Boston Car Accident Common Types

Boston was named the “worst driving city” for collisions in 2015, according to a report by the Allstate Insurance Company. Ranking 200th out of 200 cities, with Worcester right above it at 199, the likelihood of having a Boston auto collision is 157.7 percent higher than the national average. Time between collisions for resident drivers is estimated at 3.9 years. By contrast, drivers in Kansas City (the “best driving city”) have an average time between collisions of 13.3 years.

Just as Boston sees a large number of car collisions, it also sees a large variety of different crash types. The following is a snapshot of a few Boston car accident common types:

Head-On Collisions

Injuries are usually grave in head-on collisions as the cars are often traveling at high speeds. Distracted and drunk driving cause attention and judgment to be impaired, and it only takes a few seconds for a crash to occur.

Other potential causes are brake failure or passing a car in a no-passing zone with traffic coming in the other direction. The death of one or more drivers is often the tragic result of these accidents.

Rear-End Collisions

By default, these accidents are often blamed on the rear driver for not following at a safe distance, but if the front driver was acting recklessly, there are legal options available.

Rear-end collisions are common when drivers approach intersections. If the rear driver is distracted and doesn’t realize he or she needs to slow down, a rear-end collision is often the result.

Aggressive driving is another culprit. When the car behind tries to intimidate the front driver into moving over, the aggressive driver will often drive dangerously close to the car ahead. These drivers either don’t know or don’t care that aggressive driving is one of the top causes of auto accidents and fatalities.

T-Bone Accidents

Occurring frequently at intersections, one vehicle’s front hits the other in the side during a T-bone accident. This is frequently caused by running red lights and stop signs or from misjudging the speed of another car. When two opposing cars try to turn at the same time, it can happen as well.

Rollovers

While rollovers are not as common as the other crash types listed (they account for only about 3 percent of traffic incidents nationwide), they are listed here because they are devastating in terms of both property damage and fatalities, accounting for one-third of passenger-vehicle deaths. By improving the integrity and strength of car roofs, manufacturers could cut down on this tragic number, but it all starts with drivers behaving responsibly.

Sideswipes

Changing lanes while driving is one of the easiest ways to collide with another car. Sideswipes happen when drivers fail to signal far enough in advance, a vehicle veers into another lane, or a vehicle coming from behind drifts and scrapes into a car it’s passing. Blind spots are also a huge factor in this type of accident, and drivers should be especially wary of truck drivers who have enormous blind spots due to the length of their vehicles.

Massachusetts Auto Crash Lawyer

No matter what type of crash you have been in, the Law Offices of Joel H. Schwartz have years of experience building cases for our clients and seeking the maximum compensation for their damages. Call us today to arrange a free case evaluation at 1-800-660-2270 and speak to one of our knowledgeable car crash attorneys. Alternatively, you can also complete our contact form below to have someone from our office contact you.