Automobile accidents and single vehicle crashes result in many injuries and deaths each year. In fact, in the United States automobile accidents are the leading cause of death in 5 to 34 year olds.
Recent United Nations initiatives and United States insurance surveys, such as GMAC Insurance have revealed some interesting considerations. Distracted drivers (changing radio stations, mobile devices, conversations) are consistently a leading cause or accidents, especially with teens. When in intersections, even if you have the right away, always check for negligent drivers who may not be paying attention to traffic controls. Keep a four second gap between you and a vehicle in front of you (three seconds is what generally is recommended). One interesting tip from United Parcel Service: it trains its drivers to back into parking spaces, as a very dangerous time for accidents is when backing out of parking spaces.
At Rheingold Giuffra Ruffo Plotkin & Hellman LLP, we work as quickly as possible with automobile victims to collect and preserve evidence at accident scenes so that negligence is documented, but hopefully the above tips will keep you from becoming an accident victim.
