While driving recently, you slammed on your brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of you. Fortunately, a car accident did not occurred and no one was hurt. However, such near misses are instructional, because they reveal underlying attention-related problems or bad habits behind the wheel putting you at risk for a serious crash in the future.
How can you evaluate and improve your driving behaviors?
To begin to answer this deep question, let’s examine four examples of “near misses” and extract useful lessons from the analysis.
- You braked too strongly on a rain-slicked road, causing your car to skid.
Although Arizona tends to enjoy sunny, dry conditions most of the year, slight rainstorms can stir up oil and sediment on the highway, making roads ultra-slick and dangerous for the first 45 minutes or so from the time precipitation starts following a dry period. Remember: apply the brakes more gently next time, and maintain a space cushion from other vehicles.
- In the midst of a serious conversation with your passenger, you swerved suddenly to avoid a hit.
Everyone knows that talking or texting on a cell phone can provoke accidents. But even discussions with passengers inside your vehicle can steal your focus and make you drive on autopilot, particularly if the conversation gets heated or emotional in nature. When driving, keep conversations with others in your vehicle light, and save heartfelt talks or debates over big existential issues for a later time. Also: pull into a parking lot, or stop on the side of the road if and when you ever need to use your cell phone.
- You backed out of a driveway on a quiet street without looking and then froze, horrified to spot a small child close to your car.
Quiet neighborhoods, dead-end streets or isolated places of business cause drivers to let down their guard, because they don’t expect to encounter traffic or pedestrians there. The presence of small children poses the most danger, since their small stature often hides them from view. Always look behind you before backing out.
- You missed your exit because you had trouble reading the sign at a distance.
Undiagnosed or unrecognized vision problems create driving hazards. If you have difficulty reading street signs or focusing at night without squinting or developing a headache, visit your optometrist or ophthalmologist. You may need to change your contact lens or eyeglass prescription.
The Arizona auto accident lawyers at the Kelly Law Team at (602) 283-4122 are standing by to provide insight into your case, if you got hurt in a recent crash. Please call our team to set up a free consultation.
