Car accidents have been happening for a long time, with the first one occurring all the way back in 1891. It happened in Ohio. While the odds of being in a car accident are far higher today, this just goes to show that there has always been an inherent danger to driving motor vehicles.
Being stuck in traffic could contribute to being in an accident, especially when other drivers get impatient and antsy. Did you know that people in Colorado and all across the United States are stuck in traffic for more than an entire day out of every year? Estimates put the average driver in a traffic jam for about 38 hours per year.
If you just like to look at the odds before you get behind the wheel, your odds of being killed in a fatal car accident come in at around one in 5,000. While that may seem like a lot, it’s far more likely than dying in a plane crash.
The debate about distracted driving isn’t new, either. It started back when people first began putting radios in cars. Some states tried to get this new car radio banned entirely, saying it was a potential distraction and that it could cause drivers to crash. This didn’t work, of course, but more modern studies have shown that the type of music a person listens to does change the way that he or she drives.
If you’re involved in a car accident and you suffer catastrophic injuries — or even minor injuries — you may be able to seek financial compensation.
Source: Fact Slides, “30 Facts About Cars,” accessed June 29, 2015
