Every year there are over 2.2 million drivers and their passengers in the emergency rooms of America’s hospitals. The causes of these car crashes vary, but speeding and drinking, and driving are the leading causes of car accidents annually. Car accidents are also the leading cause of death in the United States.
EIn 2016, unintentional injury was a leading cause of death in the United States, with car accidents dominating the statistics for unintentional injury. In 2019, there were over 36 thousand deaths from car accidents in the United States. For drinking and driving in the same year, 10,142 Americans died (one American every 52 minutes).
In California, there were 3,606 fatalities on the roads in 2019 and hundreds of thousands of injuries. Knowing and understanding what causes these accidents is key in preventing them and the foundation of every vehicle code in the United States.
If you or someone you love has been in a car accident, the law says that you should seek compensation for your damages. You can seek property compensation, wrongful death damages, lost wages, medical costs, and more. Being in a car accident is among the most traumatizing experiences an American can have.
At Arash Law, we have a team of car accident victim lawyers that have decades of experience winning hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements for our car accident clients. We know what you need to get the compensation you deserve. Call our California car accident victims attorneys today at (888) 488-1391 to book a free review of your case. You don’t pay a thing until we win.
Most Common Causes of Car Accidents
The statistics are consistent from year to year. Speeding and drinking and driving are the two most common causes of car accidents all across America. There are a number of additional causes of car accidents that have yielded motor vehicle laws in order to save lives.
The most common causes of car accidents are:
- Distracted driving
- Drunk driving
- Speeding
- Reckless and aggressive driving (such as running a red light or failing to stop)
- Improper seatbelts, helmets, or child restraints
- Fatigue
- Weather and road conditions
- Vehicle defects
While drunk (or impaired) driving and speeding may take the most lives on the road, this fact does not negate the tragic impacts of the other leading causes of car accidents. Every human life is important. Laws have been written to avoid these tragedies.
Every driver has the mandate to avoid the errors in judgment that will lead to these unintentional injuries. If you or someone you love has been injured or lost on the road, the law says there is compensation for you. Each of these kinds of car accidents will impact your life for years to come, and in at least 30 thousand cases annually, for forever.
Speeding
Speeding is among the most common causes of car crashes every year. In some years, it takes more lives than drinking and driving. Even the best driver will speed on occasion. We are late to work, held up in traffic, or just speed one day because the weather feels good and it feels safe to do so.
Too many times, it isn’t safe to do so. In 2016, speeding killed 3.623 people in California. In 2019, speeding killed 9,478. Life gets busy, and it manifests in danger on the roads.
Impaired Driving
There are approximately 28 Americans that die on the roads due to impaired driving every day. That is the equivalent of one person every 52 minutes. In California in 2016, 1,059 people were killed in alcohol-related collisions. Ten thousand people dying annually in drunk driving crashes is a higher rate than any other state.
In California, the laws against impaired driving are severe. Impaired driving could result in fines and jail time for the state. Drivers will also be responsible for compensable damages to the victims in accidents. Drivers will be responsible for medical costs, lost wages, mental anguish, and pain and suffering.
There is an average of 10 thousand Americans killed annually in car crashes. In 2016, 1,059 were killed in California. In California in 2016, 3,623 people died in drunk driving crashes. That makes 1 in 3 fatal crashes in California being caused by a drunk driver.
Of those crashes, there are hundreds of thousands of injuries in California every year. The highest rates of these crashes occur in Trinity County, Modoc County, Mendocino County, Plumas County, and Calaveras. The reason that impaired driving is so dangerous is due to the impact that substances have on the brain.
When alcohol, prescription medication, or illegal substances cross the blood-brain barrier, everything about how a person thinks is impacted. With impaired driving, every facet of an individual’s body is impacted, and this impacts their driving skills because we use our entire body to drive.
The following effects of the body are in play when someone is driving under the influence of substances:
- Reaction time – An impaired driver does not have the reflexes that a sober one does.
- Coordination – We have a difficult time keeping our feet and limbs smooth and coordinated when we are impaired
- Vision – Every driver must have good vision to drive as required by law. Vision becomes blurred, and eye muscle function decreases when impaired.
- Comprehension – Impaired drivers are unable to understand enough to make fast judgment calls.
- Concentration – Staying focused is difficult when impaired.
Impaired driving means impaired function, and it means death and injury on the roads every year. At Arash Law, we take impaired driving very seriously. If you or a loved one has been a victim of impaired driving, you are entitled to compensation for your losses. We know what it takes to win a DUI car accident case. Call the DUI accident attorneys at Arash Law at (88) 488-1391 for a free review of your case.
Seatbelt Accidents
Seatbelt accidents are another area of road safety that the law takes very seriously. When a car accident happens, an investigation team with the police often assesses every facet of the accident in order to determine fault, which is how we know what the most common causes of car accidents are.
The same investigations give us numbers on things like child restraints and motorcycle helmets, and their effectiveness in preventing injuries. Not wearing a seat belt comes up very often, but so does the impact of seatbelts on saving lives. In 2017, the lives of 14,955 vehicle occupants were saved as a result of seat belts.
In the same year, 325 children were saved by child restraints and proper seating, and 1,872 motorcycle riders are still alive today as a result of the right helmet laws. In that same year, 2,549 people died because they did not wear seat belts, and 749 motorcycle riders did not survive a crash because they didn’t have a helmet. Today in California, mandatory seatbelt laws are in effect to save lives. Still, failure to wear a seatbelt is a common cause of car crashes.
Distracted Driving
Distracted driving is a commonly spoken-about problem on the roads. It is also in the top ten most common causes of car crashes. The reason this is a problem on the roads is that the brain can multitask most of the time. However, it is unable to do so when there is a task that requires immediate reaction time to save lives.
It is physically impossible to see a truck coming at you at the same time that you are looking at a phone. California Vehicle Code has fines for those that text and drive, and they can be up to $50 for that penalty alone. For drivers involved in an accident that causes injuries, the costs could be wracked up for the rest of their lives. There could be jail time in that as well.
There are other kinds of distracted driving:
- Rubbernecking, such as when drivers turn to look at other things on the road
- Music or noise in the car, such as passengers being loud
- Eating
- Checking hair and makeup
- Sunlight glare or night-time high beams
- Daydreaming or worrying about problems
Drowsy Driving
Drowsy driving is another common cause of car crashes and occurs when an individual operates a motor vehicle despite being too tired to do so safely. It can often be an honest mistake, but many experts will say that drowsy driving is the equivalent of impaired driving. Someone with insufficient sleep doesn’t realize they are too tired to get behind the wheel until it is too late.
In 2017, 795 people died in drowsy driving crashes. We can’t know what the drivers that caused the crashes were thinking when they got behind the wheel, but they probably didn’t want those crashes to happen. These crashes are caused by truck drivers and shift workers most of the time, but they can happen to anybody.
Contact a California Car Crash Attorney Today
If you or someone you love has been in a car accident, you will need a personal injury attorney to fight for you. You won’t know how to deal with your claims for compensation the way an attorney will. Your California car crash attorney knows what judges and insurance companies need to show you have compensable damages after a car accident. At Arash Law, we’ve spent decades helping car crash victims win hundreds of millions in car accident settlements.
In California, you could be entitled to medical costs, lost wages, lost work if you can not return to work right away, mental anguish, pain and suffering, and more. You may also be entitled to a wrongful death claim. If you have been a victim of a car accident, call the California car crash attorneys at Arash Law at (888) 488-1391 for a free review of your case today.
