When you are out on the highway, the thought of an accident may have crossed your mind. There’s heavy truck traffic, high speeds, and seemingly distracted drivers. All those seem like risk factors for a large number of crashes. But do more car accidents occur on the highway?
Let’s examine the numbers to determine the answers for you. It might surprise you to know where the most car wrecks occur.
How Do Highways and Local Roads Compare?
At Forbes Law Offices, our personal injury lawyers handle a lot of highway and rural car accident claims. When analyzing where these accidents occur, you want to examine the overall trends. Although there is limited data, some information is available on highway versus other road accidents.
According to the NHTSA’s Traffic Safety Facts, there were 42,939 fatalities resulting from motor vehicle traffic crashes in the United States in 2021. Of these fatalities, 60% occurred in urban areas, while 40% occurred on other road types, including rural local roads
There are several reasons for those numbers. These local streets have more intersections, stoplights, pedestrians, cyclists, and other potential distractions that increase the chances of an accident.
However, this does not mean highways are risk-free. While accidents may be less frequent on highways, when they do happen, they often result in much more serious injuries or even fatalities.
Why Highway Accidents Are More Dangerous
Speed is the number one factor in the severity of car accidents on highways. When you are driving at high speeds, your ability to react to sudden changes is reduced. That means that if another car merges onto the highway, there’s debris in the road, or there’s a shift in weather conditions, it takes longer to stop or avoid an obstacle.
At speeds of 65 mph or more, a crash can cause major damage, such as whiplash, concussions, or even spinal injuries. These types of accidents often leave drivers and passengers with long-term consequences, from physical pain to expensive medical bills.
Does Traffic Volume and Congestion Matter?
Highways are designed to handle large amounts of traffic and maintain smooth traffic flow.
Unfortunately, things always seem to go wrong. Congested highways can cause drivers to become impatient or frustrated. In turn, this can lead to risky behaviors such as tailgating, weaving between lanes, or speeding to make up for lost time.
These actions can result in accidents when drivers are trying to push their way through heavy traffic or stop-and-go conditions.
Risks on Local Roads
When compared to highways, local roads have more intersections, traffic lights, and pedestrian crossings. While this makes local roads safer in some ways, it also creates more opportunities for accidents to occur. Intersections are risky. They involve left turns, right turns, or stops, and all of these actions can lead to collisions if drivers are not careful.
Some of the most common accidents on local roads occur at intersections, such as T-bones or side-impact collisions. These types of accidents are dangerous because the side of a car offers less protection than the front or rear.
Driver behavior plays a role in these car crashes. Distracted driving, running a red light, or failing to yield at a stop sign are all common causes of intersection accidents. Many times, they can happen in the blink of an eye.
Highways and local roads each have their own risks. However, the severity of accidents tends to be higher on highways.
What This Means for Your Legal Rights
Liability needs to be determined whether an accident happens on a highway or a local road. On highways, multi-vehicle collisions are more common. Unfortunately, that makes it difficult to determine fault.
Local road accidents, especially those occurring at intersections, often involve disputes over right-of-way. If drivers run a red light or fail to stop at a stop sign, they are considered at fault. However, comparative negligence laws could affect how liability is shared between the parties.
In both scenarios, seeking legal counsel is required. A personal injury lawyer can help you with insurance claims, negotiate settlements, and, if necessary, file a lawsuit to recover damages for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
The options are still the same if you have been affected by a car wreck on a highway or roadway.
You have the right to pursue legal action against the responsible parties. At Forbes Law Offices, we can help you take the next step for your case.
