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Common causes of car accidents are something that insurance companies analyze and study in an effort to determine insurance risks. From a legal perspective for a high damage car accident case, you can expect the courts assign fault to the parties involved. The percentage of fault affects how much compensation an accident victim can receive.
According to thebalance.com, different types of human error frequently cause car accidents. Human error comes in a variety of forms.
Drivers today have many sources of distraction that can lead to accidents. Cell phones, whether texting or talking take a driver's attention off of the road. Texting is the worst because it visually and cognitively distracts the driver. Other activities such as eating, putting on makeup or dealing with children can also be distractions.
Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs are human errors that put drivers at risk for causing accidents. Some prescription medications have side effects that put drivers at risk.
Life-threatening accidents can result from individuals who experience a seizure or stroke while driving. Poor vision or falling asleep at the wheel are also dangers that can lead to accidents. It is wise to have someone else drive if you do not feel well, are tired or do not have your glasses.
Even with a GPS, not knowing your way around a city or area can be challenging. When you get lost, your attention may be shift to deciphering streets or landmarks rather than actually driving. Also, you may not notice local speed limits or a school zone. Some states allow turning right at red lights and other states do not. Drivers are at greater risk for accidents when they are unaware of the traffic laws of a particular state or region.
Sometimes mechanical failure happens without any way to predict it. In other instances, lack of maintenance can lead to mechanical failure. Examples include, bald tires, squeaking brakes and not getting oil changes. When a car breaks down, it is easy to lose control and cause an accident.
If you have suffered serious injury in a car accident where the other driver was at fault, get legal help.
You should speak with personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. A lawyer can protect your rights to recover compensation.
Distracted driving is a growing problem that all too often leads to serious injuries and fatalities.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2015, there were 391,000 people injured and 3,477 people who died in vehicle accidents involving distracted drivers. Teenagers were the age group with the largest percentage of individuals killed in fatal crashes.
Authorities suspect that much higher numbers of accidents occur that involve distracted driving than people report.
Today we have apps for almost everything, and that includes apps for preventing distracted driving. Since cell phone use is a major source of distracted driving here are some apps you may find useful:
Lifesaver. Lifesaver is easy to install. If you have a teenage driver, you can lock the driver’s smartphone while the car is in motion. It provides arrival notification when the driver arrives safely. You are notified of driver status so you can avoid texting a driver or calling while they’re on the road. The app also notifies you if the driver unlocks LifeSaver while driving. For safety reasons in an emergency, the driver can unlock the app and the app sends a text notification to the parent. Another great feature is that teenagers can receive rewards for safe driving. Parents can choose to use iTunes or other rewards. (Available for Android and iOS)
Cellcontrol. Cellcontrol is an app made by Verizon for Android and iOS and consists of a hardwire device placed in the vehicle and an app on your phone. You can use it for teenagers, employees, company vehicles, etc. You can customize the distracted driving rules in your account and the device works on vehicles you want to block from texting, messaging, social media and music apps while driving. You can also get detailed reports on the driver’s performance, such as speeding, braking and accelerating.
Drive Safe Mode. Drive Safe Mode is another app (Android and iOS) for parents to use that prevents texting and emailing while driving. It also notifies parents when the phone is in use and if the driver turns off the app while driving.
When someone else causes a serious accident that results in severe injury or death, the crash is a legal matter. Consult with a lawyer as soon as possible. We can guide you through the legal process and advise you on how to deal with insurance companies and pay bills until your case is resolved.
Texting while driving in New York is against the law. In fact, 46 states ban texting while driving and two more states have a partial ban on it. The reason for the ban is that distracted driving can result in serious accidents and tragic deaths.
National Public Radio (npr.com) reported about texting and driving in a 2016 article called “New York Wants to Know: Have You Been Texting and Driving?”. A bill in the NY legislature, referred to as Evan’s Law, proposed that police officers should be allowed to check drivers’ cell phones at accident scenes.
Ben Lieberman’s 19 year-old son Evan died from serious injuries a month after a serious car accident that occurred in Hudson Valley, north of New York City. He was a passenger wearing a seat belt and sitting in the backseat of the car. The driver claimed he had fallen asleep at the wheel, which resulted in a head-on collision with an oncoming car. When the police failed to investigate the driver’s cell phone, six months later, Ben Lieberman requested a subpoena as part of a civil lawsuit. Phone records revealed the driver had been texting throughout the time driving, including near where the accident occurred.
Lieberman wants to build an electronic device that a police officer could plug into a cellphone to see whether the phone was in use at the time of a crash. The device would not reveal personal communications but instead would be a textalyzer, used to help determine whether a driver was texting.
Law enforcement has the right to subpoena records from a phone company or request a search warrant from a judge to search a phone. However, it takes time and money to do so.
The Director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute believes the percentage of distracted drivers is much higher than seen in police accident reports. Researchers put cameras in cars for a study at Virginia Tech and discovered that distracted driving caused about 70 percent of vehicle accidents. The reported statistic is only 20 percent.
If you or a loved one has been involved in a serious car accident, get legal help to discuss your rights and whether you can seek compensation.