How are drivers causing wrecks in the Tidewater VA area?

What are drivers doing to cause so many car and truck wrecks in the Tidewater area?  Information from the Virginia Highway Safety Office sheds some light on this question.  Here is a list of driver actions that contributed to crashes in 2009:

 

• Driver was trying to avoid another vehicle: 1,928 crashes
• Driver was trying to avoid a pedestrian: 138
• Driver was distracted while driving: 3,834
• Driver failed to yield the right of way: 16,623
• Driver was following the car in front too closely: 24,154
• Hit and run accident: 4,575
• Accident caused by illegal or improper parking: 304
• Driver backed their vehicle up improperly: 1,115
• Driver changed lanes improperly: 5,934
• Driver passed another vehicle improperly: 1,336
• Driver made an improper turn: 2,805
• Driver was driving left of the center marker, but not passing: 1,705
• Driver did not have lights on: 87
• Driver did NOT commit any violation: 92,124
• Driver ran a traffic control signal like a light or stop sign: 5,703
• Driver was driving too fast: 6,305
• Driver committed some other violation: 34,756

 

What is interesting in these statistics is that only 1.81 percent of all drivers involved in a traffic crash were said to be distracted.  This sharply differs from widely publicized estimates about the ‘real’ problem of distracted driving.  Why don’t Virginia traffic crash statistics show a higher percentage of distracted drivers?  It is difficult to say – perhaps police are unable to prove that a driver’s distraction contributed to a crash, even if they suspect it must be true.

 

No matter how your accident happened, we can help you put your life back together after a crash.  Please contact our Norfolk based office to learn more.