simply enjoying driving fast puts your and other people’s lives at risk.
Driving Under the Influence
Driving while intoxicated, either due to alcohol or another substance, is extremely dangerous. Unfortunately, drunk driving is a relatively common cause of car accidents. Substances such as cocaine, marijuana, and prescription pills are other common substances behind DUIs.
It’s well known that alcohol and other substances affect motor skills, slows down reactions, and causes drowsiness. In other words, it’s a recipe for disaster.
If you get hurt in an accident caused by someone driving under the influence, you must call a car accident lawyer. You are entitled to compensation in this case and a personal injury attorney can provide auto accident help.
Reckless Driving
While speeding is a type of reckless driving, there are other characteristics of someone driving recklessly. If you brake sharply, weave between lanes, don’t use your indicator, for example, this is reckless driving.
What’s more, neglecting to follow the laws of the road is reckless and puts you and others in danger. This includes making illegal U-turns or running through red traffic lights.
Bad Weather
This is one cause of auto accidents that isn’t due to human error or negligence. While you can’t always avoid driving in bad weather, you should be extra careful if you have to drive in the rain, thick fog, or snow.
These weather conditions make the road slippery, reduce visibility and create dangerous driving conditions. You may skid on puddles or crash into a car, object or person, that wasn’t visible.
What Can You Do to Prevent These Causes of Car Accidents
While you have no control over other drivers, knowing the causes of car accidents will help you to prevent them. Refrain from distractions, never drive under the influence, obey the rules of the road, and drive carefully in bad weather.
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