Although we serve as personal injury lawyers in Las Vegas, Dobberstein Law Group doesn’t want you to need our services. That’s why we’re lending our blog space to agree with the Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) that drivers need to exercise extra caution during the summer to avoid being in a car accident. According to the NHP, the months of June to September represent the 100 deadliest days on Nevada roads.
How Common is it to Be in a Car Accident During The Summer?
The months stretching from Memorial Day to Labor Day incur the largest number of auto accidents because of increased road travel and tourism. As the temperatures rise, so do the number of cars on the road. People may drive for longer stretches of time than they typically do and, unprepared for the change in the length of the trip, become overly tired at the wheel.
These accidents frequently result in loss of life, especially when the accident involves alcohol. Half of the accidents each year in the state involve an impaired driver. In 2019, 44 people lost their lives in Nevada DUI accidents. That represents an increase in DUI deaths by 13 percent since the prior years.
Safe Driving Techniques to Avoid an Accident in The Summer Months
Safer driving combines road readiness with knowledge of the law and an attentive nature to road conditions. There’s no one thing you can do to make yourself and others safer on the road. It takes a combination of techniques, but it saves you from needing Las Vegas Injury Attorneys.
Driver Education Importance
The Nevada Office of Traffic Safety (NOTS) created the “Save Yourself Campaign” to teach drivers defensive driving techniques and highway safety. The program focuses on the importance of driving sober to alleviate the domino effect that many DUIs cause, since a one-vehicle accident can quickly become a multi-vehicle pile-up when alcohol or a drug, such as marijuana, impairs a driver’s cognition.
Watch Out for Pedestrians
Watch out for pedestrians whenever and wherever you drive. In Reno, the city installed a pedestrian safety corridor to help protect its walkable downtown. Violating the 20 mph speed limit in this area incurs higher fines than in the other areas of the city.
Stay Hydrated
Many people don’t realize that hydration and the ability to focus go together. Although a cup of coffee for the road might seem tasty and tempting, you need to accompany the coffee with a bottle of water. Your water consumption should outpace your caffeine consumption.
Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Remaining attentive behind the wheel requires wakefulness and concentration. If you get a good night’s sleep consisting of eight hours before driving, you increase the likelihood of an accident by decreasing your brain’s typically quick thinking. Your reflexes slow down when your body doesn’t get enough sleep.
Check Your Vehicle Before the Trip
According to NOTS and NHP, tire blowouts and overheated engines offer two of the causes of most breakdowns and accidents in the state. Take 10 to 15 minutes before embarking to check your vehicle. Pay close attention to the tire pressure and coolants. The hot Nevada summers can cause the air in tires to expand, creating a blowout. Allowing tires to remain at one or two PSI below the regular PSI can help. Fill your coolants if low. Have them changed at the beginning of Summer.
Paying Attention to the Road and Road Shoulders
People joke that Nevada remains under constant construction and that’s partially true. You’ll probably pass by at least one construction site during each driving foray in Nevada during summer. Carefully observe these construction zones. Construction workers may block off lanes of traffic, close a lane, divert traffic, etc. This can cause travel delays that frustrate some drivers. Construction zones may also contain debris that adds danger to the road. These construction zones experience an injury each day and typically, a fatality each week. Your careful observance can help reduce these numbers.
Steps to Take If In an Accident
If an accident does occur, call 911 first and foremost. You must report even single-vehicle accidents because you may have damaged another party’s property during the accident. Leaving the scene of an accident without reporting it and trading insurance information constitutes a hit-and-run.
Determine if you or any passenger incurred injuries. If the 911 operator wants to send an ambulance to determine the health of those involved, stay put and let the paramedics examine you.
Phone your auto insurance carrier. They will start a claim and send an adjustor although this person may not be able to meet you at the accident site right after it occurred. They will suggest you take photos of the accident and the area surrounding it if you can. If you incur injuries, do not attempt this. The police will take photos. Tell your auto insurance carrier that you will also phone a Las Vegas auto accident attorney. As soon as you know the name of the attorney, share that with the insurance company so they can work together.
Phone your Las Vegas accident lawyer. While things remain fresh in your mind, explain what happened. Your North Las Vegas personal injury attorney will work with your insurance carrier and that of the other parties involved in the accident to obtain the fairest settlement for you.
Dobberstein Law Group hopes that you don’t incur an accident. If something does occur though, contact us for a Las Vegas personal injury attorney you can trust. We will provide the legal services you need to obtain a fair settlement. Call us today to find a lawyer specializing in personal injury North Las Vegas residents can rely on and trust.