What Causes Driving Accidents?

You want to be able to drive safely and not have a driving accident? What causes driving accidents?

Driving can be a complex activity which involves a lot of rules and regulations. You can end up in serious trouble if you break these rules.

It’s very hard to avoid a car accident. If you are worried about a potential accident, make sure you are not distracted. Distracted drivers are the ones who cause the most accidents.

How to be more aware of what is around you to avoid driving accidents

There are so many answers to what causes car accidents. Consequently, driving while tired is a distraction. Not being attentive when changing lanes or not checking your blind spot while reversing etc. It begs the question are they really accidents?

The statistics indicate a picture that points largely to driver error or lack of skill/preparation. This means we have incidents on the road that have unintended consequences. It is however wrong to refer to them as accidents. If you did not come to a complete stop at an intersection then a car hit you, was it an accident?

Driving Accident Statistics

Here are the numbers:

Random incident completely out of drivers control:	1%
Equipment or environmental failure – ie brakes not functioning or large pothole in road	3%
Equipment failure/environmental damage combined with driver skills	3%
Not following safe driving practices and regulations	93%

So there you have it… it looks like you are in control of making your driving safer.

If you think about it, there are many causes for a vehicle incident leading to injury or damage. However, random “accidents” are not a concern. Dangerous driving, speeding, tail-gating, distractions etc are the concern… so, how can we find a way to stop having these incidents?

The best approach is to become more aware. If you know what you’re doing, then you are less likely to have an accident.

How to learn to be safe, while you are driving

Driving is one of the most stressful situations for most people. There is always something to worry about — someone has parked illegally, there is a car in the lane next to you, there is a deer running across the road.

You can either drive defensively and constantly worry about what is going to be around the next corner or you can drive defensively and not worry as much but plan for the unexpected. So if you are wondering what causes driving accidents, it is a lack of skill and a lack of attention.

Check out our online courses if you want to avoid fear and build confidence. You can register for our free winter driving ebook here and we will send you info on our current courses. 

Driving accidents happen when we least expect them. That is why defensive driver training is essential. To stop these types of incidents happening, you just need to be more aware.

That’s it. That’s the solution to the problem.

So, the real answer is to become more aware of your surroundings. You need to change your habits or routines so that you are one step ahead of drivers around you as well as the environment you are in.

You need to learn to pay more attention and put your defensive driver training skills to good use.

We can help you understand what causes driving accidents

In future articles, I will reveal some of the techniques you can use to help you drive safely. Techniques, carefully designed to help you build defensive driving skills. 

Sounds good?

Let’s dive in…

How to Drive Defensively and Get Results…

Have you heard the phrase “the best defence is a good offence.” That doesn’t work when you’re driving defensively.

Driving defensively is a completely different strategy. It requires driving in a way that makes you a much less desirable target. So you need to think about your safety first, and then your success. Ensuring you know exactly what is going on around you and what might be going on ahead of you is critical. Learning to look as far ahead as possible is important. You also use peripheral vision to spot unexpected wildlife, vehicles or children.

Driving defensively means looking for ways to get out of dangerous situations before they happen. It’s all about anticipating trouble and making the most of every opportunity to avoid it. And when you do encounter trouble, you’ll be able to navigate it in such a way that keeps you safe, and keeps you from causing harm.

A lot of people have trouble driving defensively. They drive in a way that creates situations where they are vulnerable to getting into accidents. From here on in, you can make a commitment to not be like that. Simply take time to get an education. We have some free resources available as well as complete access to all of our training. 

Defensive driving requires conscious decisions.

If you want to drive defensively, start paying attention to what you do. Look at your driving habits. Are you in a hurry? Are you distracted? Do you talk on your phone? When you look at your driving habits you’ll notice patterns that may be causing you to be vulnerable to accidents.

Contact us here if you are interested in learning more about our online driver training modules and help yourself become a better, skilled defensive driver.