Every year millions of motor vehicle accidents take place on America’s roadways. While there are times that these accidents cannot be avoided, by and large most of our car wrecks are completely preventable because they are the fault of human error. Below, we’ll look at the three most common causes of car accidents in Tampa, but keep in mind that these causes are prevalent nationwide as well. Hopefully with this information you’ll be able to keep yourself and others safe when operating a motor vehicle.
#1—Driving While Distracted
In today’s technological age there are any number of electronic gadgets that can distract our eyes away from the road. Unfortunately, these distractions are the number one cause of car accidents—in fact, you increase your chances of causing a wreck by four times when you drive distracted. Even though texting and talking on the phone are the number one culprits behind distracted driving, it’s important to keep in mind that there are other things that can unsafely avert your eyes, such as eating or applying makeup in the car. While that phone call may seem important at the time, it’s not worth risking your life or the lives of the drivers around you.
#2—Drunk Driving
This should be a no-brainer, but it’s obviously not if it has made the list of top causes of motor vehicle accidents. Driving drunk is dangerous to you and those around you, but it’s also a great way to find yourself in jail—so take some time to find a designated driver or be prepared to spend a little extra cash on a cab. It’s not worth ruining your life, or worse, someone else’s, in a drunk driving accident that’s completely preventable.
#3—Speeding
Between work, family, and your social life there’s never enough time, and it’s completely understandable that you would be tempted to speed from place to place. However, driving at unsafe speeds is the cause of roughly 30% of all car accidents, and, like the other causes we’ve mentioned, it’s a completely preventable scenario. Plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time to reach where you’re going—getting somewhere quickly is not worth the costly and potentially deadly risk of a car accident.
Conclusion
As you can now see, the majority of car accidents that take place on our roadways are all largely unnecessary, and with just a little common sense, drivers could drastically reduce these incidents. Be smart, be safe, and get to where you’re going in one piece.