Why Do Car Accidents Happen?

In the US, there are nearly 6 million car accidents every year. These range in all levels of severity, from the minor bumps and scrapes on the road to fatal failures of driving skill. It’s so widespread that it’s nearly commonplace. 70% of trauma surgeries are for treating victims of car accidents. Most people may think they are immune, because they are safe drivers, but there are dozens or even hundreds of other drivers to account for on the road at any given time.

Understanding what causes car accidents can help prevent them and avoid them.

Speeding

The faster you go, the more danger you are in. All the safety ratings in the world can only help to mitigate damage in the worst case scenario. A majority of fatalities occur when a vehicle is traveling over a certain limit for a sustained period as the accident occurs. When you’re going fast, only the car is really moving.

When the car is forced to come to a stop, your body isn’t part of the car. It doesn’t stop at the same time as the car. This sensation is called “whiplash.” If you have suffered a whiplash injury in a car accident you should consider contacting a car accident lawyer for information, visit the website https://policydevelopment.org/, which will walk you through the full process of hiring a personal injury attorney.

Many deaths related to speed don’t happen while “speeding”, however. These can happen on roads where high speeds are legal. The factor in accidents isn’t law, it’s speed itself. Going over 55 miles an hour significantly increases the potential damage of an accident, even if it’s just a bump, as the vehicle will have much more trouble stopping or correcting itself if it loses control.

Intoxication

Driving under the influence causes accidents at a daily rate and deaths that average to nearly 30 per day each year. Driving while drunk or under the influence of a mind-altering drug places the driver and all cars around them in danger. The reason is how the substances in question affect the brain while they are still in the body.

Alcohol is a depressant, which slows the reactions within the body and dulls the senses of the brain. It forces you to be less aware and react slower. More alcohol means a greater lag between thought and action, and a greater separation of consciousness as bodily processes slow to a point of resting. Other drugs like marijuana can have similar effects where the brain will prioritize different thoughts to be at a higher level than the necessity of driving. Harder drugs create disassociation with reality, where the user forgets basic knowledge of how things work and may make assumptions about their driving ability that are not true, leading to taking extreme risks which then result in death.

Driving whilst intoxicated can result in car accidents. If you have been injured as the result of a crash caused by a drunk driver you should consider contacting personal injury lawyers Perth for help

Distractions

Driving requires the full attention of the driver to ensure safe operation of the vehicle. It’s not just their own safety that’s in the balance, but the safety of others. No one is ever truly alone on an open road. Anything could happen and requires proper reaction. Distractions while driving can include things like eating, working the console, talking and using a cell phone.

Cell phone use is a category of its own, especially since the rise of widescreen smartphones. The trick is that, while highly convenient to operate, they take much more concentration than assumed. The truth is, any time where attention is not paid to the road itself is a distance of road traveled where anything could happen. A car ahead could suddenly slow down, or something – or someone – could start crossing the street thinking you will see them and stop. Accidents don’t just hurt the driver, they can hurt anyone around them as well.

Traffic Signals

Traffic lights, signs and laws are in place to generally protect people. Not following these laws or obeying the signs leads to car accidents. Going through a red light means endangering the people who have the legal go-ahead while also endangering yourself. Same with running a stop sign. The scenarios where “no one is around” are far fewer than the cases where someone is positioned to get hurt.

Traffic lights especially cause many accidents due to how they are structured to work. Traffic patterns are analyzed and predicted in algorithmic models which control the light sequences. Long traffic lights mean that there is expected to be far more traffic going the other way. Interrupting the flow of that traffic means inserting oneself into a much busier lane of people who will be going ahead as fast as they are able. Mistiming a turn or merge can also lead to accidents. Those involed in motor vehicle accidents might require the help of injury lawyers Perth with their claims. These problems are exacerbated on weekends and holidays when people are even more impatient than normal.

Health

All cars are operated by people. Self-driving cars are not yet viable to the masses, so the dream of sleeping through your own commute while your car does all the work are still far off. Fatigue and tiredness lead to distraction. Having your eyes closed for just a second at 60 miles per hour means hundreds of feet have gone by while you may not have been conscious. It means that a slight turn in the road could sneak up on you and send you into a barrier. Managing fatigue and just not driving when significantly tired are ideal.

Road Conditions

It’s not always our own fault when accidents happen. True accidents occur without direct human error. Things like weather can cause accidents. Rain can flood roads. Even just a slight drizzle may be enough to cause an accident as water coats the road’s surface, causing a loss of friction that is vital for tires to work. Prolonged conditions can also affect the road itself, causing cracks or holes which when run over can destabilize or damage a car, which then cause a shift in performance and loss of control.

Conclusion

Getting behind the wheel of a car is accepting a huge responsibility to be safe and mindful of the rules of the road and the power behind a moving vehicle. Accidents can happen to us, but they should not happen because of us.