Some car accidents are caused because a generally safe driver makes a one-time mistake. Someone who has never been in an accident before drives out of turn at a four-way stop, for example. They just have a momentary lapse in judgment.
However, many car accidents are actually caused by dangerous driving habits. These are worse, because they are things that people do every day. They don’t cause accidents every time, so people assume that these are safe activities. But they actually increase the odds of a crash.
Not leaving three seconds
One common example is that people tend to tailgate other cars. They don’t leave three seconds between vehicles. They may think that they are leaving a big enough gap, but they could eventually find themselves in a situation where they can’t stop in time and they rear-end another car.
Breaking the speed limit
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t break the speed limit at least occasionally. Many drivers will break it on a consistent basis, perhaps every time they commute to work. But driving faster can make accident injuries more severe and it can make accidents more likely.
Engaging in distractions
Some drivers are just distracted almost every time they get in the car. They spend the drive looking at the GPS, talking to friends, singing along with the radio, trying to answer emails or do other work in the car, eating food and drinks and much more. Drivers who do this all the time generally think that they can multitask, but they’re actually being unsafe.
Survivorship bias
In some cases, drivers are certainly driving recklessly on purpose. They know it isn’t safe, yet they do it anyway because they’re in a hurry or for some other reason.
But this also happens just because of survivorship bias. People who make these types of mistakes on a daily basis and don’t get in an accident eventually end up thinking that it isn’t nearly as dangerous as it is. Therefore, they continue making the same error until it eventually leads to a crash.
If another driver makes a mistake and injures you, take the time to carefully look into your options to seek financial compensation for your medical bills and other costs.
