Many of us have seen the online videos showing vehicles crashing into homes and businesses. While most people view these incidents as isolated incidents, the truth is, they are more common than you might think. If you find yourself in the hospital following this type of accident, you should seek the counsel of a local personal injury attorney.
Statistics Tell the Story
Believe it or not, somewhere in the country there are about 60 accidents involving vehicles careening into homes and buildings every single day. Whether it’s a restaurant, office suite, retail business, or home, these crashes can have a devastating effect.
What we know about these Accidents
Research has enlightened us as to the populations involved in these incidents, and the typical errors drivers make:
- Individuals aged 70+ and those with fewer than five years of experience behind the wheel are most likely to be involved in these accidents;
- Distracted driving contributes to miscalculations by drivers;
- The majority of these incidents involve pedal errors, where drivers mistake the gas pedal for the brake pedal;
- Inebriated driving is responsible for about 15 percent of these collisions;
- 500 fatalities are attributed to these crashes every year;
- More than 4,000 people experience serious personal injuries annually due to these incidents;
- The cost for incidents involving just convenience stores and gas stations is over $70 million annually, and is roughly $200 million for all incidents involving commercial crashes.
Preventing these Crashes
Certainly it would be fantastic if drivers never made errors that led to these kinds of crashes. But since we can’t count on that, prevention specialists recommend several strategies to reduce the number of vehicles that collide into commercial buildings:
- Make a concerted effort to reduce nose-in parking slots;
- Redesign parking lots so drivers do not advance toward storefronts;
- Install bollards and barriers around buildings to protect against impact;
Incidents Here in Mississippi
Mississippi is not immune to these accidents:
- When the driver of a car accidentally hit the gas instead of the brakes, the car careened into a Dollar General store, leaving a hole in the storefront;
- The Harrison County Courthouse was damaged after a Gulfport man crashed into it;
- Customers at a Columbus Subway restaurant were hospitalized after a vehicle crashed through the store. Apparently the driver had exited the car and accidentally left it in drive. As it inched forward, the driver jumped back in and punched the gas pedal instead of the brake.
If You Are Harmed
Many of these accidents are not the result of out-and-out recklessness or viciousness: they are simply accidents. Nonetheless, innocents pay the price with injuries and deaths all too frequently. If you are the victim of this type of auto collision, the heavy hitting team at the office of Derek L. Hall, PC will fight for justice on your behalf. Contact us in Jackson for a free, confidential consultation today.
Resources:
- wlox.com/story/31584066/car-crashes-into-dollar-general-store/
- rmmagazine.com/2014/09/01/crash-course-the-overlooked-threat-of-vehicle-into-building-accidents/
- https://dlhattorneys.com/human-error-causes-accidents/
