Accident Causes
Many factors can result in car accidents, and sometimes multiple causes can contribute to a single accident. Factors include the following:
- Driver distraction, this includes fiddling with technical devices, talking to passengers, grooming or eating in the car, dealing with children and/or pets, or attempting to retrieve an item that has been dropped.
- Driver impairment i.e. by illness, tiredness, alcohol or drugs, both legal and illegal.
- Mechanical failure, this can include flat tires, tires blowing, brake failure, axle failure or mechanism failure i.e. steering.
- Road conditions, including obstacles or substances on the road; rain, ice, or snow that will make the roads slick; road damage such as pot holes.
- Speeding, i.e. exceeding the speed for which the road has been designed, the weather, the road condition, the speed of surrounding motorists, etc
Legal Consequences
Car accidents normally carry legal consequences in a proportion to the severity of the accident. Nearly all common law jurisdictions impose a requirement that parties involved in a collision must stop at the scene, and exchange insurance/identification information or contact the police. Failure to obey this requirement is refered to as hit and run.
The parties that were involved in an accident may face criminal liability, civil liability, or both. It is common for the state to start a prosecution only if someone is severely injured/killed, or if one of the drivers involved was intoxicated or impaired at the time of the accident. Charges can include driving under the influence of alcohol, assault, manslaughter, or murder; penalties can range from fines to a jail sentence.
In regard to civil liability, automobile accident personal injury lawsuits are the most common. Courts usually decide upon the factual question of who is at fault, and how much the insurer must pay out in damages to the injured.
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