According to the Texas Department of Transportation, there were 61,954 serious injury crashes in the state of Texas. Denton county had 1,208 serious injury crashes, Collin county had 1,616, Dallas County had 5,532, and Tarrant County had 4,491.
The #1 contributing factor to these serious injury crashes was failing to control speed, followed by driver inattention (going too fast and not paying attention).
The following data is the most surprising. If you were asked what the weather conditions were of most injuries, you would probably say rainy or icy conditions or driving at night. You would be wrong. 63% of serious injury crashes occurred during daylight hours and 88% happened during dry road conditions. Less than 7% of serious injury crashes happened during rainy conditions. Serious injury crashes happened only about 10% of the time when combining wet and icy road conditions.
Finally, the ages of drivers who were in serious injury accidents was not as surprising. Of those accidents where the driver’s age was reported, 27% were between the ages of 18 and 25, 23% were between the ages of 26 and 35, 19% were 36 to 45, 16% were 46 to 55, and 15% were 56+.
So, what does this data tell us? For one, watch out for young adults driving too fast in near-perfect conditions. I always assumed (and was wrong) that most serious injuries happened during poor weather / driving conditions, but everyone knows that the younger drivers are the most at risk for car accidents.
What do you do when you are hurt in a car wreck? Always call the police and get an accident report. This is very helpful for your insurance company. Call 911 if you or someone else is seriously injured. See a doctor who specializes in auto injuries as soon as possible following the accident. WOL+MED, for example, can see you the same day as your injury, and we specialize in auto injuries and urgent care. Also, you might need a personal injury lawyer and believe me, there are some really good ones out there.
Personal Injury Attorneys specialize in dealing directly with your insurance company and with the other driver’s insurance company. They make sure that all of your injuries and auto damages are fully covered. Many people think they can do all of this alone, but personal injury lawyers know how to get over the hurdles that some insurance carriers put in the way. As far as doctor’s bills are concerned, a personal injury attorney will give the doctor a letter of protection (LOP) and this will allow you to get all of the treatment you need with no out-of-pocket cost. Car accidents are unexpected to say the least. You’re not planning on having to pay doctor’s bills and auto body expenses. LOP’s will help you get all of that done with far less financial stress.
WOL+MED knows who the good personal injury lawyers are and we can recommend someone to you who will do the right job for you. If you or a loved one has been in a serious auto injury, give WOL+MED a call. We are auto injury experts and we want to be your doctor.
For more information, visit on the web at www.wolmed.com.
