When a rear-end collision occurs, the initial assumption is that the car who rear-ended the other one is always at fault for the accident. While that is often the case, there are times when another may be held either partially or fully liable.
Many car accidents end up as fender benders, not causing any serious harm to the driver or passengers. But some types of accidents are more deadly than others and do cause life changing, even fatal, outcomes.
We always talk about the driver of the vehicles involved in auto accidents. What about the passengers? Most vehicles are passenger occupant vehicles – cars, minivans, SUVs. Injuries are not limited to the driver of the vehicle. What should a passenger do to obtain compensation for his or her injuries?
December is a festive time with many holidays where people engage in drinking alcohol. It makes it a good time for alcohol awareness campaigns such as “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over,” “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving,” and National Impaired Driving Prevention Month.
No matter the name of the campaign, the bottom line is that drinking alcohol and driving do not mix. Alcohol use impairs judgment, delays reaction times, and can result in deadly consequences.
More than 2,200 rail grade crossing collisions occurred across our country’s approximately 140,000 miles of railroad track in 2018.
And, in 2018 alone:
According to Operation Lifesaver, a driver or passenger is about 20 times more likely to die in a collision with a train than in a collision with another vehicle.
Roughly, ¼ of auto accidents are caused by adverse weather.
The USDOT Federal Highway Administration data lists an average of 1,836 deaths and 136,309 injuries per year due to snowy and icy roads. These figures represent the 10 year average between 2005 and 2014.
Smartphones allow us to be connected all the time no matter where we are, including behind the wheel of a vehicle. This means that far too many drivers have the potential of driving distracted, and the statistics paint an alarming picture, too, with cell phone usage accounting for 14% of fatal driver distracted crashes in 2017.
As a driver, you trust that the roads you drive on day in and day out have been designed and are maintained for your safe passage. Unfortunately, accidents happen. Cars skid, slide, run off the road down embankments, collide with other vehicles and more.
Car accidents are caused by many things: poor driving behavior and habits, defective parts, improperly loaded large commercial trucks, alcohol impairment, night driving and the list goes on. The road you’re driving on could also be the reason. Dangerous road conditions contribute to thousands of car accidents every year.
Every hour, nearly 150 children between ages 0 and 19 are treated in emergency departments for injuries sustained in motor vehicle crashes. More children ages 5 to 19 die from crash-related injuries than from any other type of injury.
