If you’ve ever experienced a car accident, then you know how life-altering they can be. Between destroying your method of transportation and causing physical injuries, the impact of an accident is undeniable.
One issue with car crashes is that they often seem random. You often don’t have a chance to see one coming, which gives you no time to react and avoid a collision.
That said, most car accidents occur in a few specific locations and situations. Understanding the need to practice extra caution in these areas is critical to reducing your chances of encountering an accident.
Should you be the victim of another driver’s negligence, you’ll want to contact a car accident attorney to receive fair compensation. Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that point, and you can steer clear of an accident altogether.
To help you avoid the stress of a car crash, we’ll explain where they happen the most below.
Close to Home
A large majority of car accidents happen extremely close to home.
This may contradict your common sense, but there is a significant reason more crashes happen near your house. You are more comfortable on the streets near your home, which makes you more likely to make a careless mistake that leads to a crash.
In particular, you are at the greatest risk within five miles of your home. You’ve driven on those streets so many times that you may not pay as great of attention, or speed, or fail to recognize a change to the street.
Another reason more crashes happen near home is that these accidents involve a higher rate of intoxicated drivers. Driving while drunk is likely to cause you to make a quick crash after leaving the house or on your way home.
Knowing this, don’t let your guard down when driving near your house. It’s when your risk is the highest!
Daily Commutes
Daily commutes are another common source of car crashes.
The problem with commutes is similar to why you’re at risk when driving near home, comfort. Your commute to work or school is a route that you drive every day.
Anything you do that often is likely to become a habit and may not require much conscious thought. Do you think about tying your shoes or do you just do it?
Driving your daily commute is similar and you become more likely to engage in distractions or reckless behavior like speeding. This is a mistake because being distracted or having reckless behavior increases the chances of an accident.
You may get away with lazy driving once, twice, or maybe even several times during your commute. It’s the one time that you don’t get lucky that it’s too late to fix your habits! Appreciate this and always take your daily commute seriously.
Parking Lots
While often less serious, car accidents in parking lots are another prevalent problem.
To be fair, driving in a parking lot is no simple matter. Between watching out for pedestrians and moving cars, there are a lot of variables and it’s easy to make a mistake if someone else isn’t paying attention.
Because mistakes are so easy to mistake, they happen and they result in minor car accidents. Most parking lot crashes are just sideswipes or fender-benders that don’t cause significant injuries.
What they lack in severity they make up for in frequency. Parking lot accidents are extremely common and they can be difficult to avoid.
Considering this, you must always be careful when in a parking lot and look in all directions multiple times. Drive slowly and be prepared to stop at any moment!
Intersections
A final typical location for accidents involves intersections.
Intersections are a necessary road feature to control the flow of traffic and ensure safety. At the same time, they can be confusing and some drivers do not respect them.
When intersections are confusing, drivers may not know when they are permitted to go. They may go at inappropriate times or hesitate, leading to a collision with a vehicle going in a different direction.
A great example of this is a driver misunderstanding a blinking yellow arrow. This is the sign to turn when it is safe, but they may see this as their opening to go regardless of oncoming traffic.
Alternatively, drivers may not respect the timing of traffic lights at intersections. Green means go, yellow means proceed with caution, and red means stop.
Some drivers view yellow as a sign to go faster and red as a guideline for stopping. This leads to them running red lights often because they do not properly anticipate how long it will take them to reach the intersection and lack the time to stop before it turns red.
With this information, you should always be cautious around intersections. Don’t immediately accelerate after a light change and look in all directions multiple times!
Closing Thoughts
Many car accidents tend to happen in the same situations due to the behavior that drivers exhibit. Carelessness, complacency, impatience, boredom, poor judgment, and having too much to keep track of can all quickly cause an accident.
In particular, a few situations tend to involve these behaviors more often than most. This includes being close to home, driving on your daily commute, and navigating parking lots, and intersections.
Not all car accidents are avoidable, but many are if you are aware of the risks you’re facing. With good driving habits and a strong focus on the road, you can greatly increase your driving safety and reduce your chances of experiencing an accident.
