Car and truck collisions can happen any time in Fairfield, New Canaan, Darien and Weston.
However, a personal injury lawyer knows the warmer months pose a host of roadway hazards. Motorists must educate themselves in order to ensure their own safety, as well as the safety of those with whom they share the road.
Risks of Summer Driving
A recent article by The Mirror focused on ten of the biggest hazards for motorists that arrive with summer weather. These include:
- An increase in the number of bicycle riders on the road. One study of bicycle riders found that more than 51 percent of people who ride are on their bicycles at least once per week during the summer months.
- An increase in the number of children playing outdoors. Children are one of two age groups most likely to be killed in collisions as pedestrians. In 85 percent of crashes where a pedestrian dies, the driver is going between 30 and 40 miles an hour.
- An increase in the number of motorcyclists riding on roads. Motorcycle riders are around 30 times as likely to be killed in motor vehicle collisions as compared with drivers of passenger vehicles.
- More teen drivers on the road during more hours. A newly licensed teen driver has a one in five chance of becoming involved in a collision during the first six months that the teen has a license. Teens tend to drive much more often during their summer vacation when they are off from school. Teenagers with passengers in the car with them are especially dangerous because the more teen peers in a vehicle, the greater the chances a collision will occur.
- Tractors on roads in greater numbers. Tractors can be dangerous as farmers move equipment around for their summer work.
- More active deer. The spring and summer are prime times for deer to migrate from their breeding areas.
- More plants growing. When vegetation starts to fill in during spring and summer, visibility can be impeded.
- More cars breaking down. The heat can cause tire blowouts and other dangerous breakdowns that leave people at risk of becoming involved in collisions.
- More tourists. Tourists often are focused on GPS devices and on maps and aren't paying as much attention as they should be to where they are going on roads they aren't very familiar with. Lots of people traveling and taking road trips during the summer also means more people on the roads, which always increases the chances of a crash.
- Rain after long dry periods. Studies have shown that the roads are actually safer and there are fewer accidents if it rains regularly than if there are long dry spells. After three weeks without rain, the first rainy period brings a 10 percent greater chance of collisions. This is because the rain makes dust, diesel and oil that has collected on the road very slick.
Drivers should enjoy their summer on the road, but need to make sure they are being careful and alert to these dangers.
A Fairfield County personal injury lawyer at the Vishno Law Firm can help after a collision. Call 888-222-1688 today.