Traffic collisions cause injuries and fatalities globally, including in Mississippi. Numerous types of auto accidents exist, each with its own causes and legal, financial, and health-related consequences, and learning about these accidents can help motorists avoid them and effectively handle legal matters if they experience a collision. Gain a detailed understanding of common car accidents, alongside car accident injuries in Mississippi, and find out how Lott Law might assist drivers involved in these collisions with their legal issues; call our firm today at (228) 215-2787 to arrange a meeting with an experienced Mississippi car accident lawyer.
What Is the Most Common Car Accident Injury?
Perhaps the most common car accident injury, the parties involved in auto collisions often sustain fractures or broken bones because of the extreme force exerted onto individuals as vehicles collide with other cars, objects, animals, or people. These injuries include hairline fractures, typically mild in nature, as well as serious compound fractures, which may lead to reconstructive surgery. Fractures and broken bones are usually painful, impacting any area of the body containing bones such as the legs, arms, knees, hips, feet, hands, and ribs, and necessitate medical care.
What Car Accident Injuries in Mississippi Are the Most Common?
Findings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration state that traffic fatalities increased in Mississippi between 2019 and 2022 by 8%, with many more motorists likely sustaining injuries during the same period. The most common motor vehicle accident injuries in Mississippi, in addition to broken bones and fractures, are as follows.
Traumatic Brain Injury
A common and severe condition that may feature in car accident claims in Mississippi is traumatic brain injury (TBI). This arises due to the brain, an important and delicate organ, experiencing movement within a person’s head because of the impact of a collision, particularly if an individual’s head collides with a surface or object, penetrating their skull. Such an event can seriously damage the brain, leading to memory, movement, and learning complications, as well as bodily function difficulties, which may require lifelong rehabilitation and care.
Lacerations and Cuts
Lacerations and cuts are common car collision injuries arising due to debris and foreign objects moving around a car and striking its occupants. If an auto accident victim hits a vehicle’s sharp objects/surfaces, they may experience deep and severe cuts, which may require prompt medical intervention to prevent infection and stop excessive bleeding.
Lost Limbs
An individual’s limbs or other body parts may become unintentionally severed during an auto accident, leading to a lost finger, toe, foot, hand, ear, arm, or leg. In other scenarios, a victim might sustain significant damage to a limb, which may require amputation to avoid further health issues, such as infections. When a victim requires an amputation, this can cause psychological harm and physical impairment.
Soft Tissue Damage
Auto accidents can cause an individual’s soft tissue, such as ligaments, muscles, and tendons, to become torn, twisted, or strained. This may result in motor vehicle accident victims suffering very painful injuries that limit mobility, requiring several weeks or months to recover.
What Are Examples of Common Car Accidents?
In addition to being dangerous for involved parties, car accidents are often deadly and come in various forms. Some examples of common auto accidents include the following.
Rear-End Accidents
A rear-end accident involves one vehicle colliding into the rear of a motor vehicle ahead of it, which is a common traffic collision occurring due to tailgating, sudden braking, or driver distraction. Depending on the circumstances of the event, including how fast the tailing motorist was driving, the injuries from these incidents can vary from minor whiplash to severe brain damage. To learn more about common car accidents and typical car accident injuries in Mississippi, and acquire help with a claim, contact a Mississippi auto accident lawyer from Lott Law today.
Head-On Crashes
Head-on crashes transpire when the front of one vehicle hits the front of another. These collisions can lead to severe injuries due to the vehicles’ combined speed enhancing the force of the impact. The causes of these accidents include driving in the wrong lane, fatigue, driver impairment, or distracted driving.
T-Bone Collisions
Otherwise known as side-impact or broadside accidents, these collisions entail a vehicle’s front striking another vehicle’s side, which typically take place at intersections. T-bone collisions can result in significant injuries to those in the struck vehicle sitting on the side of the impact. Side-impact accidents usually occur because of motorists failing to yield, not stopping at red lights, or becoming distracted.
