A person on a road has a certain chance of being hurt in a car accident. 3 million people are injured every year in car accidents on U.S. roads, with that occurring with approximately 6 million car accidents in the United States every year.
A person has a chance of being hurt or being killed, as 30,000 people die in motor vehicle accidents every year.
52% of personal injury cases are related to motor vehicle accidents. They are in the top five of all personal injury cases, with the top ones being auto accidents, medical malpractice, premises liability, product liability, and wrongful death claims. When it comes to motor vehicle accidents, there are three major causes.
They are drunk driving, distracted driving, and aggressive driving.
A person on the road late at night, particularly on a Friday night or Saturday night, has a chance of running into a person or driver that has been drinking. Drinking is an intoxicant and it hurts someone’s ability to react to situations, especially changing situations like a car turning onto the street or trying to pass.
Drinking and driving has been a major issue for certain nonprofit organizations over the past few decades. Mothers Against Drunk Driving has been one of the most vocal about the issue of drunk driving over the past few decades, as they have been lobby Congress and the alcohol companies to make drunk driving a higher priority.
There work has seemed to pay off as drunk driving deaths have gone lower per year since they started lobbying. Their efforts may have had an impact on alcohol companies as well, as many of them now say in their commercials that people should “drink responsibly.” State governments have passed laws that reduce the BAC level for DUI arrests.
Still, the statistics are difficult to manage:
- An average drunk driver has driven 80 days before their first arrest.
- Each day people drive drunk almost 300,000 times, but fewer than 4,000 are arrested.
- According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 30,000 people die from motor vehicle accidents involving a drunk driver every year.
A person on the road during all times of the day has the chance of encountering someone who is playing on their cell phone. This is a common occurrence in most places. People text while they drive, play videos while they drive, play games while they drive, and call people from their cell phones while they drive.
This is considered distracted driving in many municipalities. Distracted driving, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is defined as three categories: visually distracted driving, manually distracted driving, and cognitive distracted driving.
Visually distracted driving occurs when someone takes their eyes off the road. This occurs when someone plays with the radio, when someone stares at passing scenery, and when someone plays on their cell phone. Anything that takes a driver’s vision from the road is considered visually distracted driving.
Manually distracted driving occurs when someone takes their hand off the wheel. This can occur when trying to eat food while driving, while pushing the dog or cat off the seat, of texting on a cell phone with both hands while driving. Anything that takes a driver’s hands off the wheel is considered manually distracted driving.
Cognitive distracted driving occurs when someone’s attention is taken from the road. This can be from becoming distracted by a sign to someone falling asleep at the wheel. Anything that takes a driver’s focus from the road is considered cognitive distracted driving. This is a serious issue.
Aggressive driving is the third leading cause of fatal motor vehicle accidents. This involves the typical “road rage” scenario where someone gets aggressive with another driver on the road. Someone may tailgate, cut across and brake, or try to ram the car out of rage. This is the third leading cause of fatal motor vehicle accidents and it is tough.
In these cases, the person who is causing the accident may be considered negligent and there is the possibility that a person is the the victim of the accident can file a lawsuit to recoup damages. Finding an attorney, the correct attorney, the right attorney, can speed the process along. The right attorney is critical.
They may be a car accident lawyer, a lawyer from a law firm, or more.