As a focus on driving and safety, I’m going to discuss the most common type of car accidents. This article is solely based on my opinion and is not a specific study. That said, I have handled around a couple thousand car accident cases. If we can focus on why car accidents occur more frequently, perhaps we can avoid them.

The car accident type I see the most frequently are rear-end accidents. Most people would probably guess this as well. This occurs when two cars occupy the same lane and the car ahead is either stopped or slowing down. The vehicle behind the front vehicle fails to either stop or slow down in time and rear- ends the vehicle in front. These car accidents are caused by a couple main reasons- following too closely or distracted driving. Giving yourself more space between you and the car ahead of you will go a long ways to help avoid these collisions. As far as distractions, the cell phone is obviously the biggest concern. However, drivers can be distracted by the radio, things they see outside the vehicle, food, and other things in their car.

The second most common type of accident resulting in injury is where one car is turning left at an intersection and the other vehicle is going straight in the opposite direction. Frequently, the car turning left assumes that the car going straight will stop on a yellow light. Unfortunately, that does not always happen, resulting in a collision. The best way to avoid this collision is to wait until the vehicle going straight stops, if you are making a left-hand turn. Also, make sure all straight travel lanes are stopped, as there can be several lanes of travel. If you are going straight, keep an eye on the vehicle waiting to make a left-hand turn. Even though most of us want to run a yellow light to avoid stopping, if there is a vehicle waiting to turn left, it is safer to stop. If you don’t stop, you should slow down and be prepared to take evasive action.

These two scenarios are the most common type of car accidents that I have seen resulting in injuries. If we can just eliminate these two scenarios, we can reduce all car accidents greatly.

Please drive safe to avoid car accidents. If you are hurt in a car accident, please give me a call at 801-738-9999.