Pandemic-Related Traffic Accident Trends and How They Affect Your Personal Injury Case

The COVID-19 pandemic has generally meant fewer cars on the road, either because of workplaces and schools telling employees and students to stay home, or else because of people venturing out of the house less often, out of caution. You would probably expect that fewer cars on the road means fewer accidents, but this is not always the case. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way that people drive, just as it has changed how we do a lot of things, but not always for the better. If the car accident that caused your injuries involved any of the dangerous driving behaviors that increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, contact a Louisiana car accident lawyer.

Fewer Drivers but Greater Negligence

At the end of 2020, the New York Times published a report about types of dangerous driving behavior that increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and because of it.  These are some types of reckless behavior that caused a disproportionate number of accidents in 2020:

• Drag racing – Major roads that used to be packed with bumper-to-bumper traffic before the pandemic were suddenly empty once office employees started working from home and the tourists disappeared. Therefore, there were more incidences of drag racing on these wide, empty stretches of road.
• Extreme speeds – Aside from drag racing, 2020 witnessed drivers speeding at even higher speeds than in previous years.  In rural areas as well as urban ones, police issued a record number of speeding tickets to drivers who were going 100 miles per hour or faster.
• Riding a motorcycle without a license – The rate of motorcycle accidents increased slightly in 2020, but the more dramatic change was that a higher percentage than usual of these accidents involved drivers who did not have motorcycle licenses.

Dangerous Driving and Your Car Accident Lawsuit

If you file a personal injury lawsuit after being injured in a car accident, one of the things you will have to prove in order to win your case is that the accident, and therefore your injuries, was the result of the other driver’s negligence.  Drag racing on public roads is certainly negligence. Driving at 100 miles per hour is so dangerous that you can get criminal charges for it, not just a traffic ticket. Therefore, if the driver who hit you was driving recklessly or irresponsibly, the defendant will likely agree to pay you the money and damages you are entitled to without going to trial.