Do you think you’re a good driver? Maybe you know you’re not an elite-level driver like a professional race car driver, but do you think that you’re above average? When you’re on the highway, do you feel like you’re doing a better job than most of the drivers around you?
If so, you have good company. As it turns out, about 80% of American men believe they are above-average drivers. If you are an American man, you’re definitely not alone when it comes to your faith in your abilities.
But this also exposes a fundamental problem. Statistically, 80% of men cannot be above average. That would leave only 20% of men as below average. Clearly, a large portion of those who think they are good drivers are simply wrong. They are actually poor drivers who are dangerously confident in abilities that they do not actually possess.
More than 9 out of 10 accidents come from mistakes that human drivers make. You do have your rare crashes based on things like cars or roads with poor designs, mechanical failures and things of this nature. Far and away the most common reason for a wreck, though, is just that a driver — who probably thought he or she was a great driver prior to the crash — commits a major error.
These statistics help to shed some light on why car accidents keep happening so often. Until people understand why they happen, they won’t take proper steps to prevent them. If you get injured when another driver does cause a crash, make sure you understand your rights to compensation.
