Motor vehicle collisions are classified as head-on collisions, rollovers, rear-end collisions, side-impact collisions, and run-off the road collisions. In addition, they are further defined as single or multi-car collisions. Automobiles, SUVS, light and heavy trucks can hit each other, animal, buildings, debris or pedestrians.
Head-on collisions are considered the most dangerous with the greatest likelihood of fatalities. They happen most commonly on narrow, two lane roads or in the case of opposing traffic patterns with a lack of necessary median strips or other crash-prevention barriers.
Intersections also hold great potential for accidents - head-on or side impact being the most common.
Accidents between wild animals and vehicles are the most difficult - if not impossible - to prevent. They happen often in the hill country of Texas due to the large population of white tail deer and human intervention very utterly futile to prevent such accidents.
While deer and vehicle collisions are the most common, drivers have been known to hit everything from cows to geese. At the risk of sounding inhumane, it is often best to hit the brakes and then hit the animal instead of swerving to avoid it and taking a chance of losing control of the vehicle.
The phenomenon of vehicle-structure accidents is most often the result of a driver losing control of their vehicle for any number of reasons. These types of accidents hold the added dimension of property damage costs beyond vehicle repairs and can be very expensive to correct.
Vehicle-pedestrian accidents tend to be more harmful to the 'walker' than the vehicle. Thouands of pedestrians die each year at the hand of motorists and tens of thousands suffer debilitating injuries.
While the pedestrian holds some level of responsibility for their own safety the driver must always be alert for those who are traveling on foot.
Finally, debris in a roadway also leads to accidents. Everything from tire treads to mattresses has been dropped in the middle of the road. Drivers should always be alert for obstructions.
Greg Baumgartner is a Houston truck accident attorney and the founder of the Houston personal injury law firm known as the Baumgartner law firm.
