Every day, Texas drivers face the risk of being injured in a car accident. The risk of a crash can be mitigated with appropriate defensive driving behaviors like controlling speed, anticipating sudden movements, and allowing adequate stopping distance. While the risk of being involved in a collision cannot be completely eliminated, when an accident occurs, the choices made during the car buying process can make the difference between life and death.
Knowledgeable Consumers Can Save Lives
Savvy car buyers can utilize existing research and safety data to reduce the risk of being injured in a car accident. Here are some recent findings about what factors can result in potentially life-saving implications for consumers:
The Age of the Vehicle: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that new vehicles offer the best chances of survival in a fatal car accident, and that the odds of survival incrementally decrease with each model year. This is not the only study which has found that newer vehicles are safer: the Australasian New Car Assessment Program reports similar findings in Australia and New Zealand.
The Size of the Vehicle: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted a study examining the safety of different vehicle models. Of the ten vehicles with the highest fatality rates, five were mini cars and three were small cars. The vehicles with lowest fatality rates were all large sport utility vehicles. This data corroborates prior studies which have also found large vehicles to be safer than small vehicles. It also illustrates a principle of physics: when two vehicles collide, the smaller vehicle will absorb more impact from the collision. Interestingly, this study also found that sport utility vehicles with four wheel drive had lower fatality rates than their two wheel drive counterparts.
New Safety Technologies: Lane assist and drift warning sensors, backup cameras, and electronic stability control are just a few recent technologies that improve and expand every year. Unfortunately, they are so new there isn't yet a large enough body of research data to determine whether these technologies prevent accidents. In fact, Jalopnik reports on a study by the Highway Loss Data Institute which showed that vehicles with lane departure systems actually got into more accidents than their counterpart models without the technology. This could be a statistical fluke, or it could be a trend which shows a larger problem (such as drivers becoming too reliant upon the technology and failing to respond to dangers in the road). Without an expansive body of data and years of trends to compare, it is not yet possible to be certain whether these technologies improve safety.
When it comes to car accident prevention, nothing can take the place of each and every driver faithfully adhering all of the rules of the road. If you are injured in a car accident in Texas, our law firm will work to help you recover fair damages for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.