Common Causes of Car Accidents in Howard County

Car collisions occur every day in Maryland, which can cause a wide variety of injuries to all of those involved. With this in mind, the following are some of the most causes of car accident and the impact it can have on your case. To learn more call and schedule a consultation with a Howard County car accident lawyer today.

Drunk Driving

If someone strikes your vehicle and the police officers that report to the scene arrest that person for either driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated, those are examples of negligent behavior and can form the basis of a claim for negligence against that driver.  In addition, you will still need to prove that you were free from any negligence and that you did not contribute to the happening of the accident in any way in order to recover for your injuries.

Impact of Speeding

When a driver exceeds the posted speed limit of the roadway and is involved in an motor vehicle collision with another vehicle, the results can be devastating as people have less control over their vehicles at higher speeds. Higher speed collisions can also result in greater property damage and greater bodily injuries due to the force of the impact. If a motorist is found to have been speeding and the excessive speed is a contributing factor to the motor vehicle collision than that will form the basis of a claim for negligence against that driver. Once again you will need to prove that you yourself did not cause or contribute to the accident in any way to recover for your injuries.

A claim for speeding can be supported by tickets or citations issued by police officers or red light cameras. The speed of a vehicle can also be determined by the length and width of skid marks at the scene of the collision.

Weather

During bad or inclement weather such as rain, sleet, snow or fog the standard of care that needs to be observed by drivers on the roadway is greater than the standard of care that needs to be observed during clear and sunny weather. The reason for this increased standard of care is that the conditions can make driving more dangerous and so people should drive more carefully leaving more space between vehicles while driving, merging lanes, taking turns or curves in the roadway. Another reason for the difference in the standard of care is that visibility is usually lower and as such your reactions will be slower overall so you need to keep that in consideration while driving.  Many collisions occur during bad weather as people don’t change their driving behavior to adopt to the increased risks that are associated with inclement weather.

If the driver doesn’t drive slowly or more cautiously, then that could help support a finding of negligence against that driver if he/she strikes your vehicle. As always you will still need to prove that you did not cause or contribute to the happening of the collision in any way in order to recover for your injuries.  If you are able to prove this, you will still need to prove your damages which are separate and apart from the liability issues of your case.

Impact These Causes Can Have On An Injury Case

All of the above examples of causes of motor vehicle collisions can be used to show that the person that hit your vehicle was negligent in the operation of their vehicle and was not acting reasonable at the time that they struck your vehicle. In addition to showing that the person that struck your vehicle was negligent, you will need to show that you were free from any negligence and that you did not contribute to the collision in any way.  For example, if you’re vehicle was struck by someone who was texting while driving , then that can be an example that the person was negligent. The next step will be to show that you are free from any negligence in regards to the cause of the collision.