The Super Indirect Causes of North Carolina Auto Accidents
Why do car, truck, motorcycle accidents happen in North Carolina – or elsewhere?
This is a pretty simple, straightforward question. So you’d think it would have a pretty simple, straightforward answer. Indeed, if you Google a question like this or spend some time thinking about it or talk to safety experts about it, you’ll get the standard “obvious” answers, such as:
• The roads are poorly designed or engineered or kept up;
• Drivers misbehave by driving while under the influence, while distracted, while fatigued, etc;
• Cars, trucks, motorcycles malfunction due to poor maintenance or spontaneous part failure;
• Acts of god (thunderstorms, lightening strikes, trees being blown into the road in inopportune times, earthquakes, etc.) are responsible.
• Etc.
These are the more “obvious” causes of North Carolina car accidents. These findings can be helpful. They can tell us that why certain types of vehicles are safer, help engineers develop better components and equipment, and even teach police officers best practices.
However, we’re certainly overlooking critical factors that could make very subtle, but very critical contributions to North Carolina car crashes. These subtle events are often so far removed – so distant, in time and space – from car crashes themselves that we don’t pay much attention to them. But they are there. And if we could find and address these deep root causes, we could make serious inroads into our automotive safety goals.
For instance, consider the problems posed by the North Carolina obesity epidemic. When you are overweight or obese, you are naturally at higher risk for many other diseases, ranging from type II diabetes to Alzheimer’s to cancer. As a result of the obesity as well as associated conditions, you may feel more fatigued, “mentally cloudy” and weak physically. On top of that, you may need to take certain medications to normalize your blood sugar and treat other side effects. These medications can, in turn, have their own negative effects on driving performance. At the end of the day, we know that drivers who drive fatigued or ill or “mentally cloudy” are at higher risk for causing car crashes. So obesity — and the diseases associated with it — almost certainly causes or contributes to many car crashes, if only in a subtle, very indirect way.
All this is to say that, if we can figure out a way to treat obesity and overweight – we might be able to “knock out” one major source of driver error, negligence, fatigue, bad temperament, etc. Consider this thought experiment. Imagine if every North Carolinian lost 20 pounds of excess fat and had more energy and needed fewer medications. Imagine how those North Carolinians would behave behind the wheel – would they be safer or less safe than their formerly overweight selves?
It’s an interesting thought experiment. To deal with a car crash crisis in your life, connect with a thoughtful, experienced North Carolina auto accident law firm.
More Web Resources:
Finding the Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary Causes
What Would the Cure to Obesity Mean?
