Nearly everyone would love to be able to look into a crystal ball to know whether they will be involved in a serious car accident. If you could predict what every other driver on the road will do, you could plan for it and avoid a collision.
Unfortunately, crystal balls don’t work, and predicting what someone else will do hardly ever works either. All you can do is make sure that you pay attention and remain ready to react if necessary. The only consolation you and other drivers get is knowing under what circumstances and where the potential for a crash exists. Following are three of the most common crash scenarios.
Where pedestrians and bicycles collide with vehicles
Stopping at a red light isn’t optional. However, many drivers who need to make right turns at red lights tend to roll through those turns. The driver slows, begins to pull out to turn, and looks left to check for oncoming traffic. By the time they look back to the right again, a pedestrian or bicycle rider with the right-of-way is directly in front of them. At this point, it may be too late to stop, and a collision occurs.
Approximately 6 percent of pedestrian fatalities happen because a vehicle turning right failed to come to a complete stop before initiating the turn. An alarming number of those deaths involve children.
A blocked clear view
Left turns present a unique vulnerability for vehicles since it’s necessary to cross over all lanes to complete the turn. It can be easy to become frustrated while waiting for traffic to clear, and some drivers will fail to wait for another vehicle that is obstructing their view to pass.
Other drivers will push the envelope at intersections and fail to obey that yellow caution light. By the time they reach the intersection, the light just turns red, and they don’t count on someone with the green light already being in the intersection.
It would help if these drivers would assume that another vehicle that they can’t see is there. Unfortunately, approximately 12 percent of accidents result from drivers making the opposite assumption.
When drivers don’t get enough sleep
Most adults need at least seven hours of sleep a night in order to truly feel rested. If they don’t get that, they become a danger on the roads. Research proves that, if you fail to sleep as much or when you should, your brain makes you sleep one way or another, and it doesn’t matter if you happen to be driving at the time. Many people experience “microsleeps” in which the brain shuts down for a matter of seconds, which is just enough time to collide with another vehicle.
Sleep-deprived drivers cause approximately 7 percent of all accidents across the country. Around 21 percent of those crashes involve a fatality. It may surprise you just how many people fall asleep behind the wheel even if only for a few seconds.
When you suffer injuries in these collisions
If you became the victim of a sleepy driver, a rolling-on-a-red right turn or a driver with a blocked view, you may have suffered serious injuries. You could face a significant recovery time and can’t work. Your medical bills may be rising while your income is falling. Fortunately, you have a right to seek financial compensation for medical bills, lost wages and other expenses resulting from the crash. Making use of the legal resources here in Southern California can help maximize the amount you receive.
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