Human error: The leading cause of car accidents

If you consider the common causes of car accidents, you may be able to avoid being involved in one. You may notice that more car accidents happen at night, for instance, or that drunk-driving accidents often happen on the weekends. You may wonder about the role that inexperience plays with teen drivers or how big of a problem distracted driving has become since the invention of the smartphone.

These are all good things to consider, and being aware of the risks you face may help you avoid a crash. But the root cause of most car accidents is just one thing: Human error. One study found that drivers caused 94% of car accidents.

Various errors cause accidents

The reason this percentage is so high, of course, is that many issues noted above lead to human errors. A drunk driver drifts out of their lane. An inexperienced teen does not slow down properly for a corner. A distracted driver doesn’t stop in time at a red light. These are all specific issues that all fall into the umbrella category of human error.

Why it’s really important to know the role of human error after a crash, though, is that this is usually where fault lies. Yes, in 6% of cases, other causes were found. The weather could play a role, for instance, or a car could have a defect. But this is quite uncommon. No matter what that other driver says after they hit you, odds are that the accident is simply the result of a mistake that they made. That’s when you need to seek financial compensation.