What Are the Causes and Effects of a Road Accident?

What Causes an Accident and What Happens Next?

Car accidents can be caused by many factors, but they usually fall into two main categories- driver error and vehicle defect. Getting results for our clients is what we do at our reputable auto accident law firm. Over our decades of experience, we have collected over $500 million for our clients in San Francisco, Riverside, Sacramento, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sherman Oaks, and throughout California. Call our award-winning law firm today to get started.

This article describes the causes of car crashes and their effects on an accident victim’s everyday life. A car accident can change how you live your life despite the reason. Let’s look at the potential causes and effects of car accidents.

Major Causes of Car Crashes

You may have heard that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. That sentiment rings true in many of our daily activities, including driving. However, many different things cause car accidents. Sometimes car crashes can be avoided.

Unfortunately, sometimes car accidents cannot. Often, car crashes are caused by human error. When you are in an accident, you need a qualified attorney on your side. The award-winning attorneys at a law firm have decades of experience bringing the responsible party to justice. Call a reputable law firm today to be sure that your rights are protected.

The major categories of human-caused car accidents include:

  • Drunk driving
  • Driving while tired
  • Distracted driving

Drunk Driving Is a Major Cause of Car Crashes

As you may imagine, drinking and driving are significant causes of many car crashes. Thousands of people die each year because of car accidents caused by drunk driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2019, 10,142 people died in a car accident because of a drunk driving incident.

Drunk Driving Is a Major Cause of Car CrashesIt is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or over in every state across the country. Alcohol consumption impairs your brain’s ability to think. Every brain function is weakened when you drink alcohol. Any amount of alcohol changes the way that you think.

Whether you have just one beer to blacking out, your inhibitions are lowered. You are more likely to make reckless choices. The increase of irresponsible choices plus the decrease in brain function creates the perfect storm for serious car crashes.

Drunk driving has many consequences, including imprisonment and death. Today the instances of drunk driving can be reduced because of the popularity of ridesharing apps. Also, an old-fashioned designated driver is still a responsible and reliable option for getting home safe.

Can I Drive While on Prescription Medication?

Some prescription medications can have the same effect as being under the influence of alcohol. A common question is whether you can be liable for a car accident because you take prescription drugs. The answer to the liability question is fact-dependent. Tell us your story. A trustworthy legal team is here to help you navigate the aftermath of a car accident.

Can I Sue a Bar That Overserved a Driver?

As a reputable law firm, we ensure that whoever caused your injury pays. You can sue both the bar and the establishment that served the alcohol in some cases. The laws that allow this kind of lawsuit are called dram shop laws. Historically, a “dram shop” is what bars and taverns were called, and that is why we call this body of law dram shop laws.

There are not usually third parties involved in personal injury cases. However, California law allows for dram shops to be named as a defendant’s personal injury lawsuit if it is found that the bar, tavern, or social host was negligent. A high bar has been set by the courts in California to determine if a social host is liable for a car accident.

The person served must be a minor for social host liability. Two types of servers can be found liable for overserving a minor. First, if a guest is underage, drink in an adult’s home, and the adult knows or should have known that the minor was not old enough to drink alcohol. Second, if a bar, restaurant, or liquor store continues to serve an obviously intoxicated underage person.

In those specific cases, you may be able to sue a third party. Arash Khorsandi and his reliable legal team at Arash Law understands that accident victims may find it difficult to determine who is at fault. We want to help. If you have been injured in an accident, Contact us immediately and get a team of attorneys with decades of experience on your side.

What Are the Dangers of Driving While Tired?

You may not think driving while you are tired or downright exhausted is dangerous, but you are wrong. Driving while you are tired can be as dangerous as driving while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Driving while tired decreases your reaction time. You may not be able to stop quickly when necessary, or you may not be able to remember to check your blind spots. It is never a good idea to drive while you are sleepy.

Distracted Driving

Distracted driving includes anything that takes your attention away from the road. Many different things can take your attention away from the road and potentially cause a car accident. Distracted driving includes:

  • Texting while driving
  • Eating
  • Music
  • Passengers
  • Taking a pet to the vet
  • Being sick
  • Being in a hurry or speeding
What If a Defect Caused My Car Accident?

It is a reality that sometimes car accidents are out of our control. Sometimes our vehicles have a manufacturing defect that we know before the accident happens. In such a case, it may be challenging to know who is liable for the damage that has occurred.

That is why you need to hire an attorney after an accident. As an award-winning law firm, we are committed to learning all the facts about your case. We know how important it is to have a clear picture of your case to best represent your interests. An award-winning car accident law firm will work hard to recreate the scene to get every detail, and ensure you get maximum recovery.

Whether it is another driver at fault or the car manufacturer, A reputable car accident attorney in California have decades of experience caring for clients who have been hurt in car accidents. Our auto accident law firm has successfully recovered over $500 million in damages for clients just like you.

