CRASH! 6 Vehicular Accidents You’ll Often Encounter

Car crashes are such an unpleasant thing to happen to anyone. Sometimes it can cause severe damage to your exhaust system or to your vehicle’s metal parts. Worse, it can also harm its most precious cargo — you and your passengers!

A bad accident can cause terrible injuries which may result to amputations or worse, death. So if you plan to do an insurance claim, you must be aware on what kind of damage has been done to your vehicle. To help you out, we’ve listed down the different types of accidents you might encounter or might happen to you.

Head-On Collision

Considered to be the deadliest car crash, the head collision occurs when the front end of two cars smash against each other. In the United States alone, head-on collisions account for 10.1% of the fatal vehicular accidents! Possible causes for this accident are mobile device usage, older drivers (as some have slower reflexes) and driver intoxication.

(Note: Here’s where science comes in. Physics show that when two moving vehicles collide with one another, the impact to each car is equivalent to a car hitting a stationary vehicle such as a wall. Remember Newton’s Third Law? Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, thus the reason why the energy of the crash is transferred to twice the mass and why the impact is so strong. You’ll practically fly out through the windshield if you weren’t wearing your seatbelt at this point!)

Rear-End Collision

Unlike a head-on collision, the rear-end collision does not mean two ends of two vehicles hitting each other. What it does mean is a vehicle crashing against the rear of the automobile in front of it. Possible reasons for this accident are the unexpected deceleration of the front car, its brakes failing or the second vehicle speeding quicker than the front vehicle.

Side Collision

Commonly occurring in intersections or parking lots, a side collision occurs when another vehicle slams into the side of another vehicle. Also called T-bone or Broadside collision, the most common cause of this accident is due to one party or both not observing the traffic rules such as yielding to the right of way or running the red light. Due to the lack of airbags and other safety features, most passenger and driver injuries occur with this type of crash.

Side-sweep Collision

The least damage to both passenger and to vehicle occurs with this accident as it happens when one vehicle “swipes” the other. These two cars are frequently coming from the same direction. The damage is often just cosmetic, with the vehicle just needing a little touch up of paint; however, if one or both drivers lose control of their car, it may lead to more serious damage.

Single Car Accidents

As the name implies, a single car accident involves only one automobile. The circumstances of how it happen differs from case to case. More often than not, the car has hit another object such as a tree, road barrier or pole. Accidents of this sort may result in property damage. Injuries may occur on the driver and, if he or she had any, on the passengers. Bystanders and pedestrians may also be injured, depending on the conditions of the situation. Common reasons for this type of accident are driver’s fatigue, driving under the influence of alcohol and distracted driving.

Multi-vehicle Pile Up

A multi-vehicular pile up occurs when there are numerous automobiles involved in the accident. Usually happening on a highway or freeway, it’s one of the most fatal types of accident on the list as the crunched up metal parts of the cars make it difficult to get out and can cause possibly fatal injuries. It is not uncommon to hear dead on the spot fatalities occurring with a multi-vehicular pile up. Cars may spin out of control and can be hit from the side during this accident. A combination of the other types of accidents on this list may happen during an accident of this magnitude. As for the cause, it can be due to cars driving to close to each other, bad weather conditions or speeding.

When a car accident occurs, be prepared to spend big bucks to have your car repaired. Keep your papers updated and with you at all times to have less trouble just in case any of these accidents happen to you. Remember, safety first!