There are many potential causes of car accidents, but according to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, driver-related causes can be put into five categories. Learn what those categories are and be sure to contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 if you have been injured in a car accident and require help from an experienced attorney.
- Errors in Sensing and Perceiving This includes accidents that involve driver distracted, not noticing or recognizing hazards until it is too late to take action and prevent the accident, and impeded visibility by weather or other causes. These are accidents in which more careful driving could likely prevent the collision in the first place.
- Errors in Predicting When a driver does not correctly judge a gap in traffic, they are incorrect when estimating how fast another vehicle on the road is traveling, or if they made a mistake in assuming what another driver was going to do, these are errors in predicting. If all drivers erred on the side of caution unless they felt 100% sure that they could safely proceed or turn, then many of these errors would be things of the past.
- Errors in Planning and Deciding When a driver decides if they should speed or drive too slow, they are making decisions that can affect their likelihood of being involved in an accident. If they leave too little distance when following a vehicle, or if they drive aggressively, they are increasing their chance of being involved in an accident. Additionally, some of these behaviors – like speeding – not only increase the chance of being involved in an accident but they also increase the chance of that accident being fatal.
- Errors in Execution or Performance This includes a number of errors a person might make in maneuvering their vehicle. They might overcompensate if they are spinning, they might choose to go off the road rather than risk hitting a car in front of them. There are many different errors that can be made, many of which can result in what would have been a minor accident becoming a very serious accident. This type of accident can most effectively be reduced by increasing driver’s education requirements.
- Incapacitation The final category involves car accidents in which the driver was not able to drive safely due to being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, having a medical problem or falling asleep at the wheel. Certainly drivers can decide not to drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and not driving when they have not gotten enough sleep.
It is clear that there are many steps each driver can take to lower their chance of being involved in a car accident. However, you cannot reduce the chance to 0%. If you are involved in an accident, contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 to determine what your options are.
