Given how common it is to pick up your keys and go for a drive, people often forget just how dangerous it can be. The ubiquity of driving can numb us to its inherent risk, a good thing in that we aren’t paralyzed by fear every time we have errands to run, but bad in that it can make us less cautious, less aware and less focused on the task at hand. When we hear about terrible accidents we should use the stories as reminders of just how serious it is to get behind the wheel of a fast moving object that weighs several tons.
The latest example of just how dangerous driving can be occurred last month in Canton, Mississippi on Interstate 55. According to police, the chain-reaction collision began when a Toyota minivan, traveling southbound on I-55, was moving very slowly in the right hand lane. A second vehicle, a Jeep SUV, came up on the minivan going much faster and rear-ended the Toyota.
Due to the severity of this initial crash, the Jeep’s engine stalled out and became disabled in the right hand lane, behind the minivan. Thankfully, the driver of the Jeep thought to get out of his vehicle, because only moments later another southbound vehicle, a Chrysler 300, struck the disabled Jeep.
That accident resulted in serious injuries to the driver of the Chrysler, who had to be taken to the hospital to receive medical attention. The driver of the Toyota was also injured in the accident, while the driver of the Jeep escaped harm.
The accident could have been much worse than it turned out. Instead of two injuries, the chain-reaction accident could have resulted in multiple deaths. This accident illustrates a common danger for those involved in an accident: that the original victims are further harmed in subsequent crashes. These kinds of chain-reaction crashes happen with alarming regularity, usually because the initial accident leaves one or more cars disabled and in the lane of traffic. Other vehicles approaching the accident scene, especially those moving at high rates of speed, are unable to stop in time and become another party to the crash.
It’s for this reason that Mississippi personal injury attorneys advise those who have been involved in accidents to try and maneuver your vehicle (assuming it is operable) out of the lanes of traffic and onto a shoulder or a nearby parking lot. Doing this will ensure you aren’t the victim of yet another collision, one that could be much worse than the first and compound your already serious injuries.
If you have been injured in a Mississippi car, motorcycle or tractor-trailer accident and think you may have a personal injury claim, please contact the Mississippi personal injury attorneys at Kilpatrick & Philley at 601-707-4669.
Source: http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/31146133/two-injured-in-3-vehicle-accident