Environmental Causes of Accidents

Factors in the environment can cause a car accident. There can be neglect of the roadways, faulty traffic lights, stop signs, or other missing traffic signs. Neighborhood residents can leave their animals out, and you may have an accident as you try to avoid hitting them. Below are some examples of environmental causes of car accidents:

Negligent Care of Public Roadways

Our neighborhood streets are maintained by the cities where we live. We have all experienced times when the roads in our cities are not in good condition. Whether there are potholes that haven’t been filled or some other maintenance issue, lack of care can not only cause damage to our vehicles, but it can cause accidents.

Different states have their own laws about using the city, county, or state. If you are involved in an accident resulting from the negligent care of roadways, contact our firm. The talented attorneys at a reliable law firm, will listen to your story and carefully determine whether pursuing a lawsuit is a viable option for you.

Construction Sites

It may seem like there is always some construction taking place. Due to the construction, many people have found themselves with a flat tire after running over a stray nail. In addition to that unlucky circumstance, road closures due to construction can also cause a backup in traffic.

People tend to get impatient, and there may be fender benders or worse. No matter the cause of the accident, Arash Khorsandi and his trusted legal team at Arash Law are here to serve you. Contact a car accident law firm in california immediately after having an accident.

Hazardous Weather Conditions

Try as we might. We just can’t control the weather. Some mornings we wake up and look out of the window and see it’s raining or that it snowed a couple of inches overnight, but we still must fight traffic and head into work.

The weather may be why an otherwise careful driver causes an accident. However, there is still someone responsible for the harm caused. We are committed to finding the person or people responsible for your injury and obtaining the compensation you deserve.

Effects of Car Accidents

The aftermath of car accidents can take various forms. Wrecks can do anything from causing you physical, emotional, and financial trauma to adverse effects on the environment to raising your car insurance rates.

How Can an Injury Affect My Life?

There are three major categories of hardships that a person involved in an accident can experience. You may need to file a lawsuit to recover from your injuries, no matter what type of hardship you have faced. A reputable car accident law firm in California has decades of experience in helping people recover from their damages. Over $500 million has been recovered by our California injury law firm for our clients.

The three major categories of hardships are financial hardships, emotional hardships, and physical hardships.

Financial Hardships

Financial hardships can include anything that affects your bank account after the accident. Financial hardships are damages that can have a monetary value attached to them. Financial hardships include:

  • Medical bills
  • Lost wages
  • Pain and suffering
  • Lost ability to earn
  • Higher car insurance rates – Car insurance companies tend to raise rates when its insured is found at fault for the accident. The insurance company will increase monthly payments for a driver who is responsible for causing the accident because the driver has become a risk for having another accident. The more accidents you are at fault for, the more chance you are seen, and the higher your monthly payments will be.
  • Lost business or economic opportunity
  • Loss of companionship (if you were married at the time of the accident)
  • Punitive damages
  • Property damages
  • Criminal charges – Many car accidents across the country are caused by drunk driving. Drunk driving has terrible consequences. If a person decides to drive drunk, they may damage their vehicle or other property. The accident could cause someone’s death. An additional effect is a criminal record. The punishment for driving drunk varies from state to state. If you are stopped for drunk driving in California, expect a court date and possibly do some jail time.
Emotional Hardships

Emotional hardships are struggles that occur because of the impact of a car crash. These types of damages are often not as apparent as the physical or financial trauma that you may endure. Emotional trauma may arise after a car accident when individuals sustain a concussion. Types of emotional hardships an accident victim may face can include:

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Fear
  • Mental anguish and distress
  • Insomnia
  • Emotional distress to loved ones and family
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder

Emotional damages may not be as obvious as quickly as physical or financial damages. You may start to experience emotional triggers after your accident. An emotional trigger is anything that causes you to relive some part of your car accident and causes you emotional pain. Emotional triggers can bring back memories and events, and for some people, these memories can cause significant distress.

Physical Hardships

Physical hardships are probably the most apparent hardships from an accident. Treatment for physical hardships determines the number of damages that you can seek. Examples of physical hardships that accident victims may experience include:

  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Spinal cord damage
  • Broken bones
  • Cuts and bruises
  • Whiplash
  • Burns
  • Disfigurement
  • Paralysis
  • Permanent or temporary impairment
  • Death

Experienced, Aggressive Car Accident Lawyers in California

Let our talented legal team use their decades of experience to help you. Call us today to consult with a qualified California accident attorney. We have collected over $500 million in damages for our clients in San Francisco, Riverside, Sacramento, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sherman Oaks, and California. We are committed to justice at our reputable law firm. Whenever you are involved in a car accident in California, call Arash Law headed by Arash Khorsandi, Esq. right away. We are here to help.

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DISCLAIMER: Information provided on this blog is not formal legal advice. It is generic legal information. Under no circumstances should the information on this page be relied upon when deciding the proper course of a legal action. Always obtain a free and confidential case evaluation from a reputable attorney near you if you think you might have a personal injury lawsuit.

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