Can Your Car’s Brand Affect Your Driving?

What do you look for in a car? Is there a color you specifically like? Do you prefer four-wheel drive or even off-road chains? Perhaps amenities are more your style, and you go for the car with the latest technology — something to make your life as easy as possible as you travel your way through it. Whatever your specific taste, though, all drivers really want the same thing: safety. At the end of the day, that’s the point of it all. We want airbags to protect ourselves and our loved ones, automatic braking, and as many cameras as humanely possible. We want to remove as much risk from driving as possible.

Now, we know to protect ourselves, but what if the car we choose affects how well we protect others? What if the brand of car you choose actually affects how well you drive? Just how much should you trust?

Certain brands seem to get into more car accidents

It turns out cars have much more separating them than just color and amenities. A recent study of car accidents for 2022 seems to suggest five specific brands are involved in the most collisions on the road. This is based on national data, not Tennessee alone. While one may assume they’re five “flashy,” expensive names, it turns out much more humble ones take up the graph: Hyundai, Mazda, RAM, Volkswagen, and Subaru. RAM and Subaru have the first two spots respectively.

All these brands are relatively known for being safe choices. Most of them have family-oriented vehicles in their lineup, after all. On the surface, it doesn’t seem to make much sense. Although these brands aren’t known for being flashy, they do all have flashier cars for sale. Sporty sedans with faster pickup and expensive-looking paint jobs — THOSE are the cars involved in the most collisions. In fact, the only brand whose sportier model isn’t in the top five is Volkswagen; their Jettas are the most frequent offenders.

So – why do these five vehicles have so many crashes?

There are a few reasons. First, the vehicles in question are often gift cars or hard-fought upgrades for people who can’t typically afford a Ferrari. Not only are they the flashier models, the accidents their drivers cause are largely the result of speeding. People get excited and act accordingly — and therefore recklessly.

There’s also an overreliance on safety. The top two spots were Subaru and RAM. We’ve all seen that Subaru commercial where the family car has been destroyed, but the family lived. That commercial (and other ads) worked; people bought Subarus because they thought they were safer cars. The RAM, on the other hand, is a massive truck. Its advertisements focus on its power and size. So when drivers think the car itself is designed to protect them, or that it offers additional protections based on its size, they may be a little less rigorous about safety when they drive, relying on the alleged attributes of the vehicles themselves.

Common factors contributing to car accidents in Memphis

Speeding in a fancier new car is one way to cause a car accident, but it is far from the only way. Granted, those who speed are often being reckless in more ways than one — though speeding on its own is more than enough.

While choosing the wrong brand of car won’t make someone an unsafe driver, any of these following habits (with or without speeding) will:

• Driving distracted, by either a phone, the radio, a passenger, or even food
• Driving under the influence of either alcohol or drugs (including marijuana)
• Driving during inclement weather that makes safe, secure control impossible

Those in any vehicle or on a motorcycle can increase their chances of surviving an accident by wearing seatbelts and helmets (when applicable), and by making sure their transportation is well-maintained and routinely inspected, but nothing is a replacement for simply driving safely and cautiously. No matter how fast your vehicle CAN go, there is a limit to how fast it SHOULD go.

High-speed collisions, meaning those that happen on highways and main roads, can seriously injure everyone involved if it doesn’t kill them first. Usually, it’s the more vulnerable parties (children, pedestrians, cyclists,) who get injured the worst. From traumatic brain injuries that can fundamentally change someone’s cognitive abilities and even their personality, to paralyzing spinal cord damage, to permanent loss of senses like hearing and sight, victims have the potential of needing expensive medical care and accommodations for the rest of their lives. They may no longer be able to work, or perhaps need caretakers around the clock. Even if recovery is possible for them, it may take years and years to happen.

The average American household isn’t equipped to afford an upset like that. With the way our healthcare system currently is, bills could stack up into the hundreds of thousands far quicker than one may imagine. This would be on top of replacing or repairing your vehicle, and on top of wages missed from being out of work, and on top of being in actual, physical pain. No one deserves that, especially not when it’s caused by a stranger’s reckless actions. That is why anyone injured in a car accident caused by someone else should contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible to start pursuing compensation. Victims may be eligible to having every single cent covered and compensated for if it relates to the injuries, but this doesn’t happen automatically.

The Memphis personal injury attorneys at Bailey & Greer, PLLC work to build your case while letting you rest and focus on yourself as much as possible. We still keep you in the loop and answer all your questions, but we proudly take on the heavy lifting of court so you can recover the way you deserve. With offices in Memphis and Jackson, we live to represent victims of reckless driving just like you. To learn more, contact us today at 901-475-7434  or use our contact form.