Where do car accidents most often happen? Typically, they happen within 25 miles of home. After all, most driving does occur close to home, right?
Think about this: you become so used to the roads around your home, neighborhood, and region, that you become almost too relaxed about it– on “auto-pilot.” And you know what that means? It means the less you’re paying close attention to what’s around you, the more likely you are to get into an accident. Ideally, the best advice to avoid getting into a crash near home– or anywhere for that matter– is to stay alert. You need to be sober, awake, buckled up, in decent physical condition to handle driving a car or truck, and ready to react should anything go wrong.
Did you know time of the day matters when it comes to accidents? According to statistics, late afternoon and evening rank as the most dangerous times to drive. So, between the hours of 3 p.m. and midnight, you’re statistically more likely to get into an accident. This makes sense, too, because more cars and trucks tend to be on the roads at this time, with many commuters heading home from their 9-to-5 jobs.
Interestingly, you’d assume crashes are more apt to happen in cities, but The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that, in 2012, for instance, nearly 4,000 more fatal car accidents happened on rural roads than on busy urban streets. So be careful on those rural roads.
Finally, certain states, especially those with abundant country roads, are home to more fatal car accidents. These states include Wyoming, Mississippi, Montana, and North Dakota. Meanwhile, heavily-populated states including Texas, California and Florida are states where car accidents happen all-too-often.