Wilton Bulletin reported recently on a crackdown by Connecticut police to help prevent distracted driving. With grant money from the state to put more police on the roads, local officers are issuing more citations to drivers who are violating laws aimed at preventing distracted driving. The goal is to help make the roads safer by preventing collisions caused by driver distraction. One police lieutenant described situations in which distraction was likely a factor: "A rear-end crash, a one-car motor vehicle accident, a one-car accident off the road - those are crashes indicative of perhaps something else going on in the vehicle that caught the driver's attention and took it away from the roadway."
Distraction is one of the leading causes of rear-end accidents because a driver who isn't focused on the road may not see what a lead driver is doing in time to react. Avoiding distractions is one key way to avoid being involved in a rear-end collision. There are also other tips which can be followed to prevent car accidents.
Five Tips to Avoid Causing Rear-End Accidents
When rear-end accidents happen, the driver who was behind is usually going to be considered negligent and responsible for causing the crash. A presumption of negligence can make it easier for victims to force a rear driver to compensate them for harm. As a result, drivers want to avoid rear-end collisions both to avoid causing injury and to avoid expensive claims against them and their insurers. Five tips to help avoid causing a rear-end accident are:
- Stay sober and alert when driving: If you are drowsy, distracted, or have consumed drugs or alcohol, you may not be able to react if the front car changes its behavior. You want to be fully aware of what is going on and make sure you are ready to hit the brakes or slow your vehicle as soon as you need to.
- Don't drive faster than is safe: Driving faster gives you more momentum and results in it taking longer to stop your car. This means there is a greater chance you will hit the car in front of you.
- Scan the road ahead of you and look up further on the road to spot problems: Scan up ahead of you so you can spot obstacles and stopped cars early and avoiding hit them from behind.
- Leave a long enough following distance: When the car in front of your own vehicle passes a fixed object, count the number of seconds it takes until your car passes the object. This is your following distance. It should be about three to four seconds to allow your car time to brake or slow down if the front driver stops or changes speed.
- Leave several vehicle lengths between you and the front car when you stop your vehicle: If you leave space, you're less likely to be pushed into the front car if someone hits you from behind.
If every motorist followed these basic best practices for staying safe, hopefully there would be fewer year-end accidents and a reduced number of injuries and fatalities on Connecticut's roads.
A Fairfield County personal injury lawyer at Vishno Law Firm can help after a collision. Call 888-222-1688 today.