Over 100.000 motor vehicle accidents occur in Colorado each year. Fortunately, most of them only cause property damage – damage to the car rather than the people inside. You can deal with anything from small dents to having to do an entire overhaul of your vehicle. However, one out of every three accidents causes the driver or passengers to sustain personal injuries, and the odds of dying in a car crash are slim but very possible. It is important that you understand the dangers that a car accident can cause and what a person goes through after experiencing such an event in their life, let us discuss the most common reasons why road incidents occur and how to avoid them.
What to do after a car accident?
Accidents happen no matter what, but the biggest issue is what to do after a car accident in Colorado. Starting off, make sure you and any other injured victims get emergency medical attention as soon as possible after a collision. Everything else takes a backseat if you or a loved one needs to visit the hospital for treatment that could save their life.
However, you should take action to gather and preserve evidence if you are able to stay at the scene. For your claim to be successful in the future, photos and video may be crucial. Once you know you and other participants are safe, it`s a wise decision to look for a lawyer to represent you in the court of law, regardless of whether you were responsible for the accident or not.
Distracted driving
Driving on public roads is always going to be risky. Despite the fact that many drivers view driving as a fairly “mindless” activity, controlling a car at high speeds poses several risks to the driver, passengers, and surrounding area.
Unfortunately, some drivers overlook the risks of the road as they become overconfident and at ease behind the wheel. Some drivers will start to daydream or engage in attention-grabbing activities that are dangerous for themselves and the general public instead of paying close attention to the actions of other drivers and the road around them.
The leading cause and the most common reason for car accidents as a whole is distracted driving, whether it be lost in thought or texting while driving.
A great way to prevent this is to train your brain to pay maximum attention on the road as possible and of course to put the phone on silent mode and don`t pick it up until you have reached your destination.
Speeding
Roads are built by engineers to be used at a specific speed. People need to obey speed limits for their own safety as well as the safety of other drivers. Speeding makes it difficult for a driver to navigate the road safely and increases the likelihood that they will lose control of their car.
Additionally, other motorists might not be able to respond to a speeding driver as quickly as they could if they weren’t doing so. Driving quickly increases the likelihood of collisions occurring and elevates the severity of collisions that do occur.
Drunk driving
In America, alcohol-related crashes claim the lives of 29 people every day. Alcohol is a depressant that has an impact on the CNS (central nervous system). The higher their blood alcohol content, the less able a person is to respond to changing circumstances in a way that is sufficiently safe.
The legal limit is not just a random number. It is the outcome of in-depth federal studies on the consequences of alcohol use and how accidents are caused by it. While most states start with a BAC of 0.8 percent, Colorado’s DWAI law begins at 0.05 percent (BAC). This is because even when a driver has a lower body alcohol content, alcohol can still play the leading role in a collision.
Drugged driving
Driving under the influence of drugs, such as marijuana, prescription medications, and illegal substances like cocaine or heroin, is known as drugged driving. Like with alcohol, drug users frequently struggle to estimate their own level of impairment. They might be unaware of their inability to operate a vehicle safely. It is a driver’s responsibility to be aware of the side effects of any prescription medications he is taking before operating a motor vehicle.
Having more than 5 nanograms of THC active in your bloodstream makes it illegal for you to drive in Colorado, according to state law. No matter how much of any illegal substance is in your system, it is also prohibited to drive while under its influence. Due to the lack of a drug-specific breath test like there is for alcohol, cases of drugged driving present a challenge for law enforcement.
Reckless driving
A person is deemed a reckless driver when their driving displays a willful disregard for the safety of other people or property. In Colorado, reckless driving is a class 2 traffic misdemeanor.
For instance, reckless driving can include traveling at a very high speed, drag racing, weaving in and out of traffic, and obscenely cutting off other vehicles.
Final Thoughts
The American economy depends heavily on driving, and this mode of transportation has become an integral part of the country’s culture. In fact, Americans travel 13,476 miles by car annually between their homes, places of employment, and other destinations.
And that is why it should go without saying that distracted, reckless, or drivers under the influence put both themselves and other motorists in danger.
Drivers must be responsible and pay attention to the road, and policymakers should take steps to encourage safe driving by prohibiting certain behaviors or technologies that could raise the accident rate.
