How common do you think car accidents really are?

You can check your local news any day of the week and find stories about car accidents in your area. Some are major, some are minor. But it definitely feels like they happen often.

On the other hand, though, do you always feel like they happen to someone else? Maybe you assume you’ll probably get in a car accident in your life, or maybe you think you’re such a good driver that you can avoid them. How common do you think accidents are for the average person?

According to State Farm, an insurance company that carefully tracks this data, most people with their coverage average a crash claim every 19 years. If you got your driver’s license on the first day that you could, at 16 years old, that number suggests you won’t make it to 35 without getting into an accident.

Additionally, that statistic just reflects accidents that are bad enough to warrant an insurance claim. It doesn’t count minor accidents in which people do not file or those who illegally drive without insurance.

It’s also an average. There are drivers who have crashed numerous times by age 35, while there are others who have never crashed at all. Still, averages are telling because, by definition, most of us are average drivers. Everyone tends to think that they are more skilled than the average person — which obviously cannot be true.

As you can see, car accidents often feel nearly unavoidable. If you get hit by someone else and suffer serious injuries, you may need to seek compensation. It’s only fair to ask the negligent party to pay up.