Personal Injury Cases – Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli

Throughout New Haven, New Britain, Norwich Manchester and the Waterbury-area, motor vehicle accidents occur frequently. There are different types of motor vehicle collisions including front impact or head on crashes; side impact crashes and rear-end crashes. A rear-end accident lawyer knows that collisions in which a following vehicle strikes a lead vehicle in the rear are one of the most common collision types. 

In fact, according to the College of Engineering, around 33 percent of all U.S. car accidents are rear-end crashes. This type of collision is the most commonly occurring accident at intersections that have traffic signals, and these rear-end crashes account for 11.8 percent of deaths in multi-vehicle accidents and countless car accident injuries each year.

Because rear-end crashes are both common and dangerous, understanding the causes of these types of collisions is very important. The College of Engineering has published an in-depth study looking at some of the reasons why rear-end accidents happen.

Rear-End Accident Risk Factors 

The College of Engineering Study took a look at three primary factors that can impact the risk of becoming involved in a rear-end accident. The study looked at the impact of driver characteristics; vehicle characteristics; and road characteristics.

Many of the road characteristics that lead to crashes are fairly obvious. If the roads are wet or slippery, if visibility is reduced, or if the weather is bad, then there is more of a chance of a rear-end accident. If the road is poorly lit, the crash risk goes up. If there is a lot of traffic and drivers are forced to travel more closely together, then there is a greater chance of a rear-end accident happening.

When it comes to vehicle characteristics, however, the results are more surprising. While you might assume motorists would be more concerned about getting into a crash with a larger vehicle, it turns out that rear drivers are more likely to follow very closely behind large vehicles than they are to leave minimal following distance between themselves and a smaller lead car.  When a lead vehicle is large and it is more difficult for the rear driver to see above, around, below or through it, the rear car is more likely to follow close behind. Passenger cars, in general, leave less space between their vehicle and a light truck than between their car and another passenger car.

Finally, when it comes to driver characteristics, men were more likely than women to be the striking vehicle that hits the lead car in rear-end crashes. Older drivers were more likely to be in a vehicle that was hit from behind and younger drivers were more likely to be in the striking vehicle. Older drivers generally have slower reaction times and aren’t as quick to make decisions, especially when they have two or more choices at an intersection. Younger motorists, on the other hand, were less likely to pay attention and more likely to be aggressive.

Drivers need to understand how these risk factors affect rear-end crashes so they make safe choices to try to avoid motor vehicle accidents.

Contact a Hartford accident attorney today at the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli. Call 1-800-WIN-WIN-1 for your free case consultation or visit http://www.salomoneandmorelli.com.  Also serving New Britain and Norwich to Manchester, New Haven and the Waterbury-area

The Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety has released its 2015 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws. Motorists in New Haven, New Britain, Norwich Manchester and the Waterbury-area should be aware of what this report says so they can make informed choices about driving risks. The report evaluates how well each of the states in the U.S. have done in terms of passing recommended safety laws designed to reduce motor vehicle accident risks.

Personal injury lawyers know that Connecticut is missing some important regulations, but that drivers can voluntarily make the choice to avoid risky driving practices and reduce auto accident risks on state roads and highways.

Connecticut Could Improve Its Traffic Safety Rules

Connecticut has passed eight out of the 15 laws that the Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety recommend states have. This has earned the state a “Yellow” rating. There are three different rating levels assigned in the report. Red means that the state has a dangerous lack of effective regulations to reduce collisions. Nine states have received a rating of red. Green means that the state has made significant advancements towards implanting safety legislation that is recommended to protect the public. Ten states have a Green rating. Finally, 31 states – including Connecticut – have received a Yellow rating. Yellow means that the state has made moderately positive progress towards adopting the laws that can make road conditions safe.

The laws that Connecticut is missing include:

• An all-rider motorcycle helmet law mandating helmets every time someone is on a motorcycle.
• A primary enforcement law mandating rear passengers wear seat belts. Under current laws, people can be ticketed for drivers in the rear not wearing a seat belt only if there is some other reason besides the seat belt violation for pulling the driver over.
• A law requiring that child booster seats be used until a child reaches the age of seven.
• A six month waiting period between when a teen gets a learner’s permit and the time the teen moves to a license.
• Better restrictions on nighttime driving for new teen drivers.
• An open container law imposing restrictions on open bottles of alcohol.
• A child endangerment law.

Although wearing a helmet, rear seat belts, booster seats and teen driving restrictions are not yet the law, this does not mean that motorists can’t make the smart and safe choice anyway. Parents should consider restricting their teens permission to drive at night and should make sure their teen waits a sufficient amount of time (and gets a sufficient amount of practice) before getting a license. Parents should also keep children in booster seats in cars and avoid driving drunk or engaging in any unsafe driving practices with a child in the vehicle.  Motorcycle riders should also make the choice to wear helmets when on the road.

There were 276 traffic accident fatalities in Connecticut in 2013. Perhaps if motorists make a commitment to safety and if the state moves forward with more traffic accident prevention laws, the death toll could drop in the future.

Contact a Hartford accident attorney today at the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli. Call 1-800-WIN-WIN-1 for your free case consultation or visit http://www.salomoneandmorelli.com.  Also serving New Britain and Norwich to Manchester, New Haven and the Waterbury-area.