subject: Three Types Of Drivers That Should Concern Other Motorists [print this page] Generally, when a car accident happens, people involved often tend to look for excuses as to what may have caused the accident. While factors such as equipment failure, roadway design, and poor road maintenance may at times contribute to accidents, most accidents are the result of driver behavior.
Accidents will happen, but sometimes the errors that are the cause are so egregious that they rise to the level of negligence; negligence that may cause serious injury or even death to other motorists on the road. Having the proper auto insurance is even more important because of this very reason.
Three types of drivers are responsible for many of the incidents that result in accidents. They are: distracted drivers, speeding drivers, and aggressive drivers.
Distracted driving
Thanks to the rise of smart phones that allow texting and emailing from anywhere, distracted driving in the United States has almost grown to epidemic proportions. Drivers may be distracted by a spilled cup of coffee or as they change the radio station in their car, but drivers that use handheld devices to talk, text and email while driving are breaking the law in many states and willfully so.
Such driver behavior is negligent, and if texting while driving causes adistracted driving accident, these drivers are often found at fault.
Speeding Drivers
The risk of being in a car accident increases with speed. And the risk of ahigh-speed accidentcausing severe injuries or even death increases as well. Yet, despite well-known risks, over 75% of drivers admit to speeding on a regular basis. While most would agree that excessive speeds, like traveling 100 mph in a 65 mph zone is foolish, driving only 70 mph in a 65 mph zone can be just as dangerous.
Traffic engineers, who have determined the fastest a vehicle can travel safely on a given roadway, determine speed limits. Exceeding that speed, by even a few miles, can prove dangerous given the way the road is designed, because the faster a person travels, the longer it takes to bring the car to a stop and to react to road and traffic conditions.
Aggressive drivers
Law enforcement officials characterize aggressive drivers as those who: travel at excessive speeds, frequently change lanes, fail to properly signal or yield the right of way, tailgate, and often make rude gestures. These practices can also lead to car accidents, as these drivers tend to act a bit rashly and drive erratically. Be aware of these aggressive driving tendencies and try to steer clear of these drivers, if at all possible.
Knowing that we may encounter any, or all, of these types of drivers on a daily basis is just one more reason to drive with an auto insurance policy in force, at all times.
