A western Kentucky woman, age 39 was killed in a car crash Wednesday afternoon in Gallatin County, Illinois. According to troopers and District 19 investigators, she was driving north on Route 1 and lost control of her Pontiac Bonneville. She then overcorrected her steering before the car left the road and hit a tree on the driver’s side. She was pronounced dead at the scene and the crash remains under investigation.
There are many possible causes of vehicle accidents, all of which investigators will have to determine. Common causes of car accidents can include but are not necessarily the cause of the crash described above:
Distracted driving and inattentiveness- inattentiveness/distracted driving cause more accidents than any other variable because inattentiveness can be caused by speeding, use of alcohol or drugs, and fatigue. While on the roadway, being distracted for a mere second can result in an auto accident. If a driver is distracted for mere seconds while answering the phone, adjusting their mirrors, changing the radio or eating, these seconds can lead to a moment of loss of control or collision. It is not purposeful negligence on the part of the driver, but it occurs all the same. More often than not, all of us have had a few seconds here and there of being distracted either by something in traffic, our hand held devices or even something as a spill of our drink in the car. It is common because all of us have experienced it many times and were lucky that the timing was of such that it did not cause an accident. However, if you think back on the accidents that you have been involved in, either you as the driver or possibly the other driver involved in the car accident was distracted or inattentive for a few moments. In Illinois, cell phone use, including texts, caused nearly 1,300 vehicle crashes in 2009.
Speeding- driving too fast often increases the likelihood of a car accident and can increase the seriousness of the impact. In high speed car accidents, the injuries can be more severe simply because of the velocity of the impact. If a driver chooses to speed, he or she may have less reaction time.
Aggressive or reckless driving- aggressive and reckless driving is truly tragic because it is completely preventable. Being reckless or aggressive behind the wheel is irresponsible. Car accidents occur easily enough just through human error when we are trying to be safe. Adding recklessness or aggressive behaviors to the highway is truly negligent
Drunk Driving- drunk driving that results in 1,000’s upon 1,000’s of serious injuries and fatalities is another cause of auto accidents that are completely preventable. As a driver, you can prevent your responsibility for a drunk driving accident by simply not getting the behind the wheel if you drink.
Driver fatigue- driver fatigue has proven to be almost as dangerous as drunken driving. When a person is fatigued, they have slower reaction time and tend to be distracted more easily. When we think of fatigued drivers, we generally think of semi-truck drivers. It is easy to become a fatigued truck driver depending on the hours of service a truck driver has driven. Just as each of us get tired during our workday, so do semi-truck drivers. Many of us in addition to truck drivers, must drive as part of our work whether it is the commute to work, making sales calls, delivering items or meeting clients, driving while you are fatigued is never good and should be avoided.
As far as the accident involving the Salem, Kentucky woman, we do not know at the time what the causes for the car accident are. Expert reconstruction team members will need to examine the wrecked car, any witness statements, the physical terrain of the accidents and the victim to best determine the causes of the accident. Certainly, family members of the accident victims will want to know answers. The answers will not bring back their loss; however, information is always helpful in dealing with a loss.
At The Cagle Law Firm, we use investigators to thoroughly investigate a scene on top of what the authority’s investigations. Why? When negotiating with an insurance company, cause and contribution are always an issue and family members usually have far too much going on in their grief and recovery to get involved in a detailed investigation so soon following the loss of a loved one in a wrongfuld death claim.
At our firm, we understand that the loss and the accident are traumatic situations and the last thing a family member is mentally equipped to do is to negotiate with an insurance company. We make ourselves available seven days a week to help you gain information that you need. Call 1(800) 685-3302 or local (314) 276-1681 if you have questions and need information
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