Friday Highway Traffic Interrupted by Multiple Crashes
Commuters along Highway 50 experienced delays following multiple traffic crashes in Sacramento on October 1. According to officials at Caltrans, an overturned vehicle along the highway at the I-5 connector closed down two lanes for around half an hour. At the exit for Stockton Boulevard, a multiple-vehicle crash occurred in the westbound lanes. This accident blocked three out of the five lanes for up to half an hour also.
Why Multiple-Vehicle Traffic Crashes Occur
Multiple-vehicle crashes are common on highways, and a big part of the problem is congested traffic and speed. When vehicles are close together and traveling at higher speeds than they reach on city streets, a wrong move or act of negligence can cause an accident. Some of the reasons multiple traffic crashes occur include:
- Taillights out on a vehicle: If a vehicle has non-functioning taillights and suddenly slows down, the driver traveling behind may not realize it and end up causing a rear-end collision. When two vehicles collide on a highway, it can easily end up involving multiple vehicles.
- Speeding: Speeding is dangerous at any time but can lead to accidents involving multiple vehicles on a freeway. Slamming into another vehicle at high speed causes it to spin out of control, impacting vehicles in adjacent lanes.
- Distracted driving: Drivers who are distracted by sending a text message, talking on a cell phone, eating or drinking while driving, and other activities can cause multiple vehicle traffic crashes.
- Drunk and drugged driving: Those who are driving drunk or while under the influence of drugs, whether legal or illegal, can end up causing traffic crashes. These drivers are known to exhibit poor judgment and reflexes, can’t evaluate their distance from other vehicles, and have problems tracking with their eyes. Any one of these problems can lead to traffic accidents. A combination of all these deficits almost makes it assured.
- Driving when too tired: A fatigued driver exhibits many of the problems someone who is driving drunk does. Drifting out of their lane and nodding off at the wheel can lead to a traffic accident.
Investigating Traffic Crashes
One of the problems with a multiple-vehicle accident is that more than one of the drivers involved may be guilty of negligence. One of the things an injury lawyer does is investigate the accident to determine which driver/drivers were to blame. In that way, the client can place a claim to collect the damages they deserve. Some of the areas of investigation include:
- Witnesses of the accident are interviewed, and the police report is examined for errors. If a mistake occurs in the police report, it can affect the client’s ability to place a claim. Witnesses can provide corroborating statements that support the claim, and in some cases, a cell phone was used to record the accident.
- The investigators perform accident reconstruction, which indicates the positioning of the vehicles before, during, and after the accident. This is especially useful during multiple-vehicle traffic crashes and is evidence that is accepted by insurance companies and in civil court cases.
- Area traffic and other surveillance cameras are checked to see if the accident was captured on tape.
Once the evidence has been compiled, we go to work to use it in building a robust case that supports our client’s compensation claim.
Sacramento Car Accident Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento car accident lawyer. Someone who has been injured in an accident caused by a negligent driver may benefit from legal advice on placing a claim for compensation. Call the legal team at AutoAccident.com for our free and friendly advice at (916) 921-6400. You can also reach us at (800) 404-5400 or by messaging us online.
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We’ve helped Sacramentans since 1982 in obtaining fair compensation for wrongful deaths, all types of car accidents, and other cases.
Photo attribution: Photo by Matt Chesin on Unsplash
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