Many of us take driving a car for granted and don’t always realize the numerous dangers associated with being in a motor vehicle. This is especially true in today’s world where using cell phones has caused driving to be even more dangerous despite the fact that there is a law against this in almost every state.
Did you know that approximately every 15 minutes someone is killed in rear-end collisions or some other kind of accident? Unfortunately, many of these deaths involve drivers who are typically between the ages of 17 and 20 years of age. In most cases, these younger drivers are very inexperienced and are more apt to be involved in speeding and road rage incidents.
When it comes to following the law, all drivers are capable of breaking the rules and doing whatever they can to avoid the police. Many have very short attention spans and this definitely increases the chances of a vehicle rollover or some other type of collision.
We have not even discussed the possibility of you crossing paths with someone who has been drinking. Back in 2016, the number of drivers who were involved in some kind of drunk driving accident jumped to nearly 2% and that number is going up.
Let’s take a look at a few more statistics…
1. There are nearly 220 million drivers operating on the roads in the United States. If you consider just the bare facts, that is a lot of vehicles crossing paths every day and the chances of you having some kind of unfavorable experience with one of them is very high.
2. Car collisions are the number one killer of people under the age of 55 in the United States with a large portion of those deaths being caused by drivers under the age of 20.
3. When it comes to personal injury lawsuits, greater than 50% of all these suits are the result of some kind of car accident.
As mentioned earlier, driving a vehicle is not a casual thing, and even if you are someone who generally follows the law, you still are very likely to get into more than one wreck during your lifetime.
Obviously, none of us want to lose our lives while driving a vehicle so you need to take it far more serious. Whenever you get into a vehicle, you have to understand that even if you are the best driver on the planet, you can not always account for the person who is driving next to you.
Many of us have heard the term defensive driving but we don’t all apply it. If you want to avoid a deadly accident, and the need to call a law firm or personal injury attorney, being aware of what others are doing on the road is the secret to avoiding a life-threatening crash.
Outside of being an observant defensive driver, you need to keep up to speed on the rules of the road and understand how to read traffic signs properly. In some instances, a simple traffic sign can easily help you to avoid any accident and we are not talking about the common stop sign.
Some other things that you might do to avoid accidents are to stay off your cell phone when driving. Even if you are using a hands-free type of device, they can still be highly distracting. You can also do obvious things like making sure not to drive without your seat belt being securely fastened. Believe it or not, there are still people out there that fail to take the simple action of wearing a seat belt.
Finally, make sure that you are diligent about following the law. These laws are in place for a reason and that is primarily to keep everyone safe. If you are one of those people that speed up when you see a yellow light, you are not following the law and are most likely headed for an accident in the near future.