The Smog Factor: Does Pollution Play Any Role in North Carolina Auto Accidents?
When we look at all the potential causes of car crashes in Charlotte and elsewhere in North Carolina and the United States, we automatically make assumptions. We assume, for instance, that driver error often plays a role (statistically this is usually true). Factors such as road engineering, car design, car maintenance, weather, and visibility can also influence the equation.
But auto accident models often fail to examine peripheral or indirect effects that could be consequential, especially when you aggregate those affects.
For instance, consider pollution.
We all know that it’s far more pleasant to drive on a rural West Carolina mountain road than it is to navigate the hellaciously toxic and notorious Southern California freeway interchange between route 405 and route 10 in Los Angeles. It’s obviously less fun to drive on a road where there’s tons of pollution in the air. But is pollution a causal factor in auto accidents? If so, could reducing pollution on North Carolina highways – and highways in other cities and states where pollution is even worse – leads to a reduction in auto accidents and fatalities?
This is obviously an open question. But consider that studies suggest that highway pollution increases the likelihood of certain cardiovascular events in drivers and passengers, and people who live very near freeways or other highly polluted areas tend to suffer respiratory problems, cognitive problems, and cardiac problems at a rate greater than the general population’s.
It’s not unreasonable, therefore, to hypothesize that high pollution levels can increase the likelihood of driver fatigue and error – and also increase the likelihood that someone injured in a crash will suffer more. For instance, if you are hurt in a crash on the 405 — and you are exposed to all sorts of toxins and chemicals while in a hyper-injured state — that exposure almost certainly will have a non-zero impact on your likelihood of survival. The problem is, we don’t have good science to tell us how, precisely, pollution exposure contributes to auto accidents, so we are left to speculate and worry ourselves silly.
This all leads to a key point, which is that we need to be practical when it comes to auto safety and strategic when it comes to trying to get compensated after a North Carolina auto accident.
The team here at DeMayo Law has intelligent, robust methods that can help you and your family deal with what happened and make sounder decisions to protect your health, well-being, and chances of getting fairly remunerated for the pain and other damages.
