A road accident can have several causes: human, meteorological or technical causes. Nevertheless, the human factor is preponderant and concerns more than nine accidents out of every ten.
Human Causes of Road Accidents
In the context of road accidents, human causes come far ahead of meteorological or technical causes. Most of the time, it is a combination of causes that we see. A combination that brings into play both purely human causes (the driver and other users), meteorological, technical causes, etc.
The human factor appears in more than 90% of motor vehicle accidents involving bodily injury. Car accidents which have purely meteorological or purely technical causes are therefore extremely rare.
Driving under the influence of alcohol and or drugs and speeding are present respectively as causes in 31% and 25% of fatal accidents. Fatigue or drowsiness are factors involved in nearly 8% of all fatal accidents. Distraction is also a human factor in motor vehicle road accidents.
Using the phone or other electronic devices whilst driving increases the risk of having a motor vehicle accident fourfold. Twenty one percent of those killed in car accidents did not have their seat belts fastened and 6% of motorcyclists killed were not wearing helmets. Not wearing a seat belt and not wearing a helmet are therefore also significant causes of motor vehicle accidents.
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Failure to respect safety distances between motor vehicle is responsible for 6% of fatalities and 16.5% of injuries.
As a reminder, the safety distance between motor vehicles must be at least 2 seconds. More than half of vehicles do not respect this very important rule.
If you are injured in a car accident in Western Australia and another person is at fault you will likely make a claim for car accident injury compensation through the Insurance Commission of Western Australia. You should seek assistance from the best car accident lawyer Perth to ensure that you receive the maximum amount of compensation that you are entitled to. Your car accident injury lawyer will ensure that you receive the medical treatment that you require and will gather the evidence needed to maximise your injury compensation payment.
Weather as a Cause of Motor Vehicle Accidents
Bad weather is a factor that can significantly increase the risk of a motor vehicle accident. However, the weather is hardly ever the sole cause of a traffic accident. The human factor is almost always present.
The meteorological causes can be: the presence of fog, the lack of visibility caused by a climatic phenomenon, snow, rain, ice. All of these things can lead to difficult and dangerous road conditions and drivers need to be aware and drive carefully.
So that the weather does not increase the risk of accidents, it is imperative to have a good lighting system and tyres in good condition, suitable and correctly inflated (chains are mandatory on very snowy ground).
You must also be able to adapt you’re driving to weather conditions, drive slower in bad weather conditions, exercise increased vigilance and take regular breaks to ensure you don’t become fatigued.
Technical Causes of Road Accidents
There are two kinds of technical causes: those relating to the condition of the motor vehicle and those relating to the condition of the infrastructure (particularly poor road conditions).
The technical causes may increase the risk of a motor vehicle accident. But technical causes are almost never the only causes of a traffic accident. As with the weather factor, the technical factor increases the risk of road accidents, but accidents are almost always human-caused.
The objective of the technical control is to limit road accidents caused by technical failure of vehicles. This can be something achieved through ensuring that your motor vehicle is well maintained.
However, as you will now no doubt appreciate having read this article, the biggest factor that contributes to car accidents is poor driving by the driver of a motor vehicle. So please wear your seatbelt, take care and drive safely to help keep you, your passengers and the occupants of other motor vehicle safe from suffering serious injury or worse in avoidable car accidents.
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