All car accidents cannot be avoided. Other drivers make mistakes, and they can easily hit you even if you have carefully followed all traffic laws. If you want to avoid car accidents this year — as we all do — you must know what steps to take. Too many people seem to just hope that they don’t get hit by attempting to generally follow the traffic laws rather than taking active steps to avoid a crash. That’s often not enough. They get hit by other drivers or cause accidents themselves. So, here are a few tips to avoid car accidents in Pennsylvania.
Defensive Driving Tips to Avoid Car Accidents in Pennsylvania
That said, defensive driving can make an accident less likely. If you assume other drivers will make mistakes, that can help you react quickly.
Below are six tips that can help you avoid some accidents:
- Stay out of the left-hand lane when possible. This is where reports show the majority of interstate accidents take place.
- Watch out for drivers who are distracted or who are not paying attention. If a driver seems to be swerving or drifting, stay far away.
- Watch out for cars that don’t appear to be taken care of properly. If a car is dirty, loud, and looking like it’s on the verge of breaking down, it could be a hazard.
- Stay off the roads after dark. The night itself causes a lot of accidents, and most drunk driving accidents happen after the sun goes down. Plan to be home by then if you can.
- Keep both hands on the wheel. They tell you this in driver’s ed, but many people don’t do it. Having both hands ready means you can react faster to issues ahead of you.
- Understand blind spots. Know where yours are so that you can check them and know when you could be dangerously driving in another vehicle’s blind spot. This is especially an issue with semi-trucks.
- Only use your mirrors when you are backing up, rather than turning around to look behind the car and using a backup camera.
- Pulling out into an intersection when there is a green light, assuming that no one coming the other way will run the red light.
- Not looking far enough in front of your car. For instance, it’s a mistake to look just a few seconds ahead since you really want to look 12 seconds in front of the vehicle.
- Not leaving the proper distance between you and the next car on the road. You want to be three or four seconds behind them, at minimum, and yet many people drive at just one or two.
- Letting go of the steering wheel with both hands when you need to do something in the car.
- Pause at every green light. Look both ways. Yes, you have the right of way, but look out for red-light runners every time.
- Turn or enter traffic slowly and carefully. Turn the music down and listen to the traffic around you as you do so.
- Always keep your hands on the wheel. Be ready to react instantly when something goes wrong. That split second it takes to grab the wheel could be too much.
- Do not count on backup cameras or mirrors. Use them, as they can help, but also turn and look before you drive.
- Look farther ahead of your car than you feel is necessary. Your eyes should really keep scanning the place you’ll be in 10 seconds. Look for hazards long before you actually approach them.
- Never get too close to the next car. Tailgating does not just mean being half a second back. Two seconds is too close. Aim for three or four.
- Be kind and courteous. Move over to let others merge. Let people turn ahead of you. Use your horn sparingly. Never escalate a situation, even if you were not in the wrong.
Again, though these tips can help, accidents are still possible. Make sure you understand all of your legal options after a crash. Contact an Easton car accident injury lawyer at our firm for legal assistance.
How to Avoid a Head-On Collision in Lehigh Valley
If you have lived in the Lehigh Valley area for any length of time, you know that there are some heavily traveled roadways here. With the number of vehicles that pass through the area regularly, it shouldn’t surprise you that numerous accidents occur there.
Despite this fact, you still need to get around. You probably travel at various times of the day and night. It is at night when you may encounter one of the most frightening sights on any roadway — a pair of headlights traveling directly at you that do not appear to have any intention of moving.
There are some things you can do to avoid this eventuality. In fact, heeding these four pieces of advice could save your life one day:
Tips For Avoiding Head-On Collisions in Lehigh Valley
- Make sure that you focus your eyes on the horizon so that you may be able to see any traffic issues ahead of you.
- Slow down. This may give you time to find a way out and the other driver time to get back into his or her lane or at least move to your left and out of your way.
- Stay in the right lane or drive as close to the right edge of the road as you safely can. Most wrong-way drivers are in your left lane, so staying to the right may help you stay out of the way.
- If another vehicle is heading right toward you, always move to your right. If the other driver realizes at the last second that he or she is in your lane, they will probably move to your left, and if you move that way, too, you will probably collide.
Following these simple tips may help you live through an encounter with a wrong-way driver. Perhaps you will avoid a collision altogether and not even suffer any injury. After a narrow escape, you may need to pull over and take a breath, but at least you made it through.
On the other hand, if you can avoid the head-on collision but still end up colliding with the other vehicle or something else while trying to avoid the wrong-way vehicle, you could suffer serious injuries. If that happens, you may bear some legal liability for the accident.
