Accidents aren’t something that we plan for, they’re unexpected and unscripted. Unfortunately, that kind of mentality can distract us from being prepared for an emergency before it happens. Different types of accidents have different consequences and carry a different amount of danger. Here are a few common types of accidents and how we can work on keeping ourselves safe.
Fender Bender
We barely even think about fender benders as real accidents. A fender bender is a low speed collision that often occurs in a parking lot, resulting in some minor denting. What most of us don’t realize is that fender benders can cause real car accident injuries like whiplash, which require medical attention. Some common symptoms of whiplash include neck pain, severe stiffness, and bruising.
How To Avoid It: Slow down. Back out of parking spaces slowly and don’t speed in the parking lot. The sheer number of cars that could begin moving at any moment makes it very difficult to keep track of everything, and to react quickly when something does happen.
Head On Collision
Head on collisions are the most dangerous kind of car accident, because both vehicles are usually moving toward each other. That means that the impact velocity is that of both cars combined, so if you’re both going 50 miles an hour it’s like hitting a wall at 100. These types of accidents often result in severe injuries and permanent disabilities because people can be ejected through the windshield and the high force of impact often destroys the vehicles involved.
How to Avoid It: Remove all distractions. Head on collisions happen because of distracted and reckless driving. Put away your phone, don’t turn around to talk to someone in the back seat, don’t take pictures while driving, don’t drive drunk, and pull over to take a nap when you’re tired.
Merge Collision
Merge collisions usually occur when someone doesn’t merge safely and impact another vehicle that was next to them, or in their blind spot. These don’t usually cause serious damage on their own, but sometimes they can force a driver off the road, which is obviously extremely dangerous and results in very serious accidents.
How to Avoid It: Side collisions usually happen when one driver is in another driver’s blind spot, and the other driver fails to turn and check their blind spot before making a lane change. To avoid these types of accidents it’s important to always physically turn your head and look, rather than just glancing at your mirror before changing lanes. To avoid being the person that’s struck stay out of blind spots as much as possible by either passing or slowing down when you find yourself in one.
Rear End Collision
Rear end collisions are the most common type of car accident in the world. They usually happen when the impacting driver is either following too closely, or driving inattentively so that they can’t react to the driver in front of them quickly enough. It commonly results in whiplash injuries.
How to Avoid It: Keep your following distance! We’ve talked about the 3 second rule before, and this is what it’s all about. Maintaining good following distance means giving yourself enough time to realize that there’s a problem, and bring your vehicle to a stop without putting yourself in danger of hitting another car.
Many drivers are very distracted and possibly in shock after an accident, and will forget to address the legal issues surrounding an accident in a timely manner, which can cost you a lot of money. Because of this it’s very important to get a hold of us soon after your accident at 1-800-Injured so that we can put you in touch with experienced car accident lawyers and medical centers in your area.