Hit-And-Run Collisions
When a driver causes a collision and flees the accident scene without helping injured parties, identifying themselves, or exchanging contact details and insurance information, known as hit-and-run collisions, this can cause injuries and fatalities to road users, as well as vehicle damage. As in all states, Mississippi considers hit-and-runs criminal offenses, resulting in legal and financial penalties imposed on offending parties.
Single-Vehicle Collisions
A single-vehicle collision is when an accident involves one vehicle, such as when a car strikes a stationary object like a tree, loses control, or rolls over. Driver distraction, error, or impairment, as well as poor weather conditions, are the likely causes of these incidents.
Multi-Vehicle Accidents
These accidents, which involve several vehicles, can be large in scale and usually occur on freeways. The main causes of multi-vehicle accidents are adverse weather, low visibility, and excessive speeding. Multi-vehicle collisions may also happen due to a domino effect caused by another two-vehicle accident, which pushes cars into others, or whereby other vehicles cannot stop quickly enough to avoid a hazard.
Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrian accidents relate to when a motor vehicle strikes an individual traveling on foot. Usually, these accidents can lead to severe injuries and death, particularly if a motorist is driving at a high speed, due to pedestrians lacking any protection against a vehicle’s force. Speak to Lott Law today to understand more about common car accidents and car accident injuries in Mississippi and discuss your legal requirements with a Mississippi motor vehicle accident lawyer.
Bicycle Collisions
Defined as accidents where a motor vehicle collides with a bicycle, these are similar to accidents involving pedestrians in that cyclists have few protections against the vehicle, often leading to serious injuries and potentially fatalities. The causes behind these collisions include failing to yield, distracted driving, and a parked motorist opening the door into a cyclist’s path.
Motorcycle Crashes
Like with pedestrian and bicycle accidents, motorcycle crashes involving a motor vehicle are likely to lead to the motorcyclist suffering severe/fatal injuries due to insufficient protection from the motorcycle. Driver distraction is the primary cause of these collisions.
Where Do Most Accidents Occur in Mississippi?
According to the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT), 690 fatalities occurred on Mississippi roads in 2016, transpiring in numerous locations, but most commonly at intersections, near motorists’ homes, in parking lots, and in rural spots. The location of an auto accident impacts the drivers’ actions post-impact, injury severity, and how to gather the evidence needed to establish liability and effectively file a car accident claim. Below is an explanation as to why these accidents frequently happen in these places.
Collisions Near Home
Most people tend to drive to areas close to where they live, and due to sheer probabilities, the chances of a collision are greater here compared to other locations. Because of this, the vast majority of fatal collisions are near a victim’s house.
Rural Road Accidents
Per the National Transportation Research Group, the rate of auto accident fatalities on rural roads in Mississippi is four times greater than on other Mississippi roadways. This is mainly due to Mississippi having a large number of rural areas in comparison with other states, leading to a greater chance of incidents occurring in these locations. The factors contributing to these accidents include lower police presence, reduced DUI/speed limit enforcement, insufficient street lighting and signage, a greater chance of animals being on the roads, inadequately maintained roads, enhanced driver distractions (such as alcohol or cell phone use), and long, windy roadways with unsafe overtaking opportunities.
Intersection Crashes
Unsurprisingly, intersections are a common location for motor vehicle accidents in Mississippi. Drivers may make costly mistakes in these spots, such as not obeying road signals, red lights, or stop signs, and not yielding the right of way to other motorists, leading to collisions.
Parking Lot Incidents
Another noteworthy accident site in Mississippi is a parking lot due to the challenges of parking close to other vehicles, increasing the chance of collision. However, these accidents typically take place at low speeds, which, thankfully, leads to minor injuries with the exception of accidents involving pedestrians (data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that more than 60,000 pedestrians sustained injuries from automobile collisions in the United States in 2021).
Drivers and other road users involved in common car accidents who sustain car accident injuries in Mississippi might consider consulting with a Mississippi personal injury attorney to obtain guidance on how to proceed with their claim. Contact Lott Law today to book an initial meeting with our team.
