Car accidents happen often in the San Antonio, Texas, area. Unfortunately, many accidents involve secondary collisions, which can be very dangerous for a few reasons.
What is a secondary collision?
When a motor vehicle accident occurs, it usually doesn’t just end there. Due to the sheer impact of being hit, the vehicle often continues moving and ends up hitting other objects or even people. Often, a secondary collision results in a vehicle striking a mailbox, light pole, tree or a parked car. The force of impact from the primary collision can also cause a car to go in any direction. When an accident like this occurs on a highway, it often leads to a multi-car collision.
Why are secondary collisions especially dangerous?
Often, a secondary collision does not have as high an impact as the car accident that caused it. However, it can still be serious and cause severe injuries to the individuals inside the car. Safety precautions inside the vehicle such as airbags are already deployed at that point, which means they cannot protect the driver or passengers.
Another reason why secondary collisions are so dangerous is that the vehicle may already have significant damage. This makes it less able to absorb the impact from the secondary collision.
What is post-collision braking?
As a result of the severity of secondary collisions, many vehicles are now equipped with post-collision braking technology. Post-collision braking is a feature that activates after a car has been in an accident. The brakes automatically engage after an accident so that the vehicle stops moving, and no further damage can be done.
Motor vehicle accidents can result in serious injuries. If you’ve been injured in a collision, you will want to recover damages, so filing a personal injury claim may be wise.