According to CityLab, there is an average of 90 deaths from car accidents every single day in the United States. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says that its latest figures show that in 2013, California, Texas, and Florida registered the largest number of fatal crashes, and that 57% of the country’s fatal vehicular accidents were single-vehicle crashes. There are thousands of injuries daily from car accidents, most of which could be prevented because they are caused by human or mechanical error.

One frightening thing is that more individuals are not just involved in minor fender-bender accidents where no one is injured. Instead, many people are involved in serious crashes that cause irreparable harm, life-threatening injuries or loss of life. For instance, in New York, a group called “Families for Safe Streets” (#CrashNotAccident) was launched last year to bring awareness to reckless and aggressive drivers who cause serious harm or death to others. The group’s primary mission is to end “traffic violence” and make people realize the severity of their actions. They even spearheaded a campaign to get media and supporters to refer to “car accidents” as “car crashes” simply because most car accidents are 100% preventable.

But, what has caused this increase in car crashes? Researchers have found that too many victims of car crashes are not seeing the driver and ultimately face real consequences for their inability to see beyond their blind spot.  As such, driver accountability has reached rock bottom. In many cases, excuses like ”the car was in the driver’s blind spot” or “my car accidentally jump the curb” are often used to describe the incident but are not justifiable excuses. In fact, most of these cases are actually 100% preventable.

The best way to stay clear of car accidents is to avoid the top five reasons for them in the first place. Here are some common preventable causes:

  1. Not staying in your lane.
  2. Changing lanes erratically or frequently.
  3. Reckless driving.
  4. Failure to obey traffic signs.
  5. Failure to yield.

In Nashville, one of the most common causes of car accidents is “failure to yield.” This refers to common road courtesy that ultimately comes down to making the right judgment call. In 2013, failure to yield (also known as “Right of Way” in some states) was one of the top causes of fatal accidents in many states including Ohio, Florida, Chicago, and California. Up to the end of 2015, “failure to yield” remained one of the top three causes of car accidents.

Failure to yield can occur in many forms. It can happen when changing lanes without checking or being careful about your blind spot, not giving way to an emergency vehicle, not slowing down when turning or at an intersection, or not shifting lanes if you are moving slower than the rest of the cars on the highway.

Unfortunately, accidents caused by failure to yield can cause a chain reaction, so you may not be directly involved in the initial crash, but you could be injured because of the chain reaction that ensues.

Once the accident has occurred, the confusion that usually follows can affect your rights as the injured party. Although you may collect compensation for the injuries sustained from the car accident, you should consult a car accident lawyer about your legal options.

In the first place, car accidents are notorious for causing many types of injuries. A few examples of injuries that can result from a driver’s refusal to yield to another car or pedestrian include traumatic brain injury, fractures, and spinal cord injuries. The injuries can be more extensive if the accident occurs at a high speed.

The type of compensation you can expect your lawyer to seek include reimbursement of medical expenses (short- and long-term), loss of wages, disability, medical injuries, emotional trauma and therapy, and death.

The challenge with filing a Failure to Yield case is that it is highly technical and requires expert testimony from doctors, police authorities, and engineers. You may also need to call witnesses, particularly if liability cannot be clearly assigned.

On the other hand, if you are the driver of the car and you feel you took every precaution in driving but still ended up in an accident, you too can fight for your legal rights. It must be said, however, that if a pedestrian was injured while you were the driver, accountability would lie with you in most cases.

Your best option after a car crash is to contact Keith Williams Law Group, a top personal injury law firm in Nashville that offers a no-obligation consultation and an impressive record of fighting for the rights of its clients.