Causes of Car Accidents
One late night the dark blue Mustang was traveling south on highway 92 with the music turned up, everyone in the car was singing, laughing, and having a great time. The phone rings, the driver looks down at the phone, BOOM, the car swerves and hits a tree. The driver is instantly dead and the passengers are severely injured. Accidents like this are happening every day. Car accidents are a serious problem in the United States. Distracted driving, speeding, and drunk driving are the top three reasons for car accidents. Car accidents cause severe injuries, death, and major devastation every year. Nearly 1.3 million people die from car accidents each year. Distracted driving is the number one cause of these kinds of accidents. Distracted driving is any activity that could sidetrack a person’s attention away from driving. Some of these distractions include: Messing with the radio, talking on the phone, texting, eating, grooming, and reading. At any time of the day across America, about 660,000 drivers are using cell phones while driving. Drivers who use a hand-held device while driving are 4 times more likely to get into an accident. Drivers who text message while driving have a 23 times more chance of getting into an accident. Eating while driving distracts you from watching the road; it makes you more focused on your food. Statistics show that 80% of car accidents are caused by people eating and driving. The car radio is a major distraction while driving; it requires you to take your eyes off the road for just a split second. Also, depending on how loud the music is, it distracts people from hearing sirens or horns which can also cause car accidents. Everyone needs to put everything down and pay close attention to the road ahead. It’s the most important thing to do to try to prevent having car accidents today. Speeding is the second most common reason for car accidents. Need for speeding is all around us, ATMs, drive-thrus, and convenient stores are all example that surround us today. On the other hand, driving on the roadway can be very serious and even deadly. Reasons people speed are usually because they are not focusing on their driving, are in a rush, don’t take traffic laws seriously, they usually don’t expect to get caught, or don’t view their driving behavior as dangerous. Speeding