What Is the Most Common Cause of a Rollover Accident in Mississippi?
Rollover accidents are common auto collisions whereby a motor vehicle flips or tips over, landing on the vehicle’s side or roof. These incidents usually only involve a single vehicle, with driver error being the most common cause. However, other factors may also contribute including vehicle malfunctions, environmental factors, and road conditions; like most collisions, a detailed investigation is necessary to ascertain what caused the rollover and establish fault.
Some examples of what might cause a vehicle to roll over are intoxication or fatigue, incorrectly loaded cargo, wet/icy road conditions, tire failure, turning sharply while driving at speed, potholes, debris, or crashing through a road barrier and falling down a hillside. All vehicles may roll over, although SUVs, trucks, and other tall, narrow vehicles with a high center of gravity are particularly susceptible to these incidents.
What Are the 7 Most Common Causes of Collisions?
Illegal passing, such as when a driver attempts to overtake another vehicle at an intersection, near an approaching corner, or at a railroad crossing, can cause dangerous head-on accidents. Here is an overview of the other most frequent causes of auto accidents.
Pedestrian Actions
Pedestrians are road users not operating a vehicle, and they can cause collisions due to failing to pay attention, slipping and falling, and jaywalking. A pedestrian can slip and fall anywhere, but when this occurs near a busy road, it increases the risk of involving a motor vehicle and causing a collision. Jaywalking and crossing roads while not paying attention may cause oncoming vehicles to brake suddenly and swerve, leading to a range of collisions such as single-vehicle, head-on, and side-impact accidents.
Drunk Driving
Impaired driving is illegal in every state, including Mississippi, because it greatly increases the chances of an accident. This is due to alcohol and other impairing substances causing poor judgment, blurred vision, reduced motor skills, and other effects that make it unsafe to drive.
Distracted Driving
A key way of avoiding accidents on the road involves maintaining concentration. Using a phone, whether it involves texting, calling, or scrolling causes drivers to lose focus, which means they may unintentionally not comply with traffic laws or fail to spot hazards. Other distracted driving behaviors, such as eating, drinking, zoning out, and focusing on passengers rather than the road also increase the risk of an accident.
Road Conditions
Sometimes, factors beyond the control of any driver can cause an accident, and one such instance relates to the condition of the road on which they are driving. For instance, potholes and other road damage can cause single-vehicle and rollover accidents, particularly if a pothole is deep and motorists are speeding.
Excessive Speeding
Speeding is a common cause of motor vehicle accidents that occurs on a global scale. When a motorist exceeds the speed limit, this makes it harder for them to notice hazards, stop in time, and steer precisely, which can lead to collisions.
Adverse Weather
Poor weather is a leading contributor to auto accidents. Ice, snow, high winds, and rain can impact a motorist’s ability to see the road clearly and control their vehicle safely. However, motorists can avoid collisions caused by adverse weather by only driving when necessary, using winter tires, watching out for falling debris (during storms), and reducing their speed.
Failing To Yield
Failing to yield is potentially one of the most dangerous traffic violations to commit. This negative driving behavior confuses other road users and can lead to collisions (often head-on) involving pedestrians, cyclists, or other motor vehicles.
Contact a Seasoned Mississippi Car Accident Attorney To Understand More About Common Auto Accidents and Injuries
Auto accidents are often traumatic, leading to severe, and sometimes, fatal injuries. Common car accident injuries in Mississippi include damage to soft tissue, brain injuries, and broken bones, caused by incidents such as rear-end collisions, head-on crashes, and hit-and-run accidents, requiring prompt medical treatment to prevent health complications and improve a victim’s chances of obtaining compensation. Those involved in a motor vehicle collision may consider contacting a Mississippi auto accident attorney to get help with pursuing a lawsuit or insurance claim to hold the responsible parties to account and recover damages for medical bills, lost earnings, pain and suffering, and vehicle damage; call Lott Law today at (228) 215-2787 to understand more about common car accidents and schedule an initial consultation to discuss your legal concerns.