Independence Missouri Auto Accident Attorney Doug Horn is alerting local citizens to a heightened risk of car and truck accidents over the next 6 weeks. Horn says a combination of factors special to this time of year brings on a new risk of danger for motorists. Horn cites 5 factors that make an Independence Missouri auto accident a higher probability for drivers in the coming weeks, including heavy traffic congestion, driver distraction, driver impairment, seasonal stress, and poor road conditions.
For obvious reasons, traffic volumes are much higher during the holiday season. With more traffic comes more collisions. This is especially true around highway interchanges and roads surrounded with retail shopping, like the Independence Center shopping mall.
Driver distraction is also expected to play a part in creating vehicle crashes. The biggest distraction is drivers using a cell phone to talk, text, navigate, access the web, and a host of other computer-like functions. Cell phone use is also habit forming and addictive which adds to the risk on the roadway. Drivers who would not normally use the phone while driving are more inclined to try and multi-task. While most people will tell you that cell phone use while driving is dangerous, a large majority of drivers continue to put themselves, their passengers, and others at risk by taking their eyes off the road to use a phone.
Likewise, driver impairment from drugs or alcohol and seasonal stress also play a big role in causing violent car accidents. As do poor weather conditions. Many drivers don’t account for changing road conditions especially at night when temperatures fall below freezing.
As an Independence Missouri Auto Accident Attorney with 25 years of experience, Horn is urging motorists to “drive by example” to minimize the chance of a collision. “Driving by example means that drivers can best protect themselves by driving alert, buckled, & cautious. It is simple as A-B-C”, Horn concluded.
