Motor vehicle accidents are a serious concern in Indiana, often resulting in injuries that change lives in ways no one expects. These can range from broken bones and traumatic brain injuries (TBI), to ongoing physical pain, persistent headaches and neck pain injuries, even emotional trauma. At Garrison Law Firm, LLC, right here in northeast Indianapolis near Fishers, we’re dedicated to helping our fellow Hoosiers when accidents turn life upside down.
Accidents happen for all kinds of reasons, from simple distractions to outright dangerous behavior on the road. Here’s a look at the most common reasons we see at Garrison Law Firm, where we focus on supporting injured clients across Indianapolis and surrounding communities.
Garrison Law Firm concentrates much of its practice on representing folks with injuries caused by motor vehicle collisions. Here are many of the top causes of car wrecks.
Common Causes of Car Accidents in Indiana
1. Speeding
Speeding is a huge factor in many accidents. In 2021, there were over 39,500 fatal crashes in the U.S., and about one-third of these involved speeding. Here in Indiana, speeding makes an already dangerous situation even riskier, whether on I-465 or a back road.
Those accidents resulted in 12.9 deaths per 100,000 people and 1.37 deaths per 100 million miles traveled. About one-third of these accidents had speeding as a contributing factor.
2. Distracted Driving
A lot of injuries and even deaths could be prevented if drivers simply kept their eyes and attention on the road. Defensive driving can make all the difference, but distractions like texting while driving, phones, GPS, talking with passengers, and even snacking behind the wheel cause people to lose focus. This can lead to missed traffic signs, unsafe lane changes, or failing to yield to people on bikes or on foot.
Defensive driving saves lives. Distracted driving comes from cell phone use, instrumentation distractions such as navigation and radio, passengers’ conversations, eating while driving, and daydreaming.
Distracted driving causes failure to yield the right-of-way to vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. It results in missing changes in speed limits, a changing stop light, and road hazards and causes unsafe lane changes.
3. Cellphone Use While Driving
Texting while driving is especially dangerous because it takes attention off the road. Indiana has a hands-free law in place, which is a great start, but it’s tough to enforce all the time. Keeping the phone out of reach is one of the simplest ways to stay safe.
Indiana has enacted cellphone use laws that ban texting and talking on a cell phone call unless it is hands-free. That is a legislative “nice try,” but enforcing such laws is nearly impossible.
4. Driving Under the Influence
Drinking and driving remains one of the most serious dangers on our roads. In Indiana, the legal limit is 0.08 BAC, but many people don’t realize they’re impaired until it’s too late. Drunk driving accidents can be deadly, and they affect people from all walks of life—right here in our own community.
Depending on the level of impairment, an impaired driver may well not comprehend how intoxicated they are when deciding to get behind the wheel.
One of the reasons the alcohol-prohibited level of blood alcohol content (BAC) is low at .08 BAC is that some people at the level of impairment do not understand that they are under the influence.
Previously, Indiana had a limit of .1 BAC, which for most people was a reasonable level. However, research determined that at .08 BAC, many people exhibit unsafe impairments.
Certainly, intoxicated driving causes a lot of fatal accidents in Indiana.
5. Fatigue
Tired driving is more dangerous than many people realize. Truck drivers, especially, are at risk due to tight schedules and long hours. Fatigue doesn’t just make you drowsy—it also slows reaction times and makes it hard to focus, which can lead to serious accidents.
6. Aggressive Driving
Aggressive driving seems self-explanatory but may be best defined by examples.
We’ve all seen aggressive driving on Indiana roads—whether it’s tailgating, speeding through yellow lights, or weaving through traffic. This kind of behavior is risky and often leads to accidents. We have all seen cars that speed up to get through a red light just as in changes. Sometimes the light is red before they reach the front of the intersection.
We have all been passed on the interstate by someone doing well over 100 MPH. How about weaving through heavy traffic? We’ve certainly seen that too.
We have seen drivers pass over a double yellow line.
We have all had someone tailgate us, which distracts us.
The worst form of aggressive driving is “road rage.” Road rage can kill in two different ways, collision and murder.
Aggressive driving is responsible for killing more people than drunk drivers. Gross violations of the rules of the road can justify a claim for punitive damages.
The bad news is the punitive damages are not covered by insurance.
7. Mechanical Defects
Some accidents are caused by vehicle problems, like worn brakes or tire blowouts. When drivers neglect maintenance, it’s not just their safety on the line but everyone’s. And sometimes, it’s a result of poor repairs, which makes liability complicated.
8. Negligent Entrustment
In Indiana, car owners can be held responsible if they let someone unlicensed, underage, or otherwise unfit drive their vehicle. This often goes overlooked but is an important factor when an unqualified driver causes an accident. A vehicle owner can even be liable for the injuries caused by someone to whom they loaned their vehicle especially when the vehicle owner should have known that the person was unlicensed, an underage driver, or not otherwise competent to drive.
How Garrison Law Firm Can Help
If you or a loved one has been in an accident in Indianapolis, Fishers, or anywhere nearby, Garrison Law Firm is here to help. Our team understands that each case is unique, and we’ll dig into the details to find out if any of these factors contributed to your accident. Sometimes we bring in experts to help reconstruct the accident and provide the evidence needed to get you the support you deserve.
No law firm has “seen it all,” but we are getting close.
- We have seen head-on collisions where a sports car doing well over 100 mph hit a semi-truck head-on stopping the truck’s forward motion immediately.
- We have seen a semi-truck driver fall asleep in the wee hours of the morning and hit a tow truck from behind that was hooking up a vehicle off the side of the interstate.
- We have seen pedestrians hit along the road, hit while pumping gas at a gas station, hit while legally crossing a street or in a crosswalk.
- We have seen a drunk driver going the wrong way on a one-way street hit a young motorcyclist head-on.
- We had a case where a dump truck operator was exceeding the speed limit on a narrow rural road near a construction site, and then he hit head-on a slow-moving flatbed truck causing the dump truck’s load of stone to bury the other driver in his truck.
We could go on and on.
From settlement negotiations with insurance companies to bringing your case before a jury, Garrison Law Firm is dedicated to fighting for you and getting you the best result.
Give us a call at 317-842-8283 for a free evaluation, or stop by our office at 9795 Crosspoint Blvd, Suite 101, Indianapolis, IN 46256. We’re in the northeast corner of Indy, right on the border of Fishers, and we’re here to support Hoosiers through tough times.
Contact us today for a free evaluation at 317-842-8283.
