Common Types of Car Accidents in California
When you are in an auto accident, whether it’s a single-vehicle accident or multi-vehicle one, the type of accident is important. It identifies how the accident likely occurred, indicates who may be liable or at-fault for the accident, and suggests what types of injuries are generally common for such an accident. Knowing these things, you already have a good starting position to begin a claim or lawsuit and recover damages.
Here’s what you should know about each of these types of accidents. One caveat, however, is this: below is merely an overview of what commonly occurs. Each accident is unique and has its own specific circumstances.
How the accident actually happened in the Los Angeles metro area and who caused it may not be easily deciphered. A resourceful attorney will accurately spot and develop the most important issues you may have in your specific case, and if needed, may even have an accident reconstruction report completed . This report involves a thorough investigation and in-depth analysis by skilled experts. We know the attorneys who make sure a thorough investigation is undertaken so that important facts are discovered timely. A small detail can change the outcome of a case, and that’s why a good personal injury with specific experience in auto accidents is critical. Contact us, and we’ll make sure you get in contact with the right attorney.
Rear-End Collision
Rear-end collisions occur just as the name suggests: when a vehicle strikes another vehicle from behind it. Rear-end collisions by far exceed any other type of car accident in terms of their annual numbers and percentages, as well as injury and fatal accidents. According to Caltrans’ 2017 collision report, more than half of injury accidents were the result of rear-ends (for a total of 33,362 rear ends out of a total of 62,221 car accidents). Rear-end accidents were also the cause of 229 fatal accidents out of a total of 1,430 fatal accidents (16% of all fatal accidents).
Common Causes & Liability
The most common causes of rear-end accidents according to NHTSA include:
- Speeding
- Distracted driving
- Drowsy or sleepy driving
- Road rage
- Heavy or congested traffic
- Mechanical failure
- Intoxicated driving (drugs or alcohol).
Typically, the person who rear-ends another vehicle is almost always liable for the accident.
Rollover
Rollover accidents, also referred to as overturns, occur when a vehicle––typically only one vehicle––rolls over. There may be only one rollover or multiple ones in a single accident. Caltrans reported that in 2017, 136 of all fatal accidents and 4,014 of all injury accidents were caused by overturns. Those numbers are much less than rear-ends and sideswipe accidents, but these types of car accidents are significant because they can lead to some of the most severe injuries.
Common Causes & Liability
Taller, narrower vehicles––like SUVs and pickup trucks––are more likely to roll over than passenger vehicles, but if given the right circumstances, any vehicle can overturn. The most common causes of rollovers include:
- Loss of control of a vehicle
- Falling asleep at the wheel
- Distractions by cell phones
- Distractions by passengers
- Striking an object, like a curb, guardrail, another vehicle, or some other type of obstruction
- Risky behavior, like aggressive or reckless driving.
Run-off-road accidents involve serious injuries and fatalities.
Run-Off-Road Accidents
Run-off-road accidents are typically single-car accidents when the driver runs off the road. According to a 2011 report published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), these types of accidents are serious and occur on rural and urban roads.
Common Causes & Liability
According to NHTSA, the most common causes of run-off-road accidents include:
- Drowsiness
- Distracted driving
- Overcompensation and other performance errors
- Intoxicated driving
- Roadway alignment with curves
- Speeding
- Adverse weather.
Also typical of run-off-road accidents is that liability is most often with the driver unless the accident is caused by a reasonably unexpected danger or an unsafe road conditions such as the road’s alignment with a curve. If there is an engineering issue, then liability could be with an agency responsible for the road. These types of cases can be complex and involve different procedures and statutes of limitations (especially, if it’s against a governmental agency).
Sideswipe Collisions
Sideswipe collisions occur when two sides are traveling next to each other in the same direction and the sides of the vehicles swipe each other. This type of accident occurs a lot when there are two or more same-direction lanes and one or both cars attempt to get into the same lane. Caltrans reported in 2017 that there were 82 fatal sideswipe accidents and 7,859 injury accidents. Fortunately, sideswipes don’t cause as many fatalities but the problem is that it usually is the cause of a second collision, where one vehicle swerves and strikes another vehicle or object, like a guardrail, tree, light post, etc. Sideswipe collisions may also result in a rollover accident.
Common Causes & Liability
As mentioned, the most common cause of sideswipes is an attempt to enter the lane where there’s already a vehicle or another vehicle is also entering the same lane. Other causes include:
- Distracted driving
- Speeding
- Overcorrection.
