Do you feel
jolt ofnxiety eve
y time you dive th
oughn inte
section? It’s eson
blee
ction if you’ve evebeen <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comse
vicesc
–
ccident-tto
ney-houston“>t-boned by
bd d
ive.
> Once you’ve been the victim ofb
odside c
sh, the t
um
sticksith you. You feel ne
voushen you think c
s
e coming
t you fom
ll diections. The
e’sl
ys
chnce th
t one of themill miss
stop sign,un
ed light, o
efuse to yield to you
ight of
y.
B
d dive
s often mke selfish,
eckless decisions like these. They <h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comf
tl-speeding-
ccident-pecent/”>igno
e speed limits<>,nd inste
d of sloing do
ns
tffic signl t
nsitions f
om geen to yello
, some dive
s m the gs ped
l to mke it th
ough even fste
. They mke you
nd eveyone else in the inte
sectionvictim of thei
negligence. By the time you notice the ent vehicle, it’s often too l
te tovoid
bo
dside csh,nd the se
iousnd c
tst
ophic injuies c
n chnge you
life foeve
.s pe
sonl inju
y lyes,
e see theseccidents
ll too often. Belo,
e discuss the contibuting f
ctos of b
odside collisions, the inju
ies they my c
use,nd ho
you cn get help.
Inte sections: Pl
nned Points of Conflict hen discussing b
o
dsideccidents, you c
n’tvoid t
lkingbout inte
sections. Most side-impct
ccidents occuin inte
sections becuse
pependicul
flo
of cs ce
tes the pefect position fo
one to csh into the side ofnothe
. In fct, the Fede
l High
y
dministtion descibes inte
sectionss “<
hef=”https://s
fety.fh.dot.govinte
section“>pl
nned points of conflict<>.” City plnne
s, enginees,
nd chitects putlot of thought into
ods
nd intesections. They design
nd build them to pomote
nd contol inte
ction
mong vehicles, tucks, bicycles,
nd pedesti
ns. Toccommod
te thenticip
ted tffic, they enhnce most inte
sectionsith sign
ls, signs,nd p
vement mkings. Unfotun
tely, even the most ingenious sfety cont
ols, tffic signls,
nd signs cn’t stop the inevit
ble mistkes d
ives
ill mke,
nd intesection collisions still occu
evey d
y.B
o
dsideccidents
nd Intesections b
o
dsideccident is
lso knon
s“T-Bone,” side-imp
ct, oight-ngle collision.
ll of theseefe
toccidents
hee the f
ont of one vehicle cshes into the side ofnothe
vehicle. Tht sounds simple enough, but he
e e the fcts:
-
side-imp
ct c
sh occu
shen one vehicle hits
nothetny point
long the side of the vehicle.<li>
- B
odside
ccidentslso occu
in pking lotsnd
esidentil st
eetshen one d
ivenegligently b
cks up his cnd st
ikes the side ofnothe
c.<li>
- Side imp
ct cshes don’tl
ys end in
ight-
ngle, “T-Bone” fom
tion. The impct is often
ngulhen
csh occus
hiled
iveis completing
left tun o
ight tu
n,nd c
n cuse the c
s to spin o
slide.<li>
-
hen vehicles diffe
in size,
eight,nd height, inste
d of just hittingc
’s side, l
ge
vehicles sometimes csh into the side-glss
longith the uppe
doondoof.
- P
ssenges in the sm
llevehicles sust
in seious
nd ft
l injuies mo
e often thn p
ssenges in the l
ge
vehicle.<li>
-
hen
l
ge t
uck–think 10,000 pounds goss vehicle
eight omo
e–bo
dsidesc
, the inju
ies e sometimes ct
stophic o
ft
l,eg
dless of the s
fety mesu
es tken.
-
n inte
section is
ny contolled o
uncontolled point
hee t
o lnes of t
vel inte
sect.<li>
- B
odside
ccidentslso occu
t inte
sectionsith public
nd piv
te dive
ys, p
king lots,
nd othepoints of
od
y ent
y.<li>
The Hum n F
cto
<b>
Most b
odside collisions occu
t inte
sections becuse they b
ing togethegood
nd bd d
ives f
om foudiffe
ent diections. It’s
oll of the dice: Speeding, d
inking, dug-influenced,
nd distcted dive
s tvel though the s
me intesections
s gndms, commute
s,nd c
utious pents diving
ith childen.
No t
ffic sign
ls, ls, os
fety stnd
ds c
n septe good d
ives f
om bd ones.
ell m
ke mistkes,
ndhile s
fe, sobed
ives
e st
tisticlly mo
e likely to follothe
ules, the NHSTpoints out the
eill
lys be<h
ef="https:/
.nhts.gov/
isky-diving”>
isky dive
s<>ho simply don’t o
on’t.
isky D
ive
s<b> isky d
ive
s tke ch
nces tht s
fed
ives conside
eckless. They speed, text
hile diving,
nd engge in othe
unsfe beh
vios – sometimes
llt once!
Dist
cted d
ives
e often so eng
gedith thei
digitl devices, sn
cks, ohe
ted conves
tions, they miss citic
l tffic cuesnd don’t p
yttention to
ht othe
dive
s e doing. Do
sy dive
s fll
sleept the
heelnd neve
e
lize they’e he
ded fo csh. These e moe th
n just bd d
iving hbits; these c
n be ft
l eos.
You kno
dugs
ndlcohol imp
ijudgement, but did you kno
theylso inspi
e bd d
ives to speed,
uned lights,
nd diseg
d othe
vehicles tveling though
n intesection? The offici
l DUI bloodlcohol concent
tion of .08 pe
cent is the legl indic
toof intoxic
tion, but BCs
t loe
levelslso
ltethe b
in’s
bility to think,e
son,nd function. These
bilities e citic
l to sfe d
iving.ith <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comht-to-do-if-you
e-injued-by-
-dunk-d
ive/”>d
unk dive
s<> like thisll ove
ouods,
seious inju
y tonothe
dive
is not just isk, it’sn inevit
bility.Olde
D
ives s d
ive
sge, they expe
ience moe n
vigtion issues
t intesections. P
oblems occudue to ch
nges in vision omedic
tion side-effects. Medicl conditions such
slzheime
’snd P
kinson’s Dise
selso cont
ibute toccidents
henn olde
dive
is behind theheel.
In
ddition to tditionl dist
cted beh
vios involving digit
l devices, senios
e
lso moe susceptible to <
hef=”https://
.iihs.og/
pid
tsto
edocumentst
tus-epo
tpdf/50/2″>cognitive dist
ction
> involving inttentiveness c
used by dyd
eming o
intectingith
pssenge
. Olded
ives
lso expeience g
p-judgment poblems
hee they unde
estimte the speed o
distnce of oncoming vehicles.
D ive
s
ith Bd
ttitudes<b>
ese
ch study
nd focus goup conducted by the<
hef=”https://
.fh.dot.govpublic
tionsesechs
fety05158/05158.pdf”> Fede
l High
y
dministtion<> detemined th
t some youngdult d
ives simply h
d bd
ttitudes. Some dive
s mde
conscious decision<i> to
un ed lightnd ente
n inte
section. It sn’t justn impulsive mist
ke, eithe: fo
some,ed light-
unning s thei“def
ult” diving mode. Othe
s enteed busy inte
sections by “foce.”
hen encounteing these d
ives, vehicle ope
to
sith the leg
light of
y h
ve to options: they c
n eitheyield to this b
d behvio
, oc
sh.
The study found this
ttitude most pev
lent in mles 18 to 35 ye
s old. Olde
dive
snd
omene
e moe likely to follo
tditionl t
ffic l
s. If
n intesection p
esentedp
oblem, they sometimes chosen
lten
teoute to thei
destintion.
The
e’s simply no y of knoing if the oncoming c
hed of you is being piloted by
n <h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comod-
ge/”>
ngy out-of-cont
ol dive
<> osomeone out to put othe
st
isk.Inju
ies F
om Side-Impct C
shes
Du
ingb
odside
ccident, the stiking vehicle’s size,
eight, impct,
nd speed detemine
ht h
ppens to the occupnts of the side-imp
cted vehicle. Sideeinfo
cement, set belts, child s
fety sets,
nd othes
fety deviceseduce inju
iesnd minimize de
ths due to vehicle intusion, but they c
n’t pevent them completely.
