One of the most common types of road accident which we see are rear end accidents, making up a large percentage of all collisions. In fact so common are these accidents that you can actually find a specialized rear end car accident lawyer to help you out if you have been injured as a result of this kind of crash. There are many factors which account for a car accident, but when it comes to the rear end variety, there are very often the same reasons as to why these happen, let’s take a look.

Driving Too Close

The most common reason for these kinds of accidents is that drivers are too close to the car in front, also known as tailgating. This kind of driving is not recommended and it is certainly not what drivers are taught when they learn to drive. The recommended distance between cars is 3 seconds, and you can even use stationary objects to measure how far you are from the vehicle in front. If you drive too close to the vehicle ahead of you then running into the back of them is easily done.

Failure to Pay Attention

Distracted drivers also cause a lot of problems on our roads and this is a common accident which we see when drivers are not paying attention. If you take your eyes off the road for just a second, be it to change the radio station, check your phone or speak with passengers, you could easily run into the back of a stationary or slow-moving vehicle. People don’t understand just how quickly these things can happen, which is why you have to always ensure that you are giving your full focus to the road in front of you.

Bad Weather Conditions

Another factor which we can look at regarding the distance between the two vehicles is that not enough drivers make the right changes in their driving style when they are operating the vehicle in bad weather conditions. If the road is wet or icy then your braking distances will be longer, which means that you will need to leave even more space between you and the car in front. If you fail to do this and the vehicle in front of you needs to brake suddenly, you can easily slide into the back of them. The biggest issue here is that often you will have no control over the vehicle once you brake, because of the wet or icy road. It is imperative that you understand the importance of changing your driving style if you are driving in poor weather conditions. The same goes for foggy conditions, where you should be driving slower and making sure that you have as much visibility in front of you as you possibly can.

These are the most common reasons that we see for rear end accidents on our roads. It is far more common than you may realize so be careful when you are driving with a vehicle which is too close behind you.