Car crashes are often caused by human error, a problem that is often outside of your control as a person. Thankfully, a good Oakland car accident lawyer can help you avoid serious financial troubles and ensure that you don’t experience any legal problems. Even if your case is something that seems air-tight and impossible to win, they may help to give you a better chance of avoiding serious problems.

What is Human Error?

Human error is exactly what the term suggests – a driving mistake made by a vehicle operator. These mistakes include making a turn at the wrong time, stopping improperly at a stoplight, signaling improperly, or choosing the wrong lane of traffic. These errors happen constantly on the road and are by far the most common cause of car accidents around the nation.

Human error may be defined in many ways. For example, a driver who turns at the wrong time or who does not stop at the proper time is committing a human error. These issues are probably the most common problem that impacts drivers. However, there are other types of mistakes that drivers may make to cause an accident. Just a few of these potential problems include:

• Distracted Driving– Cell phones, DVD players, radios, and telephone calls are probably the most common cause of car accidents beyond simple driving errors. They cause a high level of distraction that may easily cause a person to crash if they aren’t careful with how they drive.
• Impaired Driving – Any type of impaired driving – such as drinking and driving or doing drugs and getting behind the wheel – is a major error. Though not technically considered an error by some, this illegal activity is more likely to cause an accident and serious damage to a vehicle.
• Not Knowing an Area – When you get lost and are trying to find your way back to a familiar area, you may end up driving erratically, slowly, or making sudden driving decisions. Unfortunately, all of these actions are likely to cause an accident and impact those around you.
• Improper Maintenance – Poorly maintaining your vehicle may cause your car to fail and trigger an accident. This type of mistake is considered operator error because it should be avoidable in most cases. Only a handful of mechanical failures are considered out of your control.
• Bad Driving Conditions– If you slip and slide on snow or rain, you may not think you are to blame. However, most states consider accidents in bad conditions as proof of operator failure. This argument states that the crash itself is proof that you were driving too fast for the conditions.

The most frustrating thing about these errors is that they are often hard to defend in court. The fact that you made a mistake is typically proven by the accident itself. This Catch-22 is a strong one and may make your defense more difficult. That said, there are ways that you can get out of these tickets if you understand various laws and other steps that you can take to avoid getting blamed.

Find Help Today

If you are facing a serious ticket and want to avoid problematic financial demands, don’t hesitate to contact a lawyer right away. A car accident attorney has carefully studied the laws that dictate your punishment and fully understands how to defend you. Even if they can’t get you out of some blame for an accident that was at least partially your fault, they may be able to mitigate some of the damages.