Factors Causing Car Accidents During The Holiday Season
In addition to my work as a Kansas City Personal Injury Attorney, I am leading a coalition of citizens concerned about the safety of our roadways. The name of our organization is Highway Safety Midwest. We hope that we are making a difference by supporting safety legislation and educating the general public about roadway safety. Following are the factors I see most often that create serious injury and wrongful death on the roadways during the Thanksgiving through New Years’ holidays.
Traffic Volume. The deadliest highways are the interstates with the most volume of traffic. During the holidays, not only do we see spikes in passenger car volume, but also in truck volume. When more trucks are on the road the potential for collisions is much greater. Please be especially careful when sharing the road with a truck. Trucks have significant blind spots and may change lanes without recognition of passenger car traffic.
Aggressive Driving. Studies show that drivers are more aggressive as traffic becomes congested. Drivers make sudden lane changes, run red lights, and cut off other drivers. All of this leads to collisions. In many parts of the country, bad weather also heightens the risk of harm as drivers do not realize it takes much longer to stop on wet or icy roads. Slow down, be courteous, and be “fashionably late”.
Impaired Driving. It is not too surprising that the holiday season brings more people to the wheel who have been drinking. Even one drink can impair reaction time and that can be of significance when driving at night or on wet roads. From a safety standpoint, a bigger problem exists on rural roads and 2 lane highways where there is no room for error. Always designate a driver who is not consuming alcohol.
Distracted Driving. This is a major concern as people text, email, browse, and navigate using portable handheld cell phones and other devices. Safety experts believe that many forms of distracted driving are worse than drunk driving because people are taking their eyes off the road for an extended period of time while they read or manipulate their phones. Again, distracted driving presents a serious risk of harm, especially when the vehicle is traveling at highway speeds with increased traffic congestion. Please stay off your cell until you can pullover and stop and remember to use your hazard lights if you pull over on the shoulder.
Night Driving. As the daylight hours lessen, it becomes more difficult to drive. Statistics reveal that over 11,000,000 Americans are driving with un-corrected vision. This number has probably escalated because of the poor economy. Get your eyes checked and ask an optometrist what you can do to correct your night vision.
As an attorney who concentrates in representing victims of motor vehicle accidents, I have seen first-hand the devastation caused by many types of driver negligence. Because highway accidents usually involve serious injury, legal representation is necessary to recover medical expenses, lost income, and other personal loss. I offer consultations at no charge across Missouri with consultation offices in Kansas City, Independence, Columbia, Springfield, and St. Louis. After consultation, I conduct investigations in order to provide proper legal evaluations based on the facts and special circumstances.
