Do You Know The Leading Cause Of Injuries In The United States?

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), America had over 57 million hospital visits for accident-related injuries in 2018.

Injuries result from many causes, but some are the leading causes of accidents, such as falls, car crashes, poisoning, and gunshot wounds. 

According to IIHS, an average of 32,000 people die yearly on American roads, with millions of others seeking medical attention for car accident-related injuries, making it the leading cause of accidents. 

Leading Causes of Car Accidents

Unfortunately, most car accidents result from human error and are preventable. Top on the list of causes is driving under the influence (DUI). According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DUI Is a factor in over 10,000 deaths yearly, translating to roughly 28 deaths per day. 

While most states have a 0.08 percent BAC limit for drivers, even lower alcohol levels can affect a driver's reaction time, vision, and decision-making. There is no safe amount of alcohol if you are going to drive. Having someone else drive you is the only sure way to stay safe after drinks. 

Speeding

Speeding is a factor in 26% of all fatal accidents. "It is common sense. The higher a vehicle's speed, the more difficult it will be to control a vehicle in case of an unexpected eventuality, and the more severe the resulting injuries will be," says attorney Michael McCready of  McCreadyLaw Injury Attorneys. 

According to the NHTSA, The chance of getting into a fatal car crash increases with every ten mph increase in speed after a vehicle reaches 50 mph. Also, data from the NHTSA shows that 86 percent of fatal speed-related accidents happened on smaller roads, such as city streets and neighborhood roads.

Distracted Driving

According to the NHTSA, distracted driving cost 3,522 lives in 2021, approximately 8 percent of all accidents and 424,000 injuries. But, the numbers can be much higher because most distracted driving cases, like DUI or speeding, may go undetected because it is not quantifiable. 

Distracted driving can be cognitive, which involves driving while your mind is off the road,  and manual, which involves taking one or both hands off the wheel. Or visual, which involves taking their eyes off the road. Sometimes, it can be a combination of one or two distractions, significantly increasing their chances of getting into an accident. 

Other Causes Of Auto Accidents

Other causes of auto accidents include disobeying traffic lights, faulty car parts, inclement weather, and poor roads. All these causes, except incremental weather, result from human error. Even increment whether the driver is responsible for driving based on road conditions and cannot use poor weather as a defense for causing an accident. 

Get Legal Help

Every road user owns a duty of care to other road users, and an accident resulting from negligence will have them liable for damages. So if you're not to blame for your accident, you should consider consulting a car accident lawyer for help looking into your chances of recovering compensation for harm caused. 

Most car accident lawyers will not charge for the first consultation, so you don't have to worry about legal fees.  Also, you may not need to pay until they win your case and you recover compensation.  If successful, you should recover your medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, PTSD, and emotional distress, among other damages. 

Where gross negligence was a factor in an accident, you could also pursue punitive damages against the at-fault party.