Side-Impact (T-Bone) Collision
Side-impact collisions, also referred to as T-bone or broadside accidents, occur when the front of one vehicle strikes the side of another vehicle, creating a “T” shape. According to Caltrans, out of all California auto accidents involving fatalities in 2017, 139 were side-impact collisions. During the same year, 3,867 side-impact accidents involved bodily injuries. These types of auto accidents are most common in intersections.
Common Causes & Liability
The most common causes of side-impact collision include:
- Reckless or careless driving
- Distracted driving
- Drunk driving
- Drugged driving
- Failure to yield to oncoming traffic
- Failure to properly stop at a yellow or red traffic light or stop sign.
Unlike other accidents where liability usually rests with the vehicle striking another vehicle first, liability in side-impact collisions can lay with either driver: the one crashing into the side of a vehicle or the one whose vehicle was struck. It all depends on the facts and circumstances.
Side-impact collisions often occur at lower speeds so the risk of severe injuries is usually redacted. But the problem is with the impact on the side of the vehicle. If the side of the car is struck where the driver or a passenger is, then the impact can be harsher than if not seated on that side of the vehicle.
Head-On Collision
A head-on collision is also sometimes referred to as an intersection crash because intersections are the most common sites of this type of accident. As the most dangerous kind of collision, a head-on occurs when two vehicles crash into each other from the front.
According to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) 2017 Collision Data on California State Highways (the most current report available), head-on collisions accounted for 1,125 injury accidents out of a total of 62,221 injury accidents (only 1.8% of all injury accidents in California). That’s fortunate because head-on collisions have the potential to be devastating. In fact, head-on collisions accounted for 174 fatal accidents out of a total of 1,430 fatal accidents (12% of all fatal accidents in California) in 2017.
Common Causes & Liability
Head-on collisions are most often caused by:
- Reckless drivers where, for example, a driver may drive into oncoming traffic while speeding, swerving, or weaving through traffic, perhaps without even stopping at a yellow/red light or stop sign;
- Distracted drivers who are paying attention to something else, like a passenger or their phone, and not paying 100 percent attention to the road;
- Fatigued drivers who are drowsy or falling asleep and slip into the lane of oncoming traffic;
- Drunk drivers (intoxicated by alcohol or drugs) who swerve or otherwise slip into the lane of oncoming traffic; and
- Road conditions made poor by design, neglected maintenance, objects in the road, or bad weather conditions––in such cases, liability may lie with a government agency or another agency responsible for the design or care of the road or a natural hazard, for example, a tree fell into the road causing another car to swerve right into the lane of oncoming traffic.
Off-Road Accident
Off-road accidents are accidents that don’t occur on the road but in or on parking lots, parking garages, ramps, private property, or off-road paths. Like hit-and-run accidents, off-road accidents can occur via one of any of the car accident types discussed on this page. The good news, though, is that these typically involve lower speeds and so the injuries tend to be less severe.
Common Causes & Liability
The most common causes of off-road accidents include:
- Uncertainty, where the driver isn’t sure of the right-or-way;
- Distracted, where the driver is focused on something else (like a vacant parking space) and not on surrounding cars or pedestrians; and
- Dangerous external factors, like low lighting or an accumulation of debris.
Liability can be an issue in off-road accidents. There are multiple factors that could come into play. Much of it will come down to the small details. For example, a driver wants to make a left turn, and there’s another car to the left of him who wants to turn into the parking lot. As the driver making a left begins to go, a pedestrian darts in front of him. The driver swerves to avoid the pedestrian but swipes the other vehicle who was also trying to turn into the parking lot. Liability could rest on several factors, but more likely this situation would be a case where the defendant could argue that the other driver contributed to the accident and his/her injury and thus reduce any compensatory package.
Injuries in off-road accidents are typically less severe except in those rare cases where a car strikes a pedestrian, bicyclist, or a rider of skateboard, hoverboard, or scooter.
Phantom Car Accident
A phantom car accident is akin to a hit and run except there’s no contact with another vehicle. Phantom car accidents refer to situations where another driver is responsible for the accident but the responsible driver never actually collides with your vehicle. Like a phantom, the at-fault driver was there and then not there. Sometimes, phantom drivers are aware that they caused an accident while other times they may not be.
Similar to hit-and-run cases, phantom car accidents can be a problem because many times, as implied above, the at-fault driver gets away. Only through things like eyewitness testimony or available video (from a vehicle’s camera or another camera on a nearby building or structure) will the phantom driver be located if he or she didn’t initially stop after causing an accident.
Common Causes & Liability
As mentioned, phantom drivers are typically responsible for causing these types of accidents. But these cases can be complex. The accident may have been caused by the phantom driver as well as another driver who wasn’t paying enough attention to the road.
