What Are the Causes of Auto Accidents?

Drive safely to avoid accidents.

In the United States, over 30,700 people were killed in automobile accidents in 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Some accidents are truly unavoidable, but the majority of them are caused by some type of driver error. Knowing the leading causes of automobile accidents and how to avoid them can be a great help in reducing your chances of injury or death on the road.

Distraction

Distracted driving occurs when the driver of a vehicle is not paying full attention to the road because he is occupied by another task, such as talking or texting on a cell phone, eating or drinking, using a navigation system or changing the radio station. Even a momentary lapse in attention to the road can result in an accident if the driver misses a stop sign or red light or fails to notice that a vehicle ahead of him has slowed down or stopped. The NHTSA reports that 20 percent of crashes causing personal injury in 2009 involved distracted drivers.

Impairment

Drivers who are under the influence of alcohol or drugs are one of the leading causes of automobile accidents due to their impaired motor skills and slower reaction times. Another serious form of impairment is driver fatigue; according to Peter Kissinger, president of the AAA Foundation, drowsiness impairs a driver's judgment and decreases awareness just like alcohol and drugs do. This creates a dangerous situation both for the impaired driver and for all other drivers on the road.

Weather

Automobile accidents often increase in poor weather conditions because rain, snow and ice make roadways slippery and may reduce visibility. A car's tires can easily lose traction on a wet or icy road surface, causing the vehicle to slide or spin out of control and possibly strike another car or inanimate object. For this reason, it is important for drivers to allow for extra travel time during inclement weather and take extra care to drive carefully.

Speed

Nearly a third of all fatal car accidents have excessive speed as a factor, according to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. Speeding greatly increases the chances of having an accident because the higher the speed, the longer it takes for a vehicle to slow down to a stop when the brakes are applied, making it much more difficult to avoid collisions.

Inexperience

Newly licensed drivers simply do not have the years of experience driving in various types of conditions that older drivers have. As a result, young drivers aged 15 to 20 are involved in three times as many fatal car accidents as drivers in other age groups. Many teenagers tend to be easily distracted and have a feeling of invincibility that can prove deadly on the road, but having parents who set rules and monitor car usage can greatly reduce a teen's chances of having an accident.

References

• Law Offices of Michael Pines, APC: Top 25 Causes of Car Accidents
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: National Statistics
• Distraction.gov: Statistics and Facts About Distracted Driving
• "US News and World Report"; Driving Drowsy as Bad as Driving Drunk; Deborah Kotz; November 2010
• Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety; Fact Sheet---Speeding; September 2005
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Teen Drivers