How Vehicle Maintenance Can Prevent Accidents
As a vehicle owner, you rely on your car to get to work, school, hospital, travel, and visit dear ones. One of the most crucial things you can do as a vehicle owner is to maintain your vehicle regularly. Maintaining your car can help increase safety on the road.
Florida car accidents happen for various reasons, with one of the leading causes of accidents being the lack of vehicle maintenance. Maintaining your vehicle regularly and properly can reduce the chances of you being involved in an accident. Below, we discuss how proper and regular vehicle maintenance can help prevent accidents;
How Can Vehicle Maintenance Prevent Accidents?
Typically, car maintenance involves checking if all vehicle components are working properly. It entails checking and topping off brake fluid, checking and replacing tires, checking and replacing headlights or taillights, and changing the air filter. Proper and regular car maintenance ensures your vehicle is in good condition. It ensures your vehicle is not at risk of developing serious problems that can cost you a fortune to fix and increase the likelihood of an accident.
Here is a look at some examples of how a lack of vehicle maintenance can put you, your loved ones, and other road users at risk;
- Brake failure – If brakes are not properly and regularly maintained, they can fail. Brakes are a crucial vehicle system, as they stop the car before an accident happens. The following are some warning signs that you need to service your brakes as soon as possible;
o Brake warning lights
o Burning smell
o Leaking brake fluid
o Squeaking or grinding noises
o Low brake pedal resistance
- Tire problems – A failure to maintain tires can, for instance, result in a tire blowout. A tire blowout can result in a serious accident. Examples of tire problems that should be fixed without delay include;
o Over/under-inflated tires
o Damaged or punctured tires
o Worn out tires
- Lights malfunction – Failing to maintain headlights can make it hard to drive at night or in inclement weather, and failing to maintain taillights can make it hard for other drivers to see you at night or in inclement weather.
Maintaining your vehicle can also prove important after an accident. Maintaining your car reduces the chances of another party claiming you were at fault for your accident. This can be crucial because Florida follows the comparative negligence rule when dealing with motor vehicle accidents. Under this rule, if an injury victim is partially to blame for their car accident, the damages they recover in their accident claim should be reduced by their percentage of fault. Being able to show that your car has been properly and regularly maintained can help you recover the compensation you deserve in an accident claim.
Contact Us for Legal Help
Have you or a loved one been involved in a Florida car accident? Our Orlando personal injury attorneys at The Pendas Law Firm can help you get the compensation you deserve. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
The Pendas Law Firm also represents clients in the Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Ocala, Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, Naples, Melbourne, Bradenton, Daytona Beach, and West Palm Beach areas.
Source:
flhsmv.gov/traffic-crash-reports/crash-dashboard/
