Factors Contributing to Auto Accidents

Driver Behavior – Very few auto accidents happen as the result of an “Act of God” such as a tree falling on a car. A recent study concluded that 80% of drivers involved in motor vehicle accidents believed that the other party could have done something to prevent the accident. However, increasingly are being attributed to driver distraction with a cell phone call. As already cited above, alcohol use contributes to significant amount of accidents and fatalities. The major driver behaviors that contribute to auto wrecks are well known.

  • Driver distraction. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) analyzed the results of over 120 cell phone studies. They found that nearly all of the studies reported that some aspects of driver performance were affected by the mental distraction associated with cell phone use. The IIHS reported that phone conversation tasks typically decreased reaction times, travel speeds, and increased lane deviations and steering wheel movements.
  • Excessive speed. Exceeding basic speed laws and aggressive driving contribute to a significant number of fatalities every year. According to the IIHS, when speed increases from 40 mph to 60 mph, the energy released in a crash more than doubles.
  • Alcohol or drug use. This is a leading cause of death, particularly among teens and young adults, and a significant number of all traffic accidents.    
  • Aggressive Driving. Tailgating, unsafe lane changes, blinking headlights at a slow driver, failure to yield the right-of-way, rude gestures, deliberately preventing another driver from moving their vehicle are some signs of aggressive driver that can lead to injury or death.

Driver negligence is the key factor in determining who is liable for damages for an auto or truck accident. If an injury results due to someone else’s negligent driving, such as any of the causes above, the injured party could be eligible to recover damages for lost wages, medical care, pain and suffering and more. When these behaviors are combined with the following factors the results are often catastrophic.

Poor Roadway Maintenance - Roadway maintenance contributes to some motor vehicle accidents. Unfortunately maintenance schedules and procedures vary greatly from city to city and state to state, so nationwide standards don't exist. Below are some potential roadway maintenance shortcomings that you should be aware of.

  • Debris on the roadway is the responsibility of local highway departments.
  • Faded road signs, and signs obscured by foliage, can contribute to accidents. If you know of any offending signs, contact your local police department to see if they can get the problem remedied.
  • Potholes can cause an accident (primarily tire & suspension failures), but the accidents usually occur at low speeds and don't cause many injuries. Call the police to get large dangerous holes attended to. Some Northern US cities have pothole complaint lines that are active during the winter and spring.
  • Roadway construction can produce hazardous conditions. However, the dangerous driving conditions are usually are magnified by aggressive drivers who are unwilling to merge or slow down when approaching a construction zone. In most states, fines are doubled in work zones, making it expensive as well as unsafe to speed. Stop-and-go traffic requires thoughtful, alert driving to avoid a collision with the car in front of you. Leave plenty of room between your car and the one directly in front of you. The 3 second rule applies to traffic jams as well. If a few people cut in front of you, let them.
  • Salting & Sanding - Many wintertime accidents are blamed on inadequate salting or sanding of icy roadways, but often excessive speed is a contributing factor.  Recent environmental concerns have curbed widespread salting in recent years so less effective materials like clay, sand, and soot have replaced it in some areas. The fact remains that if highways are icy, speed needs to be reduced whether the roadway is salted or not.

If any of these conditions contributed to an auto, motorcycle, SUV or bus accident, the local, state or federal agency responsible for maintenance may be liable for property damages and compensation for injuries.

Roadway Design – Despite significant improvement over the years getting road barriers, utility poles, railroad crossings, and guardrails to their current high level of safety, the design and construction of roadways does contribute to serious accidents. Civil engineers, local governments, and law enforcement agencies all contribute to the design of safe road layouts and traffic management systems. State and federal governments provide guidelines to their construction, with design flexibility to suit local conditions. Roadways are designed by engineers with special consideration given to the following:

  • Hazard Visibility - Permanent roadway hazards consist of intersections, merging lanes, bends, crests, school zones, and livestock or pedestrian crossings. Temporary hazards include road construction, parked or disabled vehicles, accidents, traffic jams, and wild animals (especially deer).
  • Roadway Surfaces - Engineers can use different surfaces (for example, grooved pavement) depending on the environment, traffic speed, traffic volume, and location of the roadway (noise barriers). Roadway markings let drivers know about their ability to pass safely (dotted & double lines), the location of the roadway in inclement weather (reflective cats-eyes & stakes), and where road surface ends and the shoulder begins.
  • Traffic Control Devices - Traffic light signals, speed limit signs, yield and stop signs, school & pedestrian crossings, turning lanes, police surveillance cameras, and traffic circles or roundabouts.
  • Behavioral Control Devices - Built-in obstacles that limit the ability of a vehicle to travel, including crash barrels, speed bumps, pedestrian islands, raised medians, high curbing, guard rails, and concrete barriers.
  • Traffic Flow - Interstate highways remain the safest roads because their flow of traffic is in one direction. One-way streets ease traffic congestion in city centers as well. Rural two-lane roadways are statistically the most dangerous because of a high incidence of deadly head-on collisions and the difficulty impatient drivers’ face while overtaking slower vehicles.
  • Roadway Identification Signs - enable someone without a detailed map to travel from one place to another. They give advance notice of intersections, destinations, hazards, route numbers, mileage estimates, street names, and points of interest.
  • Weather - inclement conditions can aggravate existing hazards and sometimes create new road surfaces (ice & snow).

If any of these design features are defective, inoperable, damaged or in any way contribute to a car or van crash the federal, state, or local agency overseeing the design and construction, as well as the building contractor, may be liable for financial damages. 
 
Equipment Failure -- Manufacturers are required by law to design and engineer cars that meet a minimum safety standard. Auto manufacturers have consistently improved the overall safety of their vehicles and implemented a wide range of features that have saved life. However, product defects continue to plague the industry and while some directly cause accidents, such as tire defects, others have been traced to causing more severe injuries, such as crashworthiness defects.  Many severe injuries such as paraplegia and quadriplegia, burns, and even deaths were avoidable if the defects hadn’t been present. Safety experts will often notice a pattern of injuries and directly relate them to a defective auto part. If the pattern is substantiated, the NHTSA will issue a nationwide recall as they recently did with the defective Toyota gas pedals. What drivers need to note is that by the time they hear of a recall in the media, most often someone has already died as the result of this defective auto part.  A person injured as the result of defective part or device in most cases can recover damages for injuries including medical care, lost wages, disability, pain and suffering, and in some cases punitive damages. We’ve compiled a list of the common auto manufacturer defects.