What Are The Top 5 Causes Of Car Accidents

Five major causes or contributing factors in car accidents are distracted driving, speeding, impaired driving, failure to yield or obey traffic controls, and unsafe driving for weather or road conditions. Distracted driving includes texting, using a phone, adjusting controls or anything else that takes a driver’s attention from the road. Speeding reduces reaction time and increases the force of a collision. Alcohol and drugs can impair judgement, coordination and reaction time. Right-of-way violations commonly cause intersection crashes, including T-bone collisions. Rain, snow, ice, fog and poor visibility also become dangerous when drivers fail to reduce speed or increase following distance. Other frequent factors include fatigue, aggressive driving, tailgating, unsafe lane changes and inexperienced driving. A crash can involve several causes at once. For example, a speeding driver who is looking at a phone may fail to notice stopped traffic. Determining the actual cause requires examining the evidence from the specific accident rather than relying only on general statistics.