There’s an old joke that everyone thinks they are good at driving and that it’s just everyone else who makes mistakes. If you ask the average American to rate their own driving skill, they’ll probably tell you that they are very good at it. In fact, they will likely tell you that they are above average.
What is interesting, however, is that 73% of people in one U.S. study claimed they were above average as drivers. The total was highest for men, at about 80%, or eight out of every 10 male drivers. Naturally, it cannot be true that 70-80% of drivers are better than average, so what is really happening here? It’s clear that these drivers wildly overestimate their own skills.
Human error causes most accidents
To underscore just how wrong drivers are about their own abilities, consider that more than 90% of crashes happen due to human error. The specific mistakes drivers make look different from one crash to another. Examples include distracted driving, fatigued driving, drunk driving, speeding, driving too fast for conditions, tailgating and failing to yield the right of way.
Part of the issue is likely that it only takes one mistake to cause an accident. For instance, someone can spend years following all traffic rules and coming to a complete stop at every stop sign. They would likely consider themselves a careful and safe – above average – driver. But all it takes is one second of distraction to miss a single stop sign, and they could cause a serious accident.
If you have suffered injuries due to mistakes made by another driver, then you need to know how to seek financial compensation.
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