The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines accidents as “an unpleasant event, especially in a vehicle, that happens unexpectedly and causes injury or damage”. Car accidents have been intriguing humanity since the dawn of civilization. Despite there being many discoveries caused by mere accidents, still, the word accident has a negative ring to it. One interesting fact about the accident is that they are not caused deliberately but are caused due to other factors. Are you a victim of an uber accident? Need help? Go to San Jose Uber Accident Law Firm. We have a group of experienced and trusted injury lawyers. They are ready to help you. Learn more about how an attorney can help after an auto accident.
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Accidents: A Basic Understanding
As the world is progressing towards a more technologically advanced era, car accidents are also getting categorized into specific categories. Today, accidents are broadly categorized as physical and non-physical.
Physical accidents are those that cause bodily harm in the form of cuts, breakages, burns, poisoning to name some. As the name suggests, non-physical accidents are usually digital like the deletion of data in servers and others.
While both kinds of accidents have different ways to deal with the respective consequences, the general population is more involved in the physical type of accidents than the non-physical type, especially in states with the worst drivers. Large corporations are the ones that usually deal with the results and consequences of non-physical accidents.
Coming back to physical accidents the most commonly occurring accidents are those, which are caused by traffic collisions, especially cars.
Car Crashes
A car crash occurs when the vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrians, animals, or any stationary inanimate objects like traffic dividers, trees, buildings, poles, etc. The main reason why car accidents are dangerous is because they are not only frequent but also the nature of damage caused by them.
Damages caused by car accidents are both physical and non-physical. Physical damages are those which are caused to the body in the form of death or any kind of impairment. The non-physical ones are the ones that are caused by property.
Factors That Are The Main Reasons for Car Accidents
- Human Negligence: Human negligence is the top reason for car crashes. The negligence can be due to alcoholic influences, rash behavior of the driver, inability to have quick reflexes or decisions, sudden illnesses like cardiac arrests, or stroke, etc.
- Motorway Design: Road design is another major contributing factor to car crashes. The absence of proper danger signs, traffic dividers, potholes, etc. is detrimental to traffic safety.
- Automobile Design: While humans and roads are the most important factors in traffic safety, automobile design is another major contributing factor as well. If the vehicle itself is not in a proper functional condition, then accidents are more likely to happen.
- Social Causes: Monetary disparity is a major underlying factor in damages caused by car accidents. This is because poorer people do not have enough money to have proper and secure vehicle maintenance.
- Miscellaneous Factors: Besides the aforementioned causes, various other factors also contribute to the causes of car accidents like using mobile phones while driving, fewer experiences with driving equipment, not being familiar with the car dashboards, environmental factors like smog, solar flares, etc.
Of the above, statistically which cause is of maximum harm is still a debate. There are many surveys and statistics available online, for example, Florida car accident facts and statistics which provide a detailed analysis on the various factors of car accidents.
Dos and Don’ts in The Event of a Car Crashes
We are all aware of the various causes of car accidents. But in the event of such an unfortunate event, we often fumble on the dos and don’ts of such events. A drive is a fabulous thing unless you are involved in an accident.
Upon accidents, the instant mental and physical trauma often complicates things that could otherwise be solved more easily. Some important points that need to be kept in mind when involved in a car accident are:
- Keeping Cool: Naturally, one tends to panic when there is an accident. The key factor not to complicate things is to be level-headed and keep one’s cool.
- Inform Local Authorities: Any kind of accident involves some form of legality. Therefore, the first step is to inform the local law and enforcement department, whether or not one has caused the accident. This ensures an official car accident police report is made. This document is required by most insurance companies and can be used as evidence if you decide to take the case to court.
- Staying Put: In the advent of an accident, the one who caused it has often a tendency to run away due to panic. This should never be done, whether one is guilty or not. Often accidents are not caused deliberately, hence staying put makes things easier to manage.
- Evidence Protection: An accident site is a mine of evidence. Often the evidence provides an important piece of information about the accident that could be of use. Therefore, protecting the accident site and in turn, the evidence should be each and everyone’s duty just not the police.
- Not knowing One’s Rights: In general, people usually never prepare for unfortunate accidents. One should be aware of one’s rights when such accidents occur so the other involved party does not take any undue advantages. Moreover, the police and your legal help should be informed simultaneously about the accident.
- Personal Log: While evidence protection is a duty of each and everyone involved in an accident, one should also have a personal log of all the information available from the site. Of course, it is expected from those individuals who have the physical capability to do so and not the severely injured ones. This information might become useful in case police miss nothing anything specific.
- Medical Help: Last but not least is medical help. Along with the other two areas, this one should also be done immediately when there is such an incident. Immediate medical attention is the basis of handling any accident whether major or minor. It is because timely medical attention can save a life.
Wrap Up
Car accidents are indeed unfortunate events. The key to deal with them is prevention at first and being calm when one is involved in them. Using these two mantras in any car crash would not only make our lives easier but also make those of medical professionals and police better.
