With over 45,000 deaths each and every year in America caused by auto collisions it can make you think twice about the safety of getting behind the wheel. In fact, the average adult who spends fifty years of their lifetime driving has a one in a hundred chance of dying in a car accident. Of course to put those numbers into better perspective, statistics also show that you have a four in a hundred chance of being a victim of a violent crime at some point in your life. It’s impossible to live life while avoiding all risks—the very act of breathing in and out certainly puts you at a risk of something negative happening to you. There are ways, however, to ensure that your driving risks are at least somewhat minimized.
Lowering Your Risk
If you want to immediately lower your risk of being involved in a traffic collision, you can stop engaging in any sort of risky behavior when behind the wheel of your car. Most people are well aware that texting while driving is actually more dangerous than driving while impaired. Those who text while driving are twenty-two times as likely to end up in an accident while the simple act of dialing the phone gives you a three-fold risk. Even talking on the phone while driving at least marginally increases your chances of being in an accident which is likely why most school zones are implementing extremely high fines for those caught using their cell phone while driving through a school zone.
Those who have a pattern of getting behind the wheel after having a couple of beers increase their risk of an accident at least 15-25%. Those who live in extremely busy cities could have an even greater risk than those in more rural areas. Drivers and passengers who neglect to buckle up have a sixty percent higher risk of dying or getting extremely serious injuries in the event of an accident. Drivers of SUVs have a significantly higher risk of being involved in a deadly rollover accident than drivers or passenger cars. As you can see, you have some immediate control over lessening the possibility of getting into an auto accident.
Distracted Drivers
Some estimates put the number of accidents which are directly related to distracted drivers as nearly 75%. Even in cases where a distracted driver may not have been the primary cause of the accident, it can contribute. Distractions occur in many forms: drivers use their cars just like a home office; they eat, they change radio stations, talk on their phones, watch their GPS, read a map, discipline the children, talk to their passengers, watch the passing billboards or simply daydream about anything other than the task of driving. Most distractions could be easily prevented if drivers resolved to do only one thing when behind the wheel—drive.
Driving Too Fast and Other Risky Behaviors
Driving over the speed limit is believed to be a factor in as many as half of all collisions. Driving too fast for the road conditions significantly decreases your reaction time. Since as many as seventy percent of all American drivers admit to speeding at one time or another, you can see this is an area of risky behavior that can be significantly minimized. Engaging in road rage, exhibiting aggressive or reckless driving behaviors or neglecting to take poor road conditions into account when driving can also be a cause of accidents. If you want to minimize your risks when you get behind the wheel, work on losing these risky behaviors. If you have been the victim of a negligent or reckless driver contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible.