Charlotte Fans Leaving Football Stadiums Need to be Aware of Car Accident Risks

Whether you visit Bank of America Stadium to watch the Carolina Panthers or travel upstate to watch the Tar Heels, you need to be aware of the risk of car accidents when leaving the stadium. Car accidents involving alcohol are a significant danger for football spectators and other motorists driving in areas where professional sporting events are played. 

Reducing the Risk of Car Accidents When Leaving Football Stadiums

Football stadiums often draw big crowds, and there may be a lot of traffic as people try to leave the game. If you are one of the attendees of the game, you should learn the risk factors which increase the chance of auto accidents and you should take steps to try to combat those dangers so you and your loved ones can stay safe. 

One major issue when leaving a football stadium is you may be around people who are drunk while driving their cars.  ABC News reports one out of 12 people who attend football games consumes too much alcohol, and ends up with a blood alcohol concentration above safe limits. Drunk drivers around you could strike your vehicle at any moment, causing serious injury.

With so many cars in stadium parking lots, you also need to be aware of the potential for backover accidents. Kids and Carsreports at least 50 children in the United States are involved in backover accidents every single week. Backover accidents mean a car pulling out of a parking spot or out of a driveway runs over someone who is directly behind the car.  Two children die weekly in backover accidents, and 48 are hospitalized on average.

People leaving stadiums eager to get out and try to beat the traffic may not look behind them, and may strike children or even adults who are walking to their own vehicles. Whenever there are lots of cars in parking spaces like at football games, everyone needs to be aware of the potential for backovers to occur.

Another report from Albany University cited research from State Farm showing 20 percent of all vehicle accidents happen in parking lots.  Since people pulling out of parking spaces at football games may also be intoxicated, this makes the risk of a parking lot crash an even bigger possibility.

Once you get out of the parking lot, you may find yourself sitting in densely-packed traffic as you try to leave on roads leading out of the stadium. In these types of situations, rear-end crashes are a real possibility as drivers may not pay attention to what the car directly in front of them is doing.

Motorists need to leave plenty of space between their own car and the vehicle in front, need to pay careful attention, and need to be mindful when leaving parking spots. These tips can not only help prevent car accidents when leaving stadiums after sporting events, but are best practices which should be employed at all times when driving.