A recent nine car pile-up accident left three people dead and several others injured. The cause of the wreck is under investigation. The fiery wreck took hours to clear and serves as a reminder to drivers that accidents can happen quickly and without much time for you to respond to them.
When you drive anywhere, you share the road with other drivers. At some times, there are many drivers on the road with you and at others, there are few. However, it only takes one other vehicle, an animal, and sometimes even no other vehicle at all for an accident to occur. Once an accident occurs on a roadway, there is a danger that other vehicles will become entangled in it if they are unable to avoid it successfully. When one or more vehicles collide with a vehicle or vehicles that were involved in a collision, the result is called a chain reaction accident or a pile-up crash.
There are a few things which increase the likelihood of an accident turning into a pile-up crash. Traffic is one obvious factor because vehicles are traveling close to one another with little time and space for sudden maneuvers. Chain reaction accidents can also happen in bad weather when the road conditions are slippery, and the visibility is poor. Pile-up accidents can be caused by distracted drivers on even the sunniest, driest days of the year.
Fortunately, you can take action to decrease the likelihood that you will be involved in a chain reaction accident. For example, maintaining a keen awareness of your surroundings will go a long way towards giving yourself every opportunity to avoid any obstacle in the roadway, including a wreck. Also, move over whenever you see a vehicle stopped on the road or the shoulder so that you don’t collide with it. Follow other vehicles at an appropriate distance to reduce the risk that you will get caught up in chain reaction accident. Leave a gap of one car length for every ten miles per hour of speed that you are traveling so that you can see what is going on in front of your vehicle and have enough time to respond to it and avoid a collision. Do not forget to adjust your driving to the weather and the road conditions. Remember that fog, rain, sleet, and snow affect both traction and visibility and adjust your speed and driving style accordingly. Paying close attention to road conditions and how you are driving gives you the best possible chance of avoiding a pile-up crash because it gives you more time to respond to things in the roadway like accidents, animals, or traffic that has slowed down or stopped.
Barrett Law PLLC: Serving Mississippi Car Accident Victims and Their Families
Sometimes, there simply is not any opportunity to avoid becoming involved in a chain reaction accident no matter how careful you are. If you got hurt in a chain-reaction accident or someone that you love died in a pile-up crash, contact a Mississippi Automobile Accident attorney as soon as you can. Your attorney can accurately assess the amount of damages that you have suffered as a result of your accident, and they can help you to pursue financial recovery as you focus on your physical and emotional recovery. The experienced Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC are here to help you. Please call us today, at 1 (800) 707-9577 to schedule your free, initial consultation.