Over the last 30 years there have been major advances in safety measures both inside the car and out. Car designs have been improved to lessen the chance of injury during impact, and modern road safety engineers spend countless hours looking at high impact danger areas, analyzing those results and finding ways to decrease the number of potential accidents. The net result of all these factors has seen the number of motor vehicle accidents decrease from 17.9 million in 1980 to 10.2 million in 2008. As huge a decrease as that is, the number is still too high, and it's interesting to see what the top 10 causes of those accidents are.
10. Road Conditions - Despite the best efforts of city safety engineers, there are still some roads that slip through the cracks and remain a danger. Most of these problems are due to poor maintenance, leaving gaping pot holes and uneven surfaces that are a major hazard to drivers.
9. Reckless Driving - There are those who feel that the rules of the road simply do not apply to them, ignoring signs and all proper signals. This complete disregard puts not only themselves at risk, but also every other car that crosses their path.
8. Speeding - Speed limits are in place for a reason, yet some drivers still feel the need to go over the limit, with many of the accidents occurring in residential areas where kids are at play.
7. Driver Distraction - These range from events taking place inside the vehicle (kids fighting etc.), to outside distractions like construction zones, pedestrians and animals. Taking your eyes off the road for a second or two is more than enough for an accident to occur.
6. Drug Use - While many may believe that illegal drugs are what make this so high on the list, most can actually be attributed to over the counter medications which can cause drowsiness.
5. Drunk Driving - Studies have shown that the inclusion of alcohol into the driving mix not only increases the chance of an accident, but also increases the possibility of serious injury and death when those accidents happen.
4. Rubbernecking - The most severe form of driver distraction, rubbernecking is when drivers get caught up in an outside event; usually another accident or some other sort of road emergency.
3. Multitasking - It's not uncommon to see people applying make-up, reading reports or eating while driving. Any other task added to the act of driving will exponentially increase the probability of an accident.
2. Switching Channels - Everyone loves a little bit of musical entertainment in the car, but taking a hand off the wheel, or the eyes off the road can lead to disaster in the time it takes to skip a track on the CD.
1. Cell Phones - It's alarming how quickly cell phones have vaulted to the number 1 spot, given that they haven't really been around that long. Texting while driving is enemy number 1 at the moment, and has led to a number of states banning it entirely in the car.
These can all be avoided if drivers would simply take the time to pay attention to the road, follow the signs, and leave all other tasks until they arrive at their destination. Doing so could see another large drop in accidents over the next decade or so.