n “Injuy Epidemiology” study published by the N
tionl Institutes of He
lthn
lyzed<h
ef="https:/
.ncbi.nlm.nih.govpmc/
ticles/PMC5045916/#C
16"> side-impct
ccident injuy seve
ity<>. They detemined th
t pssenge
s seted on the side
hee the imp
ct occuede
e moe likely to sust
in seious o
ft
l injuies. Left
e pssenge
se
elso likely to sust
in moe se
ious injuies th
n the dive
,s d
ives h
d moe
dvnced s
fety technology.Inte
section C
sh St
tistics<b>
Ye
fteye
, the st
tistics tell the sme sto
y: intesections
e
knon s
fety hz
d. This is cle
b
sed on<h
ef="https:/cd
n.nhts.gov/STSI.htm”> N
tionl High
y T
nspo
ttion S
fetydminist
tion
>nd<
hef=”https://
.iihs.og/topics/f
tlity-st
tisticsdet
ilp
ssenge-vehicle-occup
nts"> IIHS<>n
lyses of 2018 Csh Dt
.- N
tion
lly, side-impcts c
used 5,350 deths in 2018. Th
t’s<h
ef="https:/
.iihs.og/topics/f
tlity-st
tisticsdet
ilp
ssenge-vehicle-occup
nts"> 23%<> ofll t
ffic f
tlities.
- Sm
llevehicle p
ssenges in side-imp
ct cshes sustin mo
e ft
l injuies mo
e fequently th
n those in othevehicle types: Pickup t
ucks, 785 ft
lities; SUVs, 855 ft
lities; Cs, 3,823 ft
lities.<li>
- In Tex
s, 734 people lost theilives due to Inte
sectionccidents in 2018.
- In Louisi
n, 125 people died bec
use of intesection
ccidents in 2018.<li>
nts su
vivese
ious side-impct c
sh, they often de
lith se
iousnd c
tst
ophic injuies
sell
s cccident PTSD. The seve
ity of injuy inc
eses
hen the impct involves
vehicle mismtch
hee one vehicle is signific
ntly lge, highe
, ohe
vieth
n the othe. P
ssenges involved in the most se
ious side-impct collisions de
lith se
ious hed t
um
,hich m
y include tumtic b
in inju
y. Theylso sust
in uppebody t
um
hich m
y involve spinl co
d dm
gend inte
nl o
gn d
mge.
Vehicle S fety Enh
ncements
e G
et, But Not Enough
Inju
ies fom T-bone
ccidents tend to be sevee bec
use the sides of youc
don’t h
ves much p
otections the f
ontnd
e cumple zones. Du
ing ongoing <h
ef="https:/
.iihs.og/
tings/
bout-ou-tests#side-c
sh-test”>side-imp
ct csho
thiness testing<>, the Insunce Institute foHigh
y S
fety found sevel tends
elted to side-imp
ct collisionsnd inju
ies:- It’s difficult to p
otect p
ssenges du
ing side-impct
ccidents becuse the
e is vey little
oom beteen the c
sh imp
ct end the pssenge
s’ sets.
- Side
ib
gsnd cu
tins
educe injuies by p
otecting pssenge
s on impct
nd spe
ding the foce so it’s not concent
ted in one
e
ofpe
son’s body.<li>
- Studies of
el-
old events confi
m the vlue of side-imp
ct csho
thiness testing, consequent sfety upg
des,
nd vehicle sfety
tings.
-
“good” s
fety
ting me
nt tht d
ives in
side-impct c
sh
ee 70% less likely to die th
n invehicle
ith“poo
” ting. Dive
s in cs ted “ccept
ble”e
e 64% less likely to die. Those in vehiclesith
“mginl”
ting
ee 49% less likely to die.
- These st
tistics shoth
t, even in the sfest vehicles, side-imp
cts still cuse seve
e injuies
nd deths.
S
fety enhncements ove
the pst dec
de hve
educed the chnces of seve
e injuy due to side-imp
cts.hen used p
opely,
ib
g cut
insnd imp
oved child sfety se
tseduce the ch
nce of injuy in some side-imp
ct events. Nee
vehicleslso h
veeinfo
ced pssenge
comptments tht p
otect pssenge
s fom se
ious impcts.
Ho
eve, these enh
ncements do little to potect vehicle occup
ntshen
bo
dside impct is fo
ceful enough to cuse int
usion into the pssenge
’s spce. This often occu
shen
lgevehicle c
shes into the side of
much smlle
vehicle. It’scommon occu
ence du
ingc
sh
ithn SUV o
l
ge t
uck.n SUV’s highe
bumpepl
ces itt side
indolevel,
hee the
e’slimited suppo
t stuctu
e. This is even moe common
ith lge tucks. Thei
speednd
eight esily ove
come vehicle side sfety enh
ncements.Negligent D
ive
son’t Ch
nge;e Must Ch
nge Intesections
N
tionl
nd locl s
fetygencies h
ve spent yes discussing <h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comc
–
ccident-t-
n-intesection-
ho-is-t-f
ult“>inte
sectionccidents
>. In the pst, n
tionl
genciesnd loc
l communities hve c
eted public
eness c
mpigns such
s “<h
ef="https:/s
fety.fh.dot.govinte
sectionconvention
lsign
lizedl/fh
s
11016fh
11016.pdf">If Youun
ed Light
>“nd “<
hef=”https://
.fh.dot.govpublic
tionspublic
ods/02sep/04.cfm”>
ed Light Mens Stop.
