Mesquite Car Accident Lawyers

Excess Speed

We have all been in a rush a time or two, and driving a bit faster may seem like a great way to make up for it. Speeding, however, is so closely related to an increase in serious car accidents that it is considered one of the most dangerous driving practices. To make matters more challenging, a motorist does not need to exceed the speed limit to drive too fast.

Lawmakers set speed limits for ideal driving conditions, and drivers must adjust their traveling speed downward in response to any adverse conditions on the road, including the effects of bad weather.

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that, in 2020, 11,258 people lost their lives in accidents involving excess speed. In the last 20 years, speed has played a critical role in 29 percent of all deadly traffic accidents.

Motorists who drive too fast make our roadways riskier in all the following ways:

• They require longer stopping distances (when unexpected stops are necessary).
• They are more likely to lose control of their vehicles.
• The occupant protection equipment in their cars is rendered less effective.
• The safety devices on our roads, such as guardrails and concrete barriers, are rendered less effective.
• They increase the severity of any car accidents they cause.

Immense speed is the hallmark of aggressive driving, which is the pinnacle of driver negligence.

Aggression

Aggressive drivers often go beyond mere negligence—veering into recklessness.

We can typically define aggressive driving as engaging in more than one dangerous driving tactic on any given outing, and—in addition to speeding—these can include:

• Sticking to the rear of another driver’s vehicle (tailgating)
• Cutting off other drivers
• Attempting to engage other drivers via hand gestures, taunts, incessant honking, and more
• Zigzagging in and out of traffic
• Ignoring the rules of the road
• Refusing to yield the right-of-way
• Passing illegally
• Going so far as physically tapping other vehicles on the road

Aggressive drivers are far more likely to cause dangerous accidents, and reporting them to the authorities (when it is safe to do so) is generally the best option.

Distraction

We all get distracted by our phones, but doing so behind the wheel can prove deadly. While there are infinite driver distractions out there, texting is considered the most alarming (according to NHTSA).

Texting is unique for its ability to combine all three categories of distraction, including:

• One’s thoughts
• One’s sight
• One’s hands

The only way to drive safely is to train one's full attention on that primary task. When a motorist drives at highway speeds and tears their attention off the road for the five seconds it typically takes to type out a text, they travel about the length of a football field—and that is a terrifying distance to drive blind. In 2020 alone, 3,142 people died in fatal distracted driving accidents.

Fatigue

Many motorists fail to recognize the danger associated with drowsy driving, but it is all too real.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that drowsy driving combines the immense responsibility of driving with the dangerous element of fatigue. The fact is that no one knows precisely when sleep will take them over, and the monotony of driving can push some groggy drivers over the edge. When it comes to drowsy driving, however, falling asleep—while it is an immense risk—is not the only risk.

Drowsy driving comes with all the following risk factors:

• The driver’s attention span is less.
• The driver’s reaction times are shorter.
• The driver’s ability to make safe decisions behind the wheel is adversely affected.

Consider the drowsy driving statistics forwarded by the NHTSA from one recent year:

• There were 91,000 accidents related to drowsy driving.
• In these accidents, 800 people lost their lives.
• In these accidents, 50,000 people suffered injuries.

The sad truth is that many experts consider these numbers to be underestimations of the actual danger associated with exhaustion behind the wheel.

Impairment

No one needs to explain to you how dangerous drunk drivers are, but drunk drivers themselves are slow to get the message. The fact is that drunk driving remains a serious problem throughout the country and in Texas.

Drunk drivers experience impairments that interfere with their ability to make safe driving decisions and decrease their inhibitions—leaving them seriously ill-prepared to deal with the physical, cognitive, and sensory impairments they also suffer. The higher a driver's blood alcohol concentration (BAC), the more dangerous their driving becomes.