A:

Often insurance companies call a car crash “an accident” when their negligent driver hits someone who was obeying the rules. In fact, the “accident” is a car crash, and even the Virginia State Police and the Department of Motor Vehicles title their reports of such incidents as Crash Reports.

True accidents are very rare. The hallmark of a true accident is that everyone was acting appropriately, and despite a reasonable level of care on the part of all involved, the accident still happened. An example of a true accident is when a driver who, despite obeying the posted speed limit, and paying attention to the road and surroundings, wrecks his or her car when a deer runs out in front of them.

Car crashes, by comparison, are avoidable and were caused by someone who was not following the rules of the road by driving reasonably or paying attention to what they were doing. Some people forget that automobiles are fast moving pieces of heavy metal machinery that can maim or even kill people. The risks associated with speeding, aggressive driving, drunk driving, texting while driving, and other forms of unreasonable driving can be disastrous. Serious injuries can result from crashes including a fractured pelvis, broken arm or broken leg, broken hip, ligament tears, rotator cuff injury, traumatic brain injury, coma, paralysis, or death. Unfortunately there are too many careless drivers on our highways that fail to follow the rules and cause injury.