Just Another Day Driving In The Mile High City: The Three Craziest Car Crashes Our Personal Injury Law Firm Has Ever Investigated

Today, people text while they drive and drive while high on recreational marijuana in Colorado. Everyone should remember that before texting and marijuana, there were other forms of reckless driving that we had to deal with in the Denver community. While texting and driving auto accidents are common explanations for many crashes, we continue to get calls from accident victims who are injured as a result of old-fashioned reckless driver conduct. This article discusses the types of reckless driving conduct that continues to cause car accidents throughout the Denver area. I will also reveal the three craziest auto accidents I have ever investigated as a personal injury attorney with twenty-four years of experience.

1) TYPES OF CRAZY DRIVING

• Passing traffic on the right (shoulder): Passing slower traffic by driving on the shoulder almost always occurs on twisty single lane roads in rural areas. Oftentimes, when we hear about these car crashes, they commonly involve icy roads and other wintertime conditions.

• Driving straight through dedicated turn lanes: Impatient drivers in heavy traffic often get frustrated and find new and imaginative ways to create their own through lanes. This type of reckless driving nearly always results in head-on car accidents or t-bone traffic collisions.

• Brake-check crashes: These are particularly stupid auto accidents because they are caused by the driver who gets rear-ended. This maneuver borders on road rage and happens when the driver in front perceives that he is being tailgated. The front driver applies his brakes suddenly or "brake checks" the driver behind him. Unfortunately, when we see these car crashes, the driver that was brake checked was unable to stop in time.

• California Stops: I'm sure that in California they call this something else, but a California stop occurs when a driver fails to completely stop at a stop sign and proceeds into an intersection without regard to oncoming traffic. California stops usually result in t-bone collisions.

• Tailgating: In my experience, the second most common type of rear-end car crash our Denver personal injury lawyers investigate (distracted driving accidents are the most common) is when a driver refuses to back off and leave a safe amount of distance between his vehicle and the car in front of him.

2) OUR MOST CRAZY CAR CRASH PERSONAL INJURY INVESTIGATIONS:

All of the reckless driving discussed above represents the type of crashes we investigate daily. However, after 24 years of auto litigation experience, I have investigated some unusual auto crashes as well. Here are the three craziest car crashes I have ever investigated.

Third Craziest Car Crash: A thirteen year-old girl caused a six-car pileup because she was told by her mother to use the family car to pick up milk at the corner store. Oddly enough, the mother never understood what all the fuss was about.

Second Craziest Car Crash: A car accident caused by the use of a cell phone. Sound typical? Not in this traffic collision resulting in injury. In this case, the at-fault driver's cell phone dropped from the dashboard down to the driver's feet. The cell phone somehow became lodged below the brake pedal. This prevented the driver from using his brakes and he eventually crashed into my client. He told me in his deposition that he did not want to slam on the brakes because his knew it would break his phone. We Modern Americans love our cell phones!

The craziest motor-vehicle crash I have ever investigated...drum-roll please!

The Craziest Car Crash We've Ever Investigated: A man driving at least 50 mph down a mountain road in his 1968 Mustang attempted to turn his vehicle off (thought he could coast) while using the other key on his key chain to open up his locked glove compartment. However, he did not get very far because when he turned the key to shut off the engine and removed it from the ignition, his steering wheel locked (1960's anti-theft feature). The Mustang barreled across the road, struck two cars going in the opposite direction, and then went off the road into a river.

Curiously, the at-fault driver came to us seeking representation to bring a product liability claim against Ford Motor Company. He thought that his car reacted improperly to his reasonable efforts to open up his glove compartment while his car was cruising down the mountain road. He was disappointed in our lack of interest in suing Ford.

CONCLUSION:
While I have investigated some crazy and unusual car crashes in my time as a personal injury attorney here in Colorado, I do not wish to make light of the results of these car crashes. These auto accidents resulted in real injuries and losses to my clients. I'm sure all of you have seen California stops, brake checks, and tailgating in Denver metro area. Please avoid these types and all types of reckless driving because the consequences can be devastating. If you have been injured by a reckless driver in Colorado, please call 303-782-9999 and speak with an attorney at Anderson Hemmat today.