Car accidents happen approximately every five seconds in the United States, which adds up to an estimated 6 million per year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Car accidents happen on urban roads, suburban roads, rural highways, and on every major highway across the country. However, because of all of the various roadways and road conditions, and all of the different types of vehicles driving on the roads, no two accidents are exactly alike. For this reason, it is extremely hard to fully prepare for an accident or predict when one might happen. While you may have your eye out for the traffic in front of you, you may get rear-ended or hit from the side. Furthermore, you may be the only vehicle on the road for miles and still have an accident due to unsafe road conditions. If you are involved in an accident of any kind, contact a Fayette County auto accident attorney as soon as possible.
According to the United States Department of Transportation, the most common types of car accidents are:
- Collisions at intersections, which include rear-end or side crashes
- Collisions involving pedestrians or bicyclists
- Collisions caused by lane departure, which include running other vehicles off the road, side-swiping, and head-on collisions
- Collisions with animals
- Vehicle rollovers
- Single vehicle collisions
The types of accidents that generally have the most dangerous results are head-on collisions and rollovers. However, single vehicle collisions can also cause serious injury because they often involve crashing into a stationary object, such as a sign or building.
The Department of Transportation has safety measures to try to avoid these common types of accidents. For instance, installing medians to separate oncoming traffic lanes, especially on major highways with high speed limits, helps to avoid the often deadly head-on collisions. Additionally, having wider shoulders on the sides of the road provides a place for vehicles who are driven off the road to safely stop, and also helps prevent single vehicle accidents because signposts and trees are farther from the road. Despite these measures, accidents will continue to happen everyday. If you are injured in an accident, call Shane Smith Law today at (980) 246-2656 for a free consultation with an experienced Fayette County auto accident attorney.