For example, imagine a trucker on a highway who swerves abruptly into another driver’s lane. In order to avoid the truck, the second driver had to slam on his brakes. But then there was another driver (a third driver) who was speeding and who had to slam on his brakes to reduce the impact as he collided with the second driver. Here, the phantom driver (the truck driver) gets away. He is the one who actually caused the accident and bears most of the responsibility. The second and third drivers ended up in a collision with each other, and both bear some liability as well.
The most common cause of a phantom car accident, therefore, is the phantom driver him or herself. The phantom driver who triggered the accident is also liable for it, but it’ll come down to if you are able to identify the phantom driver or not, and then prove your case.
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Hit & Run Accident
Hit and run accidents occur when a driver strikes another vehicle (or even a bicyclist or pedestrian) and takes off without stopping to exchange information and to make sure no one was injured. California leads the nation in the number of hit and runs, especially fatal hit and runs, according to a Hit-and-Run Crash study put together by AAA. With regard to fatal hit and runs, in 2016 (the most recent data), there were 337 hit and run crashes involving one fatality, and that was second only to Florida, where there were 206 instances.
Common Causes & Liability
In a hit and run accident, the other driver is generally at-fault––that’s why s/he hit and ran. Sometimes, drivers get scared––maybe they don’t have insurance or maybe they were drinking and driving and don’t want criminal charges assessed against them. Further, hit and run accidents can take the form of just about any accident type, from head-on collisions to T-bone collisions. Additionally, an investigation could discover that the driver who hit and ran may not have been the only contributor to the accident, but s/he is guilty of the hit-and-run offense. That can be used against the driver in civil claims to bolster the victim’s case.
The problem, however, is this: you need to identify the hit-and-run driver. That requires resources and a thorough investigation. You can’t count on the police to do it––in fact, the LAPD usually resolves only a small number of hit-and-runs (e.g., 8 percent in 2017, according to Los Angeles Daily News). You need a personal injury lawyer with specific skills in hit-and-run cases who knows where to look and what to look for.
Uninsured Motorist Accidents
Uninsured motorist accidents occur when the at-fault driver does not have auto insurance to cover the damages that the non-fault driver may have suffered. Uninsured motorist accidents can occur in any of the above situations, including hit-and-run accidents––in fact, uninsured motorists are often motivated to run because they do not have insurance and fear fines, fees, and a lawsuit.
According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), California ranks twelfth in the United States with the highest number of uninsured motorists. An estimated percentage of 15.2% of drivers in the state are uninsured.
Common Causes & Liability
The most common cause of uninsured motorist accidents is this: the cost of auto insurance. Drivers who can’t afford it are unlikely to purchase or keep current payments of required auto insurance liability coverage. These drivers are liable for not having auto insurance, but they may not always be liable for the accident.
Simply because a driver doesn’t have the required insurance doesn’t automatically mean responsibility. It’ll come down to the facts and circumstances. If you (and not the uninsured motorist) actually caused the accident, your own insurance company (if you purchased uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance) will fight your claim and pay for damages.
Common Injuries in Car Accidents
Injuries in car collisions, like in other type of accidents, depend on the type of auto accident. Common injuries, however, include:
- Head trauma, TBI or other brain injuries
- Back or neck injuries
- Shoulder injuries
- Upper or lower extremity injuries
- Knee injuries
- Soft tissue injuries
- Whiplash
- Cuts and bruises
- Lacerations
- Fractures or broken bones
- Scarring or disfigurement
- Delayed injuries
- Internal organ damage or bleeding
- Amputations
- Spinal cord injuries
- Paraplegia or quadriplegia
- Paralysis
- Permanent or temporary disability
- Catastrophic, serious, or severe injuries or even
- Wrongful death
The severity of the injuries depends on the seriousness of the car accident. When these accidents occur on interstates and highways at high speeds, the injuries can obviously be severe as opposed to an accident in the city limits of a small town, especially in off-road accidents.
Regardless of the type or severity of injury, it’s important to keep in mind that when you file an insurance claim, insurance companies may fight the claim. An experienced personal injury attorney with specific experience in car accidents will be critical to recovering just and fair compensation for all damages you have suffered.
Retain a Resourceful, Smart Auto Accident Attorney in Los Angeles Today
If you or someone you love has been injured in an auto accident in the Los Angeles metro area, contact us today. We’ll listen to your concerns, answer your questions and address your issues, evaluate your specific situation, and get you into contact with a smart, resourceful, and committed personal injury attorney with specific experience in auto accidents. Your claim or lawsuit is dependent on the attorney you hire and on the timely filing of your case, so it’s critical for you to call as soon as you can.
