When you have 350+ people roaming around on the same continent, all using high speed vehicles on man-made roads, there are going to be issues. Accidents, hit and runs, and other motor vehicle incidents are a certainty.
Luckily for victims of these accidents there are laws which protect them and are designed to compensate them for damages received, both medical and property related. That’s where an injury attorney in Melbourne, FL comes into play. By retaining the services of a legal professional, a citizen has the best chance at receiving the best compensation possible.
Here are the most common kinds of accidents in the United States as laid out by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles:
Rear-end collisions are the most prevalent type of car accident. They often stem from distracted driving, tailgating, or sudden stops in heavy traffic. Sources directly citing FLHSMV data describe this as the top crash type overall. Though these are often not fatal, they can do a great deal of damage both physically and to the vehicle itself.
Side-impact (T-bone) collisions — These frequently occur at intersections when one vehicle strikes the side of another, often due to running red lights, failure to yield, or misjudging gaps in traffic. They rank high in both frequency and severity, contributing significantly to injuries.
Angle or intersection-related crashes (which overlap with side-impact and left-turn incidents) — Intersection crashes are a major category, with failure-to-yield violations (including left turns) linked to over 150,000 incidents in earlier years like 2021. These remain prominent due to Florida’s high traffic volume at urban intersections.
Left-turn accidents — A subset of intersection crashes, these happen when a driver turning left fails to yield to oncoming traffic, leading to head-on or side-impact collisions with the turning vehicle.
Sideswipe accidents — These involve vehicles brushing or scraping along their sides, often from lane changes, merging, or drifting without signaling. They are common in heavy traffic or on multi-lane roads.
Single-vehicle crashes (e.g., fixed-object collisions like hitting guardrails, trees, or poles, or run-off-road) — These rank highly in some breakdowns, especially for property damage only or fatal crashes, and often involve factors like speeding, distraction, or impairment.
Head-on collisions — Less frequent overall but more severe when they occur, typically from wrong-way driving, crossing center lines, or improper passing.
It can be dangerous out there. Between weather, distraction and being surrounded by distracted drivers, the environment is dangerous when operating a motor vehicle especially at high speed. Defensive driving and being an excellent driver yourself are the only tools you have to avoid getting into one of the accidents mentioned above.
