Parking lots can be hard to navigate, especially during the holiday season. Not only are they packed with cars, but there’s also people walking with children and carts, and they’re probably not paying attention to cars because they have other things on their minds, like their shopping lists.

Whether you’re trying to get into or leave a spot, things can get serious very quickly when an accident occurs. Low speed accidents can be dangerous and cause serious injuries, especially when a pedestrian is involved. Thankfully, most parking lot accidents are not serious and go unreported, but they still happen.

Kentucky has some of the most dangerous roads in the country. In 2017, there were 22,846 people injured in traffic accidents and 664 were killed, according to a report by the Kentucky State Police. The report also stated that compared to the national average, the roadway death rate of our state is slightly higher. The cause could be road hazards that are common in our state. Keep reading to find out what might be causing so many car accidents.

Deer and other animals

Animals are dangerous obstacles on rural roads. As the state with the seventh highest rural road fatality rate, Kentucky back roads have plenty of animals to look out for.  In 2017, there were over 6,000 collisions involving deer and other animals in Kentucky. Most collisions were not fatal, but they still prove to be a road hazard to be aware of.

Drunk driving takes countless lives every year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 million people were arrested for driving under the influence in 2016. But the number of drivers who reported they drove while drunk was much higher at 111 million. That means that under 1% of drivers were arrested when they drove drunk.

The problem here is that so many people are driving under the influence, but very few are actually getting reprimanded for their dangerous actions. Police officers can only be in so many places at once. So what is to stop all these people from driving drunk, even though they clearly know that it’s wrong?

In the wake of an auto accident, there’s a number of things to consider when it comes to guessing how long it may take for you to recover—the severity of your injuries, the costs of paying them, and when you’re going to be able to get back to work. One major item may not be at the forefront of your mind, but it’s also an important factor—your car. Did it sustain significant or minor damage? How has it been damaged and what can you do about it? In some cases, the car is damaged beyond the point where it would make financial sense to fix it. When this happens, the insurance company will say the car is totaled.

This decision has advantages and disadvantages for you. You may have been hoping for the car to be totaled. This way, you don’t have to get the car repaired and then drive a car that’s underwent major work. However, sometimes you may not want the car to be totaled for a number of reasons. Buying a new car may not be a viable option for you. There’s also the possibility that you just don’t want to get a new car and would rather repair your vehicle.

No matter where you’re driving, it can be frustrating when someone speeds up behind you, tailgates your car, and illegally passes you. It can be equally as frustrating when someone on a highway is driving considerably faster than the flow of traffic and decides to weave in and out of traffic to get ahead. But what about when you get stuck behind a driver who is driving much slower than the posted limit? Some may find this surprising, but driving too slowly can be just as dangerous as speeding.

When a car accident causes painful injuries, you’re most likely worried about ones that will have permanent consequences. You may be surprised at the injuries that can cause chronic issues. Soft tissue injuries are often difficult to see and also can have ongoing complications long after the accident. It’s important to get treatment as soon as possible for these types of injuries.

Even if the symptoms start out minor or in a delayed fashion, it may be possible for soft tissue injuries to be long-lasting or permanent. Here’s what you need to know about soft tissue damage:

When you’ve been in a serious accident with significant property damage and injuries, it’s likely an investigation will take place to determine fault. Law enforcement and insurance companies will oversee their own investigations. If you believe you are not liable for the accident and it resulted from someone else’s negligent actions, you can contact a lawyer who will conduct an additional investigation to prove why you are owed compensation for what you’ve been through.

It’s likely that each investigation will result in different types of evidence that different parties can use to their advantage. Investigations are complicated, so understanding the different types of evidence and how they are used to prove a claim is valuable.

Car accidents are traumatic experiences that often leave people with injuries and a long road to recovery. Their future can be very uncertain and this causes a considerable amount of stress. Unfortunately, this can be when an insurance adjuster will come forward and try to get the injured person to settle. Because the person wants to handle the matter immediately, they will often agree to the first offer. However, this can be a mistake because it’s likely less than what they should be owed. You need an attorney who will protect your rights and make sure you get the compensation you deserve after a car accident.

Before you get into the claims process, you may be wondering about what constitutes as an accident that needs to be reported. Making a police report could benefit you because law enforcement will have a legal account of what happened, and your lawyer can make sure you alert the right parties. Let’s look into when you should report a car accident.

Thousands of injuries and hundreds of unnecessary deaths occur on Kentucky roads every year. The majority of the accidents are caused by human error – which means they’re almost always preventable. In 2016 alone, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported 834 people lost their lives in traffic accidents in Kentucky. Of those individuals, 111 were motorcyclists, 81 were pedestrians, and 9 were bicyclists.

If you were injured in an accident or lost a loved one, it can be difficult to cope with the fact that the collision could have been prevented. At the Law Office of Todd W. Burris, we want to promote safe drivers and driving habits. Let’s take a look at five ways we can help keep Kentucky roads safe for you and your family. If you take these tips into consideration, you’ll be aiding in accident prevention and saving lives.

Imagine driving through the countryside with nothing to see except agricultural fields and the occasional cow. Now picture driving through rush-hour traffic with honking horns, high speeds, and constant movement from all directions. You may think you’d be more likely to end up in an accident in the urban setting; however, data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) tells us otherwise.

According to the NHTSA’s 2016 Rural/Urban Comparison of Traffic Fatalities, there were a total of 34,439 fatal vehicle accidents resulting in 37,461 deaths. Of these accidents, 50 percent occurred in rural areas and 47 percent occurs in urban areas. Three percent of the accidents occurred in areas where not enough information was available to determine if the crashes were inside urban or rural boundaries.