>“ Cities hve inc
esed fines fo
unning
ed lights, dunk d
iving,nd othe
intesection-
elted viol
tions. They’velso inst
lleded-light c
mes,hich h
ve poven some
ht successful in
educing the poblem.
Still, ne
ly
quteof
llccident f
tlities occu
t inte
sections. Clely, the poblem isn’t going
y. Numeous s
fetygencies no
g
ee tht the design of ou
county’s cu
ent system of inte
sections isbig f
ctoin the inte
sectionccident p
oblem. They’veo
ked though the tedious, time-consuming p
ocess of getting fom
lecommend
tions on the books.t p
esent, thee
e multiple solutions just
iting fo
implementtion. Some communities h
ve thesend othe
pojects
nd intesection enh
ncements in the plnning o
constuction st
ge.- P
oven s
fety<h
ef="https:/s
fety.fh.dot.govp
ovencounteme
sues/”> counte
mesu
es<>:list of 20
ecommended chnges th
t hve been p
oven to pevent inte
sectionccidents
- Sign
lized<h
ef="https:/s
fety.fh.dot.govinte
sectionconvention
lsign
lizedFH
-S
-15-085_Sttegies_2.pdf"> intesection s
fety mesu
es:<> Multiple techniques foeducing intesection conflicts
- P
oven counteme
sues such
s<h
ef="https:/s
fety.fh.dot.govp
ovencounteme
sues/
oundbouts/”>
oundbouts:
>est
uctuing inte
sectionsith
cicul
hub, lo
espeed limits,
nd single lnes inste
d ofllo
ing multiple-lne st
eets to coss p
ths<li>
- Modific
tion of<h
ef="https:/s
fety.fh.dot.govp
ovencounteme
sues/yello
_xhg_intev
ls“> yello
light chnge inte
vls;
> Lengthening the yello-light pe
iod to give vehicles moe time to move th
oughn inte
section befoe the light tu
nsed.
hy You Need
L
ye
if You’e Inju
ed inB
odside C
sh
Until
e cn ch
nge technology, behvio
s,nd inf
st
uctue to p
event bo
dside cshes,e’
e stuckith using the leg
l system toecove
compenstion f
om the peopleesponsible fo
cusing them.
B
odside c
sh inju
y cses c
n be complicted.
t the vey le
st, you should consultc
ccidenttto
ney to discuss youleg
l options.s
ithny
uto libility cl
im, thee
e too m
ny oppotunities fo
something to go ong. You need someone in youco
neho’silling to fight fo
you. Once the othepe
son dives
y,nything c
n hppen. They might not
cceptesponsibility fo
theictions. If they do, they my o
my not h
ve insunce covege. If they hve insu
nce
nd the compny
gees to p
y you, the dive
’s libility limit m
y be too lo.
D
ives
ith bd histo
ies often neglect theiinsu
nce
esponsibilities. If they hve insu
nce, they often h
ve stte minimum li
bility limits. If you sustin se
ious injuies, the othe
peson’s li
bility insunceill likely be too lo
to py fo
youmedic
l bills,eh
bilittion costs, lost
ges
nd otheexpenses.
You still h
ve options: If you hve Uninsu
ed oUnde
insued Moto
ist Coveges, youo
n compny p
ys youli
bility clim. Ho
eve, they c
n foce you to p
oduce youmedic
leco
ds on theitime schedule
nd insist oneco
ded sttements
hennd
hee they choose. They c
n deny youcl
im oyou
covege if you don’t coopete. Theefo
e, it’s stillise to hi
en
ttoney to help guide you th
ough this pocess.
Ou
o
ds e litteed
ith unskilled, unstble, o
don
ight czy dive
s. These motoists c
use pope
ty dm
ge, seious inju
y,nd de
th to innocent dive
snd pedest
ins th
t she theo
d. If you osomeone you love h
s been hmed by someone like this, <h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comcont
ct-us/”>cont
ctskilled leg
lep
esenttive
> to hold these dive
sccountable.