Car Accident: Causes of Car Accidents and How to Avoid Them
Being an aware and attentive driver is crucial to preventing road accidents. To ensure safety, you should strive to be a responsible driver whenever you’re behind the wheel. Here’s an article by Samuel Kwame Boadu that will increase your road safety awareness. Read ahead to learn about the causes of car accidents and how to avoid them.
Factors that can cause car accidents
Factors like human error, vehicle failures, and bad road and weather conditions are the main causes of road car accidents. You should be aware of these factors to reduce the chances of crashes while driving. Let’s discuss each factor in detail.
1. Human mistakes
Mistakes while driving can lead to fatal vehicle accidents. Some of the major accident-causing human errors include the following.
1. Overspeeding
Different types of roads have different speed limits. For instance, the speed limit on roads within the city and highways varies to ensure the safety of all road users. Not following these speed limits can lead to accidents.
2. Drunken driving
Consuming excess alcohol and other intoxicating substances can diminish your mental and physical functionality. A drunk driver can experience dizziness, fear, and a lack of decision-making abilities. Hence, driving while intoxicated is a huge mistake and must be avoided at all costs.
3. Distracted driver
You should not multitask when it comes to driving a vehicle. Activities like using a mobile phone while driving can distract you and increase the chances of vehicle accidents.
4. Breaking traffic signals
Jumping red lights is a bad habit that puts every road user in danger. Still, some people drive with the intention to break traffic signals wherever possible to save fuel and time. This often leads to road car accidents.
2. Vehicle failures
Unfortunate situations of vehicle failures while driving can also cause a car to crash. Some of the potential vehicle failures include the following.
1. Brake failure
If your vehicle’s brake stops working while driving, it becomes extremely difficult to cut down the speed. Old or faulty braking systems can cause failure, resulting in a vehicle accident on the road.
2. Tyre burst
Tyre burst causes a sudden loss of control over the car and can result in a car collision with other vehicles on the road. Car tyres can burst due to something sharp on the road, worn-out tread, more than required air pressure, etc.
3. Overloading
Driving an overloaded car is difficult to control on the road, especially on sharp turns, high speeds and mountain roads.
3. Bad road conditions
You won’t find road conditions at their best everywhere. Combine it with a distracted driver, and you have a recipe for some of the worst road accidents. Hence, make sure you remain alert to the following road conditions while driving.
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1. Potholes
Potholes on the roads can cause minor and major vehicle accidents if you don’t notice them in time and adjust your vehicle’s speed. Cars with low ground clearance can get damaged while the driver tries to drive over potholes. Similarly, potholes can damage tyres, wheels and even your vehicle’s suspension. In extreme cases, accidents caused by potholes can be life-threatening.
2. Eroded speed breakers
While driving, you might come across badly constructed, eroded and sometimes illegal speed breakers. They can easily damage your car and lead to accidents if not dealt with carefully.
3. Damaged road surface
You may come across patches or long stretches of bad roads while driving. Such roads are prone to cause accidents if you don’t drive with all your attention and at slower than usual speeds.
4. Bad weather conditions
Driving in bad weather conditions is a tricky task and must be avoided. If it can’t be avoided, then you must be extremely careful while driving. Here are some of the weather conditions that increase the chances of road accidents.
1. Heavy rainfall/storms
Road visibility reduces during heavy rainfall, which may cause a driver to make mistakes.
2. Snow
The friction between tyres and the road reduces due to snow, creating a slippery surface to drive on. An inexperienced driver might find it difficult to manage such a situation and cause an accident.
3. Fog
The foggy weather conditions can reduce road visibility to an extent. Without proper fog lights, a car is prone to accidents
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Impact of a car accident on human health
Being involved in a car accident can be a traumatic experience. Here is how a car accident can impact human health.
Physical trauma
A car crash or collision can leave multiple physical injuries on those involved in the accident. The types of injuries include contusions, bruising, and sometimes even paralysis or death. The severity of injuries depends on the blunt force experienced by the body during an accident.
Psychological trauma
An accident can also leave long-lasting trauma in the mind of the victim. In extreme cases, such trauma can impact a person’s everyday life. As a result, the victim may feel scared to drive or even get into a car again.
How to prevent car accidents
Mentioned below are the key preventive measures required to avoid car crashes in most situations.
1. Be aware of road safety guidelines
Follow basic safety measures such as maintaining a safe distance from other vehicles, wearing a seatbelt and avoiding any distractions while driving.
2. Strictly follow traffic rules
The authorities have stated clear traffic rules for the safety of road users. You must follow those rules without fail to avoid any potential accidents.
3. Be careful while driving on bad roads
You may come across bad road conditions such as rough patches or potholes. Make sure to drive slowly on such routes and keep an eye out for signs, for example, a diversion ahead sign on long stretches of under-construction roads.
4. Maintain your vehicle’s condition
A car needs to go through regular check-ups to find and fix any issues that may cause problems while driving. Regular servicing and maintenance of the car’s engine, brakes and steering system is the key to limiting the chances of accidents due to vehicle failure.
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5. Improve vehicle safety
It is wise to add safety accessories to your car whenever required. For example, if your car doesn’t have fog lights, you must get them installed before driving in low visibility conditions.
