What Is the #1 Danger Facing Indiana’s Drivers & Pedestrians?

Indiana’s roads have long been plagued by a number of dangerous suspects that continue to place Hoosier drivers and pedestrians at risk. As a result, local news headlines often contain stories involving serious car accidents and crashes involving personal injury.

And while many of our state’s high-profile collisions occur on the larger interstates, such as I-65, I-69, I-465, I-70, or I-74, equally traumatic incidents occur on lesser-known highways and rural roads throughout Indiana.

In this blog, attorney Matt Boulton identifies the top danger on Indiana’s roads he continually encounters while investigating the car accidents and pedestrian incidents responsible for injuring his clients.

What’s Responsible for Indiana’s Dangerous Roads?

It depends on who you ask.

If you ask Indiana’s residents to name the biggest danger on our roads, you’ll get a mixed reply based on their personal experience and the cities in which they mostly reside and travel. (Ask during the winter months: “Potholes!”)

After all, our state is a crisscross of highways, city streets, interstates, and rural roads, each with unique features and used by a combination of locals, visitors, and various types of commercial transportation.

“It’s frustrating,” said attorney Boulton. “You want to believe time plus innovation would yield solutions to eliminate, or at the very least, significantly decrease car accident injuries and deaths. Instead, crashes continue to be caused by the same dangers and negligence that have existed since our country’s first car accident in 1896.”

To help identify the top culprit responsible for the dangers on Indiana’s roads, we can turn to the cumulative results of attorney Boulton’s accident investigations.

Throughout his 25+ years as an Indiana personal injury attorney, he has visited and documented a wide range of accident sites throughout the state.

Attorney Boulton’s accident investigations are multi-tiered, meaning they rely on several sources, including:

• Indiana accident reports
• Witness statements
• Camera footage (Dash cams, Business/Residential security cameras, Intersection cameras)
• Accident scene analysis
• Evidence recovery
• Black box data
• Accident reconstruction report(s)

In the majority of attorney Boulton’s cases, one or more of these sources conclusively identify the factor(s) responsible for an Indiana car accident or pedestrian-related injury.

For example, the accident reports used by Indiana’s officers may cite a number of potential causes for collisions involving vehicles and/or pedestrians.

The list on Indiana accident reports is often broken down into three Primary and/or Contributing categories, including Driver, Vehicle, and Environment:

Driver Primary Cause & Contributing Circumstances

• Alcoholic Beverages
• Illegal Drugs
• Prescription Drugs
• Driver Asleep or Fatigued
• Driver Illness
• Unsafe Speed
• Failure to Yield
• Disregard Signal
• Left of Center
• Improper Passing
• Improper Turning
• Improper Lane Usage
• Following Too Closely
• Unsafe Backing
• Overcorrecting
• Ran off Road
• Wrong Way on One Way
• Pedestrian’s Action
• Passenger Distraction
• Restriction Violation
• Jackknifing
• Cell Phone Usage
• Other Telematics
• Driver Distracted
• Speed/Weather Conditions
• Unsafe Lane Movement

Vehicle Primary Cause & Contributing Circumstances

• Engine Failure or Defective
• Accelerator Failure or Defective
• Brake Failure or Defective
• Tire Failure or Defective
• Headlight(s) Defective or Not On
• Other Lights Defective
• Steering Failure
• Window/Windshield Defective
• Oversize/Overweight Load
• Insecure/Leaky Load
• Tow Hitch Failure

Environment Primary Cause & Contributing Circumstances

• Glare
• Roadway Surface
• Holes/Ruts in Surface
• Shoulder Defective
• Road Under Construction
• Severe Crosswinds
• Obstruction Not Marked
• Lane Marking Obscured
• View Obstructed
• Animal/Object in Roadway
• Traffic Control Inoperable/Missing/Obscure
• Utility Work

Attorney Boulton has investigated several car accidents and pedestrian collisions that have involved each of the three (3) Primary categories.

Sometimes the report lists a single cause; other times it names a combination of factors involving the Driver, Vehicle, and/or Environment categories.

However, in his experience, one Primary category dominates the accident reports and accounts for the biggest danger on Indiana’s roads: Driver.

What’s the Biggest Danger Facing Indiana’s Drivers & Pedestrians?

Unfortunately, because the Driver category represents the majority of Indiana’s accidents and personal injuries, the biggest threat to drivers and pedestrians is varying forms of driver negligence.

As such, the overwhelming majority of Indiana’s auto accidents are attributed to a behavior-based decision, and it often takes shape in one of several ways:

• Speeding
• Distracted driving
• Driving under the influence
• Failure to yield
• Illegal left-hand turns
• Disregarding traffic lights and signs
• Following too closely
• Road rage

More recently, Indiana made headlines for the increasing number of pedestrians killed by vehicles in Indianapolis and surrounding cities.

Our state’s pedestrian problem continues to be examined by safety officials in an attempt to decrease the frequency of these incidents. Despite these efforts, a majority of these accidents will continue to occur if driver behavior doesn’t change or we fail to follow Indiana’s laws for pedestrians.

Ultimately, driver negligence is a mixed bag of human error, mistakes, and poor decisions, and it remains the #1 danger facing Indiana’s drivers and pedestrians.

Recovering Compensation for Driver Negligence

Because driver negligence is the primary factor in many of Indiana’s car accidents, victims without fault often have a legal right to pursue compensation from a defendant’s insurance company for their injuries and damages.

Specifically, Indiana’s personal injury law operates under a modified comparative fault system, meaning if an accident victim is determined to be 50% or less at fault, they can seek compensation for their damages; however, the total amount of the financial recovery will be reduced by their percentage of fault.

For example, if an injured person is found to be 20% at fault for an Indiana car accident and their case is determined to be worth $70,000, then the overall recovery would be reduced to $56,000.

Additionally, if an accident victim is found to be more than 50% at fault for a collision or incident, they are barred from recovering compensation.

Finding the Best Indiana Personal Injury Attorney for Your Case

Choosing the best personal injury attorney for your case will depend on the specific details of your case as well as your comfort level with the individual lawyer. Equally important, when choosing a law firm and/or attorney, you should never feel pressured or promised a specific outcome.

Boulton Law Group is an award-winning Indiana personal injury firm dedicated exclusively to helping victims navigate their post-accident lives. To help ensure maximum compensation for their injuries, each client receives a custom legal strategy designed to highlight the unique merits of their case.

Additionally, Boulton Law Group provides all injured Hoosiers with a Zero Fee Guarantee, meaning there is never a consultation fee, and the firm never receives any money for its legal services until the case is settled or won at trial.

To learn more about your legal rights and case options, please use our confidential, free contact form. We look forward to learning how we can help you!