You may be like many other Colorado residents and find yourself in a vehicle most days of the week. Whether you are driving to work, taking your kids to school, running errands or even heading out for an enjoyable evening, you spend much more time in your vehicle than even you may realize. While you may have so far had the ability to make it to the majority of your destinations unscathed, the chance of a car accident is present anytime you get into a vehicle.
Though many types of car accidents exist, head-on collisions are among the most dangerous. In fact, this type of crash accounts for approximately 13% of fatal accidents in rural areas. As a safe driver, you may not understand how this type of crash even happens, but they are more common than you think. As a result, you would be wise to know how to avoid a collision if you see a vehicle heading straight toward you.
Take immediate action
If you see a vehicle traveling the wrong direction in your lane of travel, taking immediate action could help you avoid a collision or even save your life. However, immediate action does not mean hasty or sudden moves. If you have time, consider taking the following actions:
- Ease off the gas and press your vehicle’s brake pedal in order to slow your vehicle.
- Honk your vehicle’s horn and flash the lights in an attempt to get the other driver’s attention.
- Move your vehicle to the shoulder of the road or into any clear area, if possible.
- Steer to the right side of the road.
- Drive off of the road if you do not see any other way to avoid a collision.
Remaining as calm as possible and in control of your vehicle could prove vital during this type of situation. Though you may feel tempted to yank your steering wheel and stomp the gas to get out of the other vehicle’s way, such sudden moves could result in you losing control of your own vehicle.
Additionally, you want to avoid traveling to the left of the oncoming vehicle. If the wrong-way driver realizes his or her error, that driver may try to steer to your left in an attempt to get back in the correct lane. Plus, traveling to the left could put you in the path of other oncoming traffic, making you a wrong-way driver too.
What if you cannot get out of the way?
Unfortunately, despite your best efforts, you may not have the ability to get completely out of the way of a wrong-way driver. If you do suffer serious injuries in such an event, you may want to consider taking legal action against that driver in efforts to seek compensation for damages.