Sadly, a lot of people who lose a loved one in a car crash should have never gone through that awful situation. The types of fatal car crashes that take so many lives every year are oftentimes entirely avoidable. Here are some of the worst, and most common, ones that can be avoided with a bit of foresight.
Drunk Driving
Avoiding drunk drivers is one thing, but it’s very common for people to get behind the wheel without realizing how intoxicated they are. People who would never think of themselves as someone who would be so irresponsible as to drive drunk will oftentimes do this without even knowing it.
The legal limit for driving drunk is actually not very much alcohol at all. This isn’t designed as a form of entrapment, to make it easier for the state to get money from drunk drivers. The reason that the limit is rather low is quite simply because, even with that low amount of alcohol in your blood, your ability to drive is seriously impaired. Whenever you’re going out for the night, even if you’re not expecting to have too much of a good time, act as if that’s exactly what you’re going to do. Always have a designated driver and you can avoid one of the most common ways that people get killed in crashes every year.
Too Fast
It’s probably safe to say that most people speed now and then. In fact, most people probably speed more often than now and then. The thing to remember is that speed limits are posted because the speeds required allow drivers to have a reasonable chance of stopping in time to avoid hitting a hazard that they are likely to experience in that area. For example, someone going 25 mph through a residential area will probably be able to stop before they hit most pedestrians who might run out on the road. Bring that speed up to 35 mph and it’s likely that you’re going to kill someone.
Remember that speed limits on highways and freeways also need to be taken seriously. The place where this is most often demonstrated is on corners. When a highway is posted as being a 65 mph highway, it means that going 75 mph on that highway may well cause you to go off the road when you hit a corner.
Contacting an attorney is an option if you’ve lost someone in a car wreck, but the best option of all is to avoid being in one.
