Common Road Accidents in San Diego

In an ideal world, there would be no such thing as road accidents. We’d be able to get in our vehicles and go wherever we wanted without having to stress about our health or safety on the way. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Car accidents are far too common, and it turns out, certain kinds of accidents are far more likely to occur than others. 

The following will explore some of the more common types of accidents in San Diego and the surrounding area. We hope you can use this information to practice safe and defensive driving to help protect you and your family for years to come.

Wrong-Way Collisions

Even though motor vehicle accidents have been declining in the last decade, wrong-way driving accidents have not followed the trend. These are crashes or incidents that involve cars driving in the wrong direction along a road. Around 300 people die from one-way collisions every year. There have been tragic instances of the wrong way car accident in San Diego in the last year. To help reduce the occurrence of this type of incident, CalTrans is working on a two-year pilot program in the Sacramento and San Diego areas to use technology that alters the authorities if a vehicle is traveling in the wrong direction.

Single Car Accidents

Single car accidents are exactly what they sound like—these are crashes or incidents that involve only one vehicle. These can include run-off-road collisions, accidents with fallen debris or other obstructions in the road, rollovers, collisions with animals, and bad weather accidents. This category also contains the smaller incidents like bumps and scrapes with things like mailboxes and fence posts.

Side-Impact Crashes

Sometimes also called broadside or T-bone crashes, these incidents are when the side of one or multiple vehicles is hit. This type of accident tends to occur most often in parking lots and at intersections or areas when two vehicles pass on a roadway. Tragically, this type of accident accounts for nearly one-fourth of all passenger deaths in cars. Typically, the sides of motor vehicles have less padding to absorb the impact and help protect passengers. Side airbags can help reduce the risk of serious injury in this type of accident.

Head-On Collisions

The most dangerous type of accident, head-on collisions, can often produce injury and or death. This type of accident can often occur when someone is confused or distracted while driving and they continue straight into something or someone. Intoxicated driving can also be the reason for this sort of collision. Distracted driving results in about eight deaths in America every day and is one of the most easily avoidable causes of accidents. Anything that pulls your attention away from the road counts as a distraction. This can include things that require you to look away from the road, like texting, involving taking your hands off the wheel, like opening a snack, or things that draw your mind away from driving, like demanding conversations.

Vehicle Rollover

This type of accident can happen inside any vehicle, but taller, more narrow cars are more likely to experience them. This is because SUVs and lorries tend to have a higher center of gravity, making it easier for the vehicle to flip on its side or onto its roof. To minimize your risk of this type of accident, you want to keep an eye on your speed as this is one of the biggest contributors to this sort of incident. Road conditions or lack of barriers on the road can also contribute to this kind of problem.

Rear-End Collisions

This kind of accident happens when one vehicle hits another from behind. A lack of attention often causes it (again, distracted driving is a serious threat to everyone’s safety) combined with the car in front stopping or slowing suddenly without the proper space for reaction time between the cars. Usually, the damages done are more severe to the car in the front and to the people in the front car than in the back.

The above accident information should help you stay aware of some of the risks on the road. There are driving courses available across the country that specialize in things like defensive driving and mitigating the risks of the road. The most important things you can do to keep yourself safe are staying sober and vigilant while driving, following the road rules, wearing a seatbelt, and keeping your car well maintained and running smoothly.

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