The Top Causes Of Car Crashes: Which Ones Are You Guilty Of?

LOS ANGELES, CA — I once rear-ended an FBI agent. It wasn't my best day. I felt pretty foolish at the time, but apparently I’m in good company. My mistake involved two of the most common causes of car accidents: trying to roll through a right turn rather than making a complete stop, and rear-ending.

I was lucky. The damage was limited to my pride and his bumper. It could have been much worse. The rolling right turn is to blame for 6 percent of all pedestrian fatalities – 21 percent of them children, according to a report by Slate. After decades of declines, car wreck fatalities are on the rise in the United States over the last two years. Slate looked at the top six causes of the nearly 6 million crashes that Americans get themselves into each year.

According to Slate’s analyses of a comprehensive report by the University of Michigan, the top culprits behind America’s crashes are:

#1 The rolling right turn on red: This one’s not just dangerous, it’s illegal.

#2 Falling asleep behind the wheel: According to Slate, sleeping drivers are to blame for 7 percent of all car crashes. You can be part of the solution by getting more sleep, avoiding late night driving and medications that make you drowsy.

#3 Losing control of the wheel: When drivers lose control, it’s bad. Most of us think we are in control, but aggressive driving and speeding around turns are more likely to make us lose control of our vehicles.

#4 Driving into the blind: Anyone who has ever tried to make a left turn in Los Angeles knows the danger of this one. A truck or bus is blocking your view of oncoming traffic as you turn left. You think you are in the clear, so you gun it. This is how we get T-boned.

#5 The dreaded rear end: Even if you’re not denting the fender of a special agent, rear-ending someone just feels inexplicably dumb. How do you not see the car right in front of you? According to Slate, between 23 percent and 30 percent of all crashes are due to this dumb mistake. Experts say it’s because drivers take risks when they are rushing to get somewhere on time. The solution? Leave five minutes earlier than you think you need to.

#6 Distracted drivers and their lane changing: Nearly a third of crashes happen when distracted drivers can’t stay in their lanes. A Plymouth Rock Assurance study recently found that a third of drivers in one state admitted to texting and driving. In 2015, a San Diego woman sent 13 texts in the moments before slamming into a car on the 405 Freeway in Orange County, killing a 23 year-old woman. The distracted driver was sentenced to six years in prison.

Watch Now: The Top Causes Of Car Crashes

For the full Slate report, click here.

Photo credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images