I’m referring to the kind of accident on the interstate that we all see from time to time. One or more vehicles involved in a really bad crash, often fiery, very often with one or more fatalities.
Today I was driving on I-95 and a total asshole in a dark-colored SUV came screaming up through traffic, weaving and honking, and passed everyone going at least 90 mph. I thought to myself, as I always do when I see someone driving like this “Holy shit that idiot is going to cause an accident”.
I stopped off for gas and a snack, then got back on the highway. About 20 minutes later I came upon a really bad accident; what looked like a dark-colored SUV had obviously flipped multiple times and there were cops and ambulances all over.
As I passed the scene, I wondered if this was the same driver. Then I began wondering…what percentage of the accidents like this are probably self-inflicted, vs true “accidents” (like a blown tire or driver having a heart attack).
With most interstate accidents I imagine there are usually witnesses. So, anyone know any stats on the cause of these things?
I have no stqats, but can offer a first hand story. In Feb. 2007, my best friend was on her way to work at 7:30 AM. She was hit head on by a drunk driver. He was killed in the wreck, and my friend has spent almost 2 years trying to out her life and body back together. She has undergone 10 surgeries and will likely never walk unaided again. Mentally, she is destroyed; the high doses of pain medications she is on to this day have taken their toll.
I may go to hell for saying this, but I am glad he died. It was not his first drunk driving offense, and he shattered her life. She was a very active woman who showed & bred Labrador Retrievers, her daily job was counciling victims and families of the victims of violent crimes, and she commonly did search and rescue work… did it 911 at the Pentagon. It’s all gone for her.
On a side note, there is a theory that some of the single car wrecks when people go fast and run off the road into a tree are actually suicides. One reason for doing that , it doesn’t look like a suicide and life insurance pays out.
I feel the need to point out there’s something in between “someone was driving like a reckless idiot” and “driver had a heart attack”. That is the case where someone just made a mistake. Forgot to check their blindspot when changing lanes, or whatever. These accidents are technically one driver’s “fault”, but I’m guessing you don’t mean to have them included in the percentage you’re asking for. However, I’m not sure anyone tracks stats in such a way as to distinguish the two.
I’m actually referring more to accidents on the big highways, yknow, 2 or 3 lanes in each direction, lots of traffic, lots of witnesses. Here is a typical example, where a driver was road-raging on a busy interstate, the entire thing was witnessed by many other drivers.
If I remember correctly, that statistic is based on the number of fatal wrecks that involve a driver with non-zero BAC. Which is a far cry from “due to drunk driving”. Since it’s near impossible to ascertain what percentage of people were on the road at the same time with non-zero BAC but did not crash or get pulled over, any kind of causal relationship is mostly a speculation.