Springfield Virginia Motor Vehicle Accidents Blog

The Subaru Crosstrek is a popular vehicle for drivers in Virginia, and it's easy to understand why. The mini SUV is affordable and fuel-efficient, and the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety gave the 2019 model its top safety rating. However, according to Insurify, an auto insurance comparison website, the Crosstrek also bears the distinction of being the most-crashed vehicle in the U.S.

Insurify researchers analyzed data from the company's auto quote database to determine which vehicles are most likely to get in an accident. Information contained in the 1.6 million quotes included the make and model of each customer's vehicle as well as its crash history. The researchers found that a little over 13.5% of all vehicles in the database had been crashed at least once. However, they found that 25.81% of all Crosstreks had been in a wreck, making it the most crash-prone vehicle in America. They also found that 25.7% of Honda HR-Vs had been involved in an accident, making it the second most accident-prone vehicle. Other vehicles in the top 10 included the Hyundai Elantra GT, the Infiniti Q50, the Subaru WRX, the Mazda 3, the Acura ILX, the Lexus CT, the Chevrolet Trax and the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. Only one vehicle, the Chevrolet, came from an American manufacturer. The others were imports from Japan or Korea.

Most modern drivers are already acutely aware of the risk posed by large trucks and other commercial vehicles on public roadways. Since these vehicles are much larger than passenger vehicles, they can do dramatic amounts of damage to smaller vehicles in the event of a crash.

What fewer people may understand is that the drivers of passenger vehicles are often the ones responsible for the collisions they get into with commercial vehicles. That's because not enough people make sure that they are following safety best practices when driving in close proximity to a large truck.

Truck drivers in Virginia are probably no stranger to random inspections. They should be aware, then, that the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has announced a date for its annual brake inspection spree. Brake Safety Week will take place from September 15 to 21 and will encompass all of North America.

Every component will be checked, but inspectors will be focused primarily on brake hoses and tubes. These can incur damage, develop leaks and become inflexible. They may have even been improperly attached. These are problems that can affect braking performance, increase braking distance and raise the chances of a rear-end collision. The goal of Brake Safety Week, after all, is to prevent accidents caused by negligence.

Automakers have done a lot to improve the safety of front seats, yet this has been to the detriment of rear seat safety. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, looking into frontal crashes that involved serious injuries or death for rear-seat passengers, now calls rear seats a "danger zone." Its study points out several areas where rear seat safety is deficient, and Virginia residents may want to know what these are.

Rear seats do not come with forward airbags, for example, though some automakers are developing these. Few have side curtain airbags to keep passengers from being hurt on hard surfaces. These seats are also deficient in not having force limiters for their seatbelts. Force limiters unspool webbing from the belt to give passengers more room even while the belt tightens against them for protection.