Many Laredo car accidents are T-bone crashes, as two cars collide in a "T" shaped pattern with one vehicle hitting the side of another. T-bone crashes cause around 10,000 fatalities annually and are more likely to be fatal than other collisions. Traumatic brain injury and serious pediatric injuries are also more likely in T-bone accidents.
While T-bone crashes are especially common at intersections, all intersection crashes can be dangerous. Drivers must take precautions to avoid these collisions when they approach areas where roadways cross.
Intersection Collision Prevention Tips
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates 96 percent of all intersection accidents are attributed to critical errors made by motorists. Only three percent of intersection crashes had the environment as the critical cause of the crash.
Top errors which drivers made included:
- Inadequacy in surveilling the area. Insufficient surveillance of the intersection and other vehicles caused 44.1 percent of intersection collisions.
- Incorrect or false assumptions regarding what other drivers would do. False assumptions cause 8.4 percent of total crashes occurring at intersections.
- Making a turn with the driver's view obstructed. Turning without being able to clearly see oncoming traffic is the critical driver error attributed to causing 7.8 percent of accidents at intersections.
- Driver distraction. Internal distractions in the vehicle were the critical error causing 5.7 percent of accidents at intersections.
- Misjudgment of road gaps. Drivers who misjudged how fast other cars would arrive at the intersection were the cause of 5.5 percent of intersection crashes.
By comparison, the top six reasons for non-intersection accidents included speeding and driving aggressively; performance errors among drivers; drivers facing internal distractions; motorists making critical non-performance errors; drivers failing to adequately surveil the area; and drivers becoming distracted by something located outside of the car.
Turning with their view obstructed was the cause of 335 percent more crashes at intersections as compared with other collisions. Inadequate surveillance was six times more likely to be the cause of an intersection accident, compared with a non-intersection crash.
Drivers should be aware of these major risks, which exist at all intersections. Intersections controlled by traffic signals are the site of 52.5 percent of intersection accidents, compared with 31.3 percent of intersection crashes at those controlled by stop signs and 15.9 percent at intersections without any traffic control devices. Motorists should not assume they are safe just because an intersection has a red light and should not count on other motorists to obey the traffic signal or stop for the light.
To reduce crash risks, drivers need to drive defensively, watch other drivers instead of assuming their behavior, and ensure they enter intersections only after they have checked to make sure they can clear the intersection before being struck by another car.
Intersection are the site of 40 percent of all crashes in the U.S., so it is a smart choice for motorists to take extra precautions when going through intersections.