Every year, roughly 40,000 people pass away in car accidents and many more suffer life-changing injuries. Everyone knows that they’re taking on some level of risk when they get in the car. There’s just no other way to look at it.
But why do they take this risk? What do people tend to do that they believe is worth risking an accident? The obvious answer is simply that driving is convenient and often necessary in modern America, but let’s look at some of the specific reasons that people use their vehicles.
Driving by the percentages
The exact reasons that people drive are going to be different from one person to the next, but looking at the total numbers allows you to consider the percentages. When looking at the percent of vehicle miles traveled, they are as follows:
- 28% – commuting to work or coming home after work
- 25% – driving for recreational or social purposes
- 17% – running errands for the family, such as going to the grocery store
- 15% – doing other types of shopping, like going to the mall
- 15% – traveling to church or to school
The issue, naturally, is that you can’t predict when you’ll be involved in an accident. If you were just going shopping and you got hit by a drunk driver and suffered severe injuries, you clearly won’t think that going shopping was worth that risk. But you never expected to be hit in the first place, and you didn’t even make any driving mistakes to cause that accident.
If you do find yourself in this position, it’s important to understand all of the legal options at your disposal and to have a voice during a difficult time.