Car accidents are a sad fact of life. They are also a leading cause of death in the U.S. and beyond, even in 2021 when many new cars and trucks now come standard with high-tech, anti-accident features like lane-shift and collision warnings systems.
Says Chicago car accident lawyers, Briskman Briskman & Greenberg, there were more than 118,000 car accidents in Chicago alone in 2018. At least 123 deaths resulted from those accidents, while close to 22,000 injuries were reported. Some of them are serious.
In 2019, there were close to 1,000 Chicago-based motor vehicle accidents that resulted in more than 1,000 deaths. The cause of almost half these deaths was driving while intoxicated. Of those fatalities, 27 percent of the drivers showed a blood alcohol content level of more than 0.08 percent. A frightening statistic.
According to a separate report, vehicular accidents are not only all too common but seem to be getting worse, despite modern collision-detection and prevention technology. An average of 15,000 to 20,000 car accidents are said to occur in the U.S. on a daily basis.
What are the top five causes of accidents? Speeding, distracted driving, running stop signs and red lights, bad weather, and of course, drunk driving.
Of the four out of five top causes, negligence is often “the culprit” when it comes to car accidents. Negligent driving occurs when the driver openly disobeys the rules of the road. If you are the victim of a car accident caused by a negligent driver, you need to seek out a reputable car accident attorney to get the compensation you deserve so that you can recover free of financial stress.
Speeding Accidents
Speeding is said to be a major factor in 20-25 percent of all vehicular accidents. It’s also the leading cause of vehicle-related fatalities in 25-30 percent of these accidents. Drivers speed for a variety of reasons. They might be late. Or they are showing off. Some are racing another speeding vehicle or vehicles. Some just don’t respect the safety rules of the road.
Speeding on its own is dangerous enough. But when combined with distractions such as eating, or texting, or putting on makeup, or even balancing a chequebook (no joke), you’ve got a recipe for a deadly disaster in the making.
Distracted Driving Accidents
What’s the number one cause of car accidents in the U.S.? Distracted driving. These include but are not limited to eating, drinking, using your cell phone, adjusting your infotainment system, dealing with kids seated in the back, and so much more.
Said to be the cause of over a third of all accidents in the U.S. each year, distracted driving is the number one cause of serious injuries and fatalities. When you take into account that distracted driving causes between 33 percent and 40 percent of all vehicular accidents, the fact that only 9 percent results in death mean that many of these collisions occur at a relatively slow speed.
Accidents due to Running Red Lights/Stop Signs
Running red lights and stop signs is said to be a relatively minor problem when it comes to auto accidents in the U.S. That said, this type of accident is on the rise since they can often be directly related to distracted driving.
However, these accidents might occur with less frequency than outright distracted driving or speeding, but they are no less harmful with almost 50 percent of them resulting in injury, compared to 33 percent for other varieties of accidents.
Bad Weather Related Accidents
Adverse weather, such as the kind that can occur in northern climates, can result in treacherous road conditions due to snow and ice. It is said to be the cause of 20 percent of all auto accidents. It is also said to be one of the most unavoidable causes of road accidents.
While dangerous situations like distracted driving, drunk driving, and speeding can be avoided, drivers find themselves with few options when the weather turns bad and the roads become slick sheets of ice.
The only obvious choice is to get off the roads as quickly as possible and wait the weather out.
Drunk Driving Accidents
Considered the most dangerous thing a driver can do behind the wheel of a car, drunk driving is the cause of only 10 to 15 percent of all vehicular wrecks, but it has a staggering fatality rate of 30 percent.
The only reason drunk driving accidents are said to be fewer than distracted driving crashes is that there are fewer intoxicated people on the road.