Many crashes are caused by:
- Drivers traveling too fast for conditions. ✓
- Drivers consistently checking their mirrors and blind spots.
- Drivers yielding the right-of-way.
- Drivers maintaining a four-second following distance.
Answer: A. Drivers traveling too fast for conditions.
Many crashes are caused by drivers traveling too fast for conditions.
Why this is the answer
The handbook points to speed as a major factor in crash severity: the faster you drive, the greater the impact or striking power of your vehicle, and doubling your speed makes both braking distance and impact four times greater. That means a driver going too fast for the conditions needs far more room to stop and hits harder when something goes wrong. The safe behaviors described in the handbook, like keeping a four-second following distance, are presented as ways to avoid collisions, not as their cause.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. Drivers consistently checking their mirrors and blind spots. — Checking your mirrors and blind spots is a safe habit, not something the handbook lists as a cause of crashes.
- C. Drivers yielding the right-of-way. — Yielding the right-of-way is what drivers are supposed to do, so it is not a crash cause.
- D. Drivers maintaining a four-second following distance. — A four-second following distance is the minimum the handbook recommends in good conditions, not a cause of collisions.
Remember it
Speed multiplies trouble: double your speed and your braking distance and impact both jump to four times as much.