June 12, 2025 | Car Accident
Assuming you regularly travel by car, either as a passenger or a driver, your chances of eventually being involved in a car accident increase with every mile you travel.
While there is nothing you can do to outright prevent the risk of a car accident if you ever travel by car, you can lessen your chances by familiarizing yourself with (and avoiding) the following 12 most common causes of car accidents in Bowling Green:
1. Distracted Driving
Distracted driving is easily one of the leading causes of car accidents, both in Bowling Green and across the country. Common distractions include things such as:
- The use of electronic devices
- Consuming food or drinks
- Conversations with passengers
- Adjusting the radio
- Roadside accidents
Anything that causes you to take your eyes off the road, hands off the steering wheel, or mind away from driving can be dangerous. While distracted driving only results in a few fatalities per year, it nevertheless accounted for over 400,000 injuries in 2019.
2. Drunk Driving
Alongside distracted driving, driving under the influence is one of the most common causes of casualties in car accidents. It resulted in over 12,000 fatalities in 2023 alone. Even a single drink before driving can be enough to significantly decrease your reaction time.
3. Fatigue
Extreme fatigue is effectively identical to driving drunk, seeing as you’ll lose mental acuity and physical reaction time. If you are so drowsy that you are drifting in and out of sleep (and thus closing your eyes), you can travel as much as 100 yards when traveling at highway speeds.
4. Speeding
Speed limits aren’t randomly assigned; civic engineers spend a lot of effort determining what speeds are safe for each road. And when a driver exceeds those limits, the amount of time they have to react to danger drops drastically.
Available reaction time is a combination of the speed at which you are driving and the distance between you and the car in front of you. Losing even a few seconds of reaction time is likely to result in an accident.
5. Tailgating
Reducing the distance between you and the front vehicle is effectively the same as speeding. When you drive too closely to another vehicle, you don’t have enough time to react if they stop suddenly.
6. Running Red Lights Or Stop Signs
When someone runs a red light or a stop sign, you usually have little to no warning that they have failed to properly yield the right of way to you, and that can result in a devastating accident.
7. Bad Weather
Rain and fog are, in many cases, much more dangerous than people realize. Even driving at the speed limit can be reckless when it either impedes your visibility or decreases your traction. Typically, you should drive around 10 mph below the speed limit when the weather makes driving dangerous; failing to do so can make you liable for any accidents that occur.
8. Nighttime Driving
Much like inclement weather, darkness makes it harder to identify dangers on the road. And though many modern cars have very powerful headlights, they could also backfire by way of temporarily blinding a fellow driver.
9. Unfamiliarity With The Area
When you don’t know where you are going, you are likely to pose a greater danger than other drivers around you. Even if you are following your GPS, you might make sudden turns or brake unexpectedly just to keep up with it. You are also more likely to take your eyes off the road as you look at a map or directions, or try to register a glimpse of a passing road sign.
10. New Drivers
Anyone who has recently gotten their driver’s license is more of a threat than experienced drivers because they haven’t yet developed the skills that keep everyone safe, such as regulating their speed. If you see someone who appears to be learning the ropes, you should give them plenty of space, both for your protection and for their protection.
11. Defective Vehicles
Beyond driver behaviors, accidents can happen whose causes are completely out of an individual’s control.
For instance, when you press the brake pedal, you expect your vehicle to slow down quickly. If that doesn’t happen, you are almost certain to get into a car accident. Any type of defective part on your car could potentially cause a crash. Getting your car regularly inspected can help prevent car accidents due to defective parts.
12. Defective Roads
Likewise, when a road is damaged in some way, that damage can have the same catastrophic effect on your control. A sudden change in road surface or the level of the road can limit the effectiveness of your brakes or your ability to control the direction of your vehicle. If a road looks like it is in disrepair, you should find an alternate route.
Avoiding These Common Causes Of Accidents
There are two ways to avoid all of these common causes of accidents in Bowling Green. The first is to avoid driving in a way that puts you and others at risk; there is not much you can do about being a new driver, in particular, but otherwise, you can avoid dangerous behavior.
Similarly, pay attention to other drivers on the road. If they are driving dangerously, give them a wide berth, potentially pulling over until they are long gone.
Contact Our Car Accident Law Firm in Kentucky Today To Get More Information
If you’ve been injured in an accident in Lexington or Bowling Green, please contact our car accident lawyers at Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC for a free case evaluation.
Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC – Lexington, KY Office 325 W Main St #210, Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 550-2900
Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC -Bowling Green, KY Office 814 State St. suite 100, Bowling Green, KY, 42101 (270) 517-2014
Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC – Nashville Office
49 Music Square W #504, Nashville, TN 37203 (615) 676-7060