Factors Affecting Charlotte Rear-End Accidents

Understanding the types of crashes that occur in Charlotte, Concord, Fort Mill, Indian Trail and surrounding areas is important to reduce crash rates. A personal injury lawyer knows that one of the most common types of crashes is a rear-end accident. Rear-end collisions account for around 33 percent of total U.S. accidents and for 11.8 percent of fatal multi-vehicle accidents. Read-end crashes are also the type of accident that is most likely to happen at signalized intersections. 

Prevention of rear-end accidents is important to reduce the risk of people becoming involved in a collision and to save lives, especially since these types of accidents do occur so frequently. A recent study published by the College of Engineering aims to take a close look at some of the risk factors that can up the chances of a rear-end crash happening.

What are Some Factors That Can Affect Rear-End Accidents

The comprehensive study from the College of Engineering has detailed information about a huge number of different factors that can determine whether a rear-end accident crash is likely. The same factors can also predict the role that different motorist will play in causing a crash. Three of the many things that the researchers looked at included the impact of driver characteristics on crash likelihood, the impact of road conditions and the impact of vehicle type.

The researchers found that younger people were much more likely to be the striking vehicle, or the car that hits the lead vehicle when a rear-end crash happens. Those under 25 are especially vulnerable to becoming involved in rear-end accidents. Younger people are more likely to hit the car in front of them because younger drivers tend to be both inattentive as well as aggressive, which can be a dangerous combination.

Older drivers, on the other hand, tend to take longer to process information and longer to make decisions, especially if faced with multiple possible options. These motorists are thus more likely to have their vehicles struck at intersections.

As far as vehicle-related conditions, one surprising finding is that people actually leave less space between their passenger car and light trucks or other larger vehicles than they do between their passenger car and other passenger cars. The larger the front vehicle was and the harder it was for the motorist in the rear car to see around it, above it or through it, the more likely it is that the driver in the rear would be close to the lead car. If the driver in the rear could easily see around the lead vehicle, that driver was likely to be further back.

Finally, road conditions including weather, lighting and traffic play a role in determining the likelihood of rear-end crashes. When there are lots of vehicles on the road, cars are packed more closely together and rear-end accidents are more likely. Bad weather also increases the chances of rear-end accidents and motorists should be sure to slow down when the roads are wet so they can have a better chance of staying safe and avoiding hitting the car in front of them.