Nearly everyone has experienced at least a parking lot fender bender, but some accidents are far more dangerous and traumatic than others, resulting in the most catastrophic injuries and fatalities. These deadly accident types often occur at high speeds but can cause grave injuries even at slower speeds.
Car accidents are the leading cause of accidental deaths in America, with 42,795 deaths from car accident injuries in 2022 alone. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describes the statistics as a “national crisis of traffic deaths.” High-mortality accident types contribute to the majority of these traffic deaths as well as hundreds of thousands of injuries each year.
Multi-car pileup accidents result in many severe injuries and fatalities not only because more cars mean more accident victims, but also because they typically occur when cars are hurtling forward at high speeds and unable to stop in time to avoid adding to a collision that has already occurred, resulting in a chain reaction. Because multi-car pileups involve multiple collisions, some of the vehicles in the pileup receive numerous impacts and may become crushed between vehicles. Personal injury lawyers in Atlanta have handled cases in which fire, explosions, and flying debris from the onslaught of multiple collisions increases the number and severity of injuries.
When two cars are traveling in opposite directions and one vehicle veers out of its lane into the path of an oncoming vehicle, the result is a head-on collision. Head-on collisions are particularly deadly due to the tremendous force of the impact when two vehicles driving along at full speed in opposite directions collide. Even if the vehicles are traveling at a relatively sedate 45mph, two vehicles colliding head-on at that speed equals the same force as a car colliding with a stationary object at 90mph.
Head-on collisions are not as common as most other accident types, yet they account for more than 10% of car accident fatalities. Drivers and front-seat passengers face the greatest risk of severe injuries and mortality in head-on collisions since the front of both vehicles bears the full force of the collision.
Rollover accidents happen when a vehicle’s tires hit a curb or ditch, causing the weight of the entire vehicle to suddenly shift to the two tires on one side. They also occur when a car rounds a curb at high speed or from a powerful side impact. Taking sudden evasive actions to avoid a collision is a top cause of rollover accidents. Tall, unbalanced vehicles with a high center of gravity like large commercial trucks are particularly vulnerable to rollover accidents.
Rollover accidents often result in severe injuries and can make extricating injured victims from the vehicle difficult, causing dangerous delays in medical treatment.
T-bone collisions commonly occur at intersections and often result in severe injuries, especially when both vehicles collide while traveling at full speed. In a side-impact collision, one vehicle strikes head-on against the side of another vehicle. This type of accident is deadly both to the driver and front-seat passenger in the vehicle that strikes head-on, as well as to motorists seated on the side of the other vehicle where the impact occurs.
While the front and rear ends of cars have bumpers, crumple zones, and the buffer of the car’s hood and trunk, side-impact collisions occur at the doors of the impacted vehicle, with little protection between the point of impact and the seated occupants. Around 20.7% of car accident fatalities occur in T-bone collisions.
An estimated 31.7% of fatal accidents are single-car accidents that occur when a vehicle runs off the roadway and collides with a stationary object like a guardrail, light pole, concrete barrier, or tree. These accidents most commonly occur due to evasive actions taken to avoid a collision. They also occur due to over-correction, poor weather conditions, drowsy driving, or intoxication.
No matter how a car accident occurs, recovery is often difficult, both physically and financially. A skilled Atlanta car accident attorney can help victims recover financial compensation from these dangerous types of car accidents so they can focus on maximizing their physical recovery.
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