ALT-1 Causes of Car Accidents
The most common cause of car accidents, by far, is a lack of attention. Many drivers are not aware of what is going on around them while they are on the highway. They are talking on their cell phone (or texting, which is always very dangerous), talking with a passenger, looking for a CD, eating, applying makeup, or reading the newspaper. Sometimes they are just daydreaming. Modern vehicles can help to induce a sense of comfort and well-being that can lead to a lack of attention.
We used to have manual shifts, AM radios, and no such thing as cruise control or air conditioning. Power steering was luxury. Today vehicles practically drive themselves. With soft rides, modern suspensions that reduce the impact of bumps in the road, cruise control, power steering, not just air conditioning but climate control, and a host of built-in distractions, like phone connections, CD players, and DVD players, our new vehicles require little effort (and little attention) to maintain speed and stay on the road. Some now have sensors that warn you if you drift out of your lane or apply the brakes if you get too close to the vehicle in front of you.
We have collectively decided that it is more important to be protected in a car accident than it is to avoid one in the first place. Seat belts are required. All new cars have air bags, with some having six of them. We make our vehicles as smooth-riding as we can, and add as many creature comforts as we can to reduce boredom. It is simply too easy to just go down the road and pay little attention to what happens around you. Despite the presence of multiple warning signs with admonitions to reduce speed, many drivers blast through construction sites without slowing. When a sign tells everybody who is watching that their lane will end one mile ahead, many drivers either ignore it or never see it in the first place. Instead of merging into the next lane, they continue to fly past an increasing number of vehicles in the lane next to them. When they reach the point where their lane is ending, they insist on being allowed to move over. Traffic in the open lane must slow even more when someone slows to allow them to merge. They grumble about the traffic jam and never consider that they, and people like them, are the cause of the traffic jam, not its victims. If every driver starts to look for a chance to move over when they see the notice that their lane is closed ahead, traffic will slow but it keeps moving.
Sometimes accidents are caused by equipment failure. A blown tire can result in loss of control. Other failures, such as tie-rods or ball-joints, can cause a catastrophic crash. Most accidents, however, are due to inattention on the part of one or more drivers. No matter what kind of vehicle you drive, no matter what kind of safety devices you have, no matter how good your insurance may be, you are always better off to avoid a collision than to be protected in some way after you have one.
