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How to avoid a car accident…

Posted by Ottawa Personal Injury Lawyer, Ottawa Accident Lawyer, David Hollingsworth in Ottawa Car Accidents, safety on February 2nd, 2009

How to avoid a head-on collision

One of the scariest situations any and all drivers can face is to see a car approaching from the opposite direction in your lane. This is very common on two lane rural roads where passing on blind hills, around curves or against a solid (and a double one at that) happens more frequently than most drivers would like.

If you travel to a cottage each summer, I’m sure you’ve witnessed people passing too close, too short and too dangerously.

Head-on collisions can also happen in winter weather when an oncoming car loses control and crosses into your path.

As easy as it to focus on the events unfolding in front of you, you *can* teach yourself to react to the situation so that you don’t brake, you don’t panic and you get your vehicle out of the other vehicle’s path – saving not only your life, but the life of the person in the oncoming car.

If someone is trying to pass you at any cost, especially when you are traveling the posted limit, do not tap your brakes. Do not “force” them to go around you in the opposite lane. Signal that you are pulling onto the shoulder, slow down and let them go around. Most head-on collisions occur because of driver error, driving too fast for the road conditions, not predicting a change in road condition and passing when it is not safe to do so.

What should you do if you are in the opposite direction and a car is coming towards you?

Driving involves a lot of concentration so as much as we all enjoy the conveniences of cellphones, driver vanity mirrors, iPods, Blackberries, cupholders and CD changers, I don’t need to remind you where your eyes should be at all times and where your hands should be at all times. You have to look ahead when you drive at all times. I mean, way ahead – beyond the car in front of you. In fact, you should never use the driver in front of you as your “guide” to stopping.

People make driving seem like a right and protest way too much that they should be able to do what they want when they want behind the wheel. When you’re in the hospital recovering from two broken legs, a collapsed lung and you’re bleeding in your brain, the last thing you are going to care about was the fact that some guy (or girl) interrupted your concentration of finding the next song on your iPod by plowing into you head-on.

Head-on collisions can be avoided. If you’re driving a car made in the last 10 years, chances are you have an air bag and you’re a creature of driving habit when it comes to seatbelt use. These two things will save you from death (the statistics are high), no, not from the head-on collision but from the impact of driving your car off the road — into a ditch or into a field, even onto a sidewalk. Your goal, should you be faced with a car approaching you in the opposite direction, should be to get your car off the road – now. And aim right. Always drive right. It’s what big rig drivers are also taught.

Whatever you do, DON’T BRAKE. If the road you are on has a soft shoulder, steer your car so that two wheels are on pavement and two wheels are on the shoulder and take your foot off the gas. This will allow you to get around the approaching car and avoid a head-on collision. By not braking, you remain in control of your vehicle. You may make contact with the car you’re trying to avoid and lose a sideview mirror … but there’s a reason why you pay for insurance. Cars can be fixed.

You can’t.

This article was written by Cindy Smith, Editor forEducation For The Driving Masses: A Gigababy’s Web Creed Production. I read this article and thought I’d share it as I found it very helpful.

Please drive safely !

Tags: accident, accidents, car, collision, lawyer, motor, ottawa, persoanl injury, vehicle