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Human error is one of the primary causes of car accidents. Unfortunately, we cannot control the actions of other drivers.

Some of the most common causes of car accidents in the United States include:

  • Speeding – According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), speed is a primary factor in accidents in the United States. It is a major factor in approximately a third of all traffic fatalities. In a recent year, speeding killed 9,378 people. When caught, speeders make all kinds of excuses, such as “I’m late” or “I just wanted to see how fast the car could go.” Some drivers were exceeding the speed limit. In other cases, they were driving too fast for road conditions. Speeding drivers may lose control of the car or reduce the time they have to react to sudden changes in traffic.
  • Distracted driving – Distracted driving was a reported factor in 8.5 percent of fatal motor vehicle crashes. Two years before, 2,935 fatal distracted driving crashes took place. These accounted for 9 percent of all fatal crashes. Some crashes involved more than one distracted driver. Drivers who text while operating a vehicle are 23 times more likely to become involved in a car accident. New Jersey law prohibits the use of handheld devices while driving. Distraction can take many forms, such as eating, using the GPS, or changing radio stations—but it is always hazardous.
  • Driving while impaired – Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is a serious problem across the United States. Drunk driving crashes resulted in 10,511 fatalities in a recent year. Law enforcement agencies and others have worked to educate the public and reduce these accidents, but impaired driving still accounts for about 30 percent of all traffic fatalities.
  • Tailgating and aggressive driving – According to a survey, almost 20 percent of survey participants reported feelings of anger and aggression while driving. Some experienced anger every week, and 2.8 percent reported those same feelings every time they drive. Aggressive driving may consist of a driver honking the horn in anger, but it may be reckless driving such as tailgating or speeding. In some cases, the anger or frustration spills over into violence.
  • Drowsy driving – According to the National Sleep Foundation, about half of U.S. adult drivers say they sometimes drive when fatigued. Disturbingly, about 20 percent admit to falling asleep while driving sometime during the past year.

Fatigue impairs driving performance, judgment, and reaction time. Drowsy drivers report drifting into another lane, onto the shoulder, or crossing the centerline. About one in ten fatigued drivers run off the road. Some drivers are not aware they are sleepy. Others experience microsleep, which only lasts a few seconds but can lead to a deadly crash.

  • Failure to yield – These accidents happen when turning left, in an uncontrolled intersection, at a flashing yellow or red light, or when a driver enters the street from a private driveway.
  • Vehicle defects – Defective vehicles and components can cause accidents and injuries in two different ways: when the defective vehicle is the actual cause of the crash, such as a tire blow out; or when the vehicle defect causes more accident injuries than they would have experienced otherwise, such as a seatbelt failure. If the crash involved vehicle defects, the manufacturer and others in the distribution chain might have liability.