Six Common Causes of Texas Car Accidents

Common Causes of Car Accidents in Texas

According to the Texas DOT, 3,896 people have lost their lives and more than 205,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes in Texas in 2020. Distraction, drunkenness or use of drugs, fatigue, speeding, tailgating, and failure to yield are a few of the most common causes of car accidents in Texas.

The extreme force behind an auto collision can result in a victim suffering from various injuries that range in severity. Many car accident victims find they are unable to return to work and go about their daily lives after an injury. Medical treatment has the most significant financial effect on auto accident victims and their families.

When you choose Dale R. Rose as your McKinney car accident attorney, you ensure that you get the compensation you deserve. Dale will help you make an informed decision when you file a personal injury claim due to negligence on the part of wrongdoers.

Six Causes of Car Accidents in Texas

The overwhelming cause of car accidents nationwide is due to driver error or negligence. We could blame 94% of the traffic deaths on the driver rather than road conditions or a problem with the car’s equipment. Here are top six causes of driver error:

Distracted Driving

Roughly 96,000 car crashes in Texas are caused by distracted driving. Drivers are texting, FaceTiming, posing for selfies, and checking Facebook instead of keeping their eyes on the road. Phone conversations, even with hands-free technology, can still be highly distracting. Many states have laws prohibiting handheld cellphone use, but no states ban all cell phone use.

Driving Under the Influence

The Texas Department of Transportation reports someone is killed or injured in a crash involving alcohol approximately every 20 minutes in Texas. Nearly 25% of all traffic-related deaths in Texas involve an alcohol-impaired driver. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration advise that drugs and alcohol affect:

• Judgment: Judgment is the knowledge and experience you draw on quickly when you face a problem. Alcohol and other drugs dull the areas of your brain that control judgment.
• Vision: Vision helps you determine distance. Alcohol reduces your ability to gauge distance, speed, and movement of other vehicles.
• Reaction time: Drugs and alcohol slow down your ability to process information, leaving you unable to respond appropriately or in time. Alcohol is a depressant, which makes you tired and less alert to your surroundings.

Drowsy Driving

Driving drowsy can be every bit as dangerous as driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.  According to the CDC, any driver who has been awake for 18 hours suffers similar cognitive, visual, and motor impairments as a driver with a 0.05 BAC. Drowsy drivers can nod off behind the wheel for just a second or two, which is enough time for a car to crash. Drivers who do not fall asleep behind the wheel still suffer from slower reaction times, and confused decision-making leading to crashes.

Driving Above the Speed Limit

The increase in average speed is directly related to the likelihood of a crash occurring and its severity. Speed is a contributing factor in 31% percent of all fatal crashes. Speeding limits maneuverability, reduces the amount of time a driver has to react to an emergency or change in traffic, and increases the severity of a collision by creating a greater force of impact.

Tailgating

Drivers who follow too close shorten their reaction times and put other motorists at risk of rear-end collision. The NHTSA has determined that tailgating and unsafe passing are responsible for 26.5 percent of all rear-end collisions in the U.S.

Failure To Yield

Drivers often cause sideswipe and side-impact accidents when they fail to recognize that they must yield to other motor vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, or pedestrians. According to the NHTSA, 7.3% of fatal crashes are due to failure to yield right of way. Crashes often occur when drivers merge onto freeways, make left turns at intersections, go through pedestrian crosswalks, and fail to notice yield signs.

Our aim at Dale R. Rose Law will be to prove your injury was caused by someone else’s negligence. Dale Rose is one of the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 personal injury lawyers. Dale’s goal is to get you the best personal injury claim outcome in the shortest time possible.

Difficulties Dealing with Insurance Companies

Texas is a “comparative fault” state. This means that each person’s negligence will be compared against the other. In some cases, just one driver is at fault. Even in these cases, the insurance company may attempt to reduce the settlement by using the following tactics:

• Denying the claim because they assert that their customer was not responsible for the car accident
• The offer of a settlement is far below the victim’s injury-related costs
• Delaying the payout on the claim for months or years

Dale R. Rose is very familiar with the tactics employed by insurance companies to avoid paying fair settlements to the victims injured in auto collisions. He has devoted a significant part of his practice to aggressively fighting for the rights of injury victims and helping them secure the maximum settlement they deserve.

Speak to an Experienced McKinney, Texas Car Accident Lawyer

Dale R. Rose has 26 years of experience representing victims injured due to someone else’s carelessness or negligence. Dale Rose has the experience to recognize what costs can be considered and assess acceptable monetary value to non-physical injuries such as pain and suffering.

When you hire Dale R. Rose, you can be confident that he will perform the necessary legwork, paperwork, and groundwork to build a strong case for compensation while you focus on recuperating from your injuries. Dale Rose works on contingency, meaning you won’t owe any money until your case is over. If Dale Rose does not win the lawsuit, you won’t owe any money.

Call us at (972) 634-7673 or contact us to schedule your free consultation.