People consider many factors when thinking about the odds that a car accident will turn fatal, from the safety rating of the car to the speed at which the crash occurs to whether or not those in the car are wearing seat belts. One thing that they may need to consider more often, though, is simply the location where the crash takes place. It can have a drastic impact.
Distance to medical care
The biggest issue is the distance to the nearest hospital. The greater that distance, the higher the odds someone will pass away.
Say, for instance, that two vehicles get involved in a crash when one driver starts texting and drifts over the centerline. In the car that gets hit, the person suffers internal bleeding, along with other serious injuries. They can’t stop or even diagnose that bleeding on their own, and bystanders can do nothing for them. They don’t know it, but they have 10 minutes until they pass a point where doctors and surgeons can no longer save them.
If that accident happens downtown, emergency crews could be on the scene in two minutes. That person is getting help from trained professionals almost instantly. They may only be a mile from a hospital. They can get into the ER or into surgery and doctors can save their life.
If the exact same accident, with the exact same injuries, happens on a rural road that is 20 minutes out of town, the person has passed away before the emergency crews even get to the scene. They certainly don’t have time to get to the hospital.
Nothing else was different. They had the same accident, in the same cars, at the same speed and with the same safety features in place. All that changed was the location. In one case, it’s just an injury accident. In the other, it’s a fatal crash. This is why experts often warn about the dangers of driving on rural roads. It’s not always that the roads are more dangerous, but just that they’re farther from medical care.
Your options
If you have lost a loved one in a serious car accident caused by another driver, you need to know what legal steps you can take.