No one wants to have a normal day interrupted by a car accident. Unfortunately, these incidents do happen on a daily basis across the state of Illinois and elsewhere. As a result, any time you find yourself on the road, whether in the driver’s seat or a passenger seat, you face the risk of potentially suffering injuries due to a crash.
The outcomes of an accident are rarely predictable. Many seemingly insignificant factors, such as whether someone was wearing a seat belt, could actually have life or death impacts when a crash takes place. Regrettably, many of these collisions are caused by common factors that have no place on the road.
Preventable accident causes
Drivers could prevent some of the most common factors in crashes. Some of those aspects include:
- Driving under the influence: Drunk or otherwise impaired drivers are threats to everyone on the road. They cause a considerable number of accidents every year, which do not have to take place if they simply did not drink or use drugs and drive.
- Reckless driving: Many people can act aggressively or recklessly behind the wheel and not even realize it. However, it someone skirts through a yellow or red light, tries to pass on a hill, drives excessively over the speed limit or carries out any number of other dangerous behaviors, that driver is causing unnecessary hazards.
- Speeding: While excessive speeding can constitute reckless driving, even just driving over the speed limit or too fast for conditions can easily result in an accident.
- Distracted driving: Too many people find themselves distracted while driving, and unfortunately, they may not even realize that they have become distracted until an accident or near accident takes place.
While these incidents are preventable in most cases, other causes of car accidents may be more difficult to avoid.
Other causes of crashes
You certainly do not want to find yourself in a situation when something goes wrong with your vehicle as you drive down the road. Unfortunately, this type of scenario can happen as well as other types of less-preventable accident contributors, such as:
- Design defects: If your vehicle has a design defect, you may have little chance to avoid a crash when an important part of your car stops working correctly.
- Animals in the road: You have undoubtedly heard someone say that an animal came out of nowhere and caused a crash.
- Potholes: Poorly maintained roads can often house major potholes that drivers do not have the ability to avoid and that can sometimes cause damage to vehicles or even result in drivers losing control. Trying to avoid potholes can also cause accidents if drivers enter the opposite lanes of travel.
As you can see, the risks of car crashes are everywhere, and while you may do your best to stay safe on the road, another driver could cause a collision that leaves you seriously injured.