Common car accidents cause injuries to more than three million Americans every year.  Although not every car accident is fatal, most include damage to your vehicle and potential injuries. While common car accidents can be avoided by certain safety precautions, they still happen.

Most car accidents fall into several common categories. If you experience one of the following common car accidents, be sure to notify the police and explore your legal options.

Merging Accidents

Cars merging onto a highway are often vulnerable to the faster moving vehicles around them. Merging vehicles may miss blind spots and fail to see other vehicles, resulting in being side-swiped or hit from behind. Vehicles that are already on the highway should move over or slow down for merging traffic onto the highway.

Low-Speed Accidents

Often occurring in a parking lot or a low-speed road, this common car accident can still be damaging for your car or body. People tend to call low speed crashes names such as fender-benders, bumps, or small scrapes. While the low speed may lessen the damage, these collisions can still be dangerous and harmful.

Rear-End Collisions

One of the most common vehicle accidents is the rear-end collision. Common injuries associated with rear-end collisions include whiplash, back, and head injuries. This accident often occurs when one car is tailing another too closely in traffic, and the first car abruptly slows down or stops. Tailing or tailgating, in slow or fast traffic, places you and others at risk of a car accident. 

To help prevent this type of car accident, be sure to allow plenty of space between you and cars in front of you.

Single Vehicle Crashes

Often caused by high speeds or surprise obstacles, a single vehicle crash happens when a driver loses control and spins off the road or crashes into a stationary object. These types of crashes often happen due to inclement weather or a driver’s reaction while attempting to avoid hitting an animal. 

Avoiding this accident type is difficult, but as a rule, keep your eyes on the road and stay in control of your vehicle.

T-Bone or Cross-Traffic Accidents

Traffic intersection collisions can be some of the scariest. Usually, this accident occurs when another driver runs a red light or stop sign and hits another moving car. This accident can be fatal, depending on the speed of the cars and the location of the impact.

To avoid being caught in a T-bone or cross-traffic accident, stay aware of your surroundings. You may be able to see if someone doesn’t look like they’re going to stop at a red light or stop sign and avoid a collision.

Multi-Vehicle Collision

When three or more cars collide, the legal term for this is a multi-vehicle collision. Also called a pile-up, this common car accident most often happens on highways and busy roads. A multi-vehicle collision is particularly bad because they can often include fatalities and trapped vehicle passengers. Injuries may include everything from whiplash to life-altering injuries to death.

Head-On Collisions

The deadliest of the most common types of car accidents is the head-on collision. When the front-end of a car slams into another object, whether another car, a stationary object, or an animal, this is a head-on collision. Additional hazards such as inclement weather can increase the likelihood of accidents. Injuries from this type of collision are often severe, including internal damage, concussions, and dislocations.
 
Experiencing one of these common car accidents can be scary. After you’ve reported the situation to the police and dealt with the initial emergency responders, consider reaching out to a personal injury attorney to determine your legal options. Send us an email today at carrillolawoffice@gmail.com.