When you’re driving through Louisiana or any other state, you’re obligated to adhere to traffic laws. You also, no doubt, understand that there’s an inherent risk involved with driving or traveling as a passenger in a motor vehicle. For instance, some sections of roadway are consistently more dangerous than others, such as an empty stretch of a country road versus a busy intersection. Collisions typically occur more often at intersections than they do on quiet, rural roadways.
Most vehicle-related injuries and fatalities are the result of collisions that occur at or near intersections. Even if you’re alert and cautious at the wheel, another person’s actions can place you at immediate risk. Most intersection accidents involve at least one of two issues, including recognition errors and decision errors.
What is a recognition error, and how does it apply to intersection collisions?
When you’re behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, your safety and the safety of those around you hinges upon your ability to recognize what’s going on in your immediate surroundings. In other words, you must pay close attention to the task at hand (driving) and the road ahead, and in the immediate surrounding vicinity of your vehicle.
A recognition error occurs when a driver becomes distracted by something going on inside of his or her vehicle, or external issues. A distracted driver is a driver who is likely to make a recognition error. More than half of all intersection collisions involve recognition errors. If you’re entering an intersection, for instance, and a nearby driver fails to recognize that his or her light has turned red, that recognition error may cause you to suffer injury if there’s a collision.
Decision errors are also common at intersections
In addition to recognition errors, if another driver makes a poor decision while you’re both approaching an intersection, the results can be disastrous, if not fatal. Decision errors at intersections often include drivers who try to “beat” the light by speeding up when a light is yellow instead of slowing down. Running a red light, making a “rolling” stop instead of coming to a full halt at a stop sign and other issues are decisions that drivers make outside of accepted safety standards.
If driver negligence causes you injury in a motor vehicle collision
Whether at an intersection or anywhere on a Louisiana roadway, you can reasonably expect that all drivers with whom you’re sharing the road at any given time will adhere to traffic laws and safety regulations. If another driver’s negligence causes a collision that results in physical, emotional or economic damages, state law allows you to seek restitution in court.