Some crashes are impossible to avoid because they are the fault of another driver. Rear-end crashes often occur when someone has already slowed or stopped their vehicle. The motor vehicle behind them doesn’t stop in time and causes a crash. The driver of the front vehicle may have no time to respond before the crash occurs and no room to maneuver even if they notice the vehicle failing to slow down.
Rear-end collisions can cause a host of injuries. Someone could develop a brain injury if they hit their head on the steering wheel, dashboard or windshield. People can break bones or incur a spinal cord injury. Even soft tissue injuries, like whiplash, could generate massive medical expenses and prevent someone from going to work.
Rear-end collisions can occur due to many different factors, but distraction at the wheel is a leading cause of such wrecks. Many people think that they can check a text or incoming email while driving, but they may end up causing preventable collisions by doing so.
A quick check lasts longer than people think
People underestimate how long it takes to read and respond to a text message. Glancing down at a text message is almost never an instantaneous action. People frequently read the text message and might even attempt to compose a response. Doing so might only take a few seconds, but a few seconds can be enough to cause a crash.
Someone traveling at 55 miles an hour would move the length of a football field in the five seconds it takes them to read over a text message. Obviously, traffic conditions can very quickly shift, and they might not be able to stop in time even though the driver in front of them began slowing seconds before they notice.
In most cases, the driver in the rear will be responsible for a rear-end collision. If the driver in front suspects distraction may have contributed to the crash, they can inform police officers of that suspicion when filing a police report. An investigation may potentially confirm those suspicions and strengthen the claim that the driver in the rear vehicle was the one at fault for the crash.
Recognizing what causes crashes may help drivers demand accountability from those who cause property damage and injuries to others.
