Avoiding a Car Accident: What Should I Do?

Proper defensive driving teaches that you use your escape route.

At all times you should expect the unexpected and have an escape route planned.

In picking an escape route you must understand that Head on collisions are the most likely to be deadly. It is better to hit a non moving target, and even better to hit a target going in the same direction to minimize injury. Assuming that the other driver Is trying to stay in his lane and attempt to pull right, The best escape route is that you pull back in the right lane and the worse case scenario you hit someone going in the same direction.

The last thing you want to do is to accelerate and cross the other drivers path. This is more likely to cause a head on instead of a glancing side swipe. Besides the injury, there is the legal fact that you are crossing his lane and in the wrong, at least partially. If you stay on the right lane he is totally in the wrong.

This is one of the reasons that you do not turn your wheels in the left turn lane until the lane is clear .(the other reason is- someone may hit you from behind and push you into oncoming traffic).

I'm sitting still during all of this, waiting on the light to change, so avoidance is not an option.

If you don't have time to move, and collision is unavoidable....

One possibility is to put in neutral and release the break. This way it softens the initial collision force as your vehicle is no longer a solid wall, however, you will get a terrific whiplash as you accelerate backwards or sideways after collision. You are more likely to have secondary collisions if you do this. This may lessen his injuries also as he will decelerates from 60 to about 20 almost instantaneously.

The other possibility is to leave your breaks on. He will take the majority of the collision as he decelerates almost instantaneously from 60 to 10. and you accelerate from 0 to 10

The choice is yours, I guess it depends on your values.

Of course this all depends on his size, the bigger his vehicle, the more likely you are going to take the brunt of the collision. If it is a sports car, laugh because he just wasted a whole lot of money.

In both cases, Relax and don't tense up (to minimize injuries). Just pretend you are on a merry-go-round and say weee. And you get a new car!

The best avoidance is to file complaints. Mind you Texas is the state that raised the speed limits when the stats said that there was more deaths due to guns ... than car accidents. It seems the politicians wants these collisions......

"Head on collisions are the most likely to be deadly."

False. Most fatal accidents are caused by side impacts.

Cabin intrusion from another vehicle from a side impact is by far a bigger killer than head on collisions by a wide margin. The front of a vehicle has a far deeper crush zone than the side door of a car. Very little energy can be dissipated through a side door. Additionally, thoracic injuries are worse physiologically. Organs do not do as well from a side blow to the chest cavity as they do from the front or back.

The biggest killers in a side impact are light trucks. Trucks are built on a frame rather than a unibody construction. When a truck strikes the side door of a vehicle the frame rails usually intrude right at the upper thoracic region of the body. Since the truck does not employ a crumple zone, the frame acts as a giant battering ram into the victim's car.

Another issue for a victim of a side impact is seat support. Front and rear impacts better support the driver and passenger, particularly when air bags are used. Passenger car seat belts do nothing to restrain the user from side to side movements and seats do not have enough bolster to keep the victim seated and aggravate injuries to the thoracic region, head, and spine.

If the situation that the original poster stated is that dire, I would find a way to approach your turn from the opposite direction and make a right turn rather than a left turn across traffic. You may need to go further down the road to a safer place to turn around or select another route that drops you off where you can approach from the other direction. In that situation you no longer have cross traffic to negotiate and even if a car that follows you does hit you, the impact will be from the best direction (the rear) and offer you your best chance of getting away without injury. A rear impact will also have the lower delta velocity between the two vehicles since they are going in the same direction.

If you are in the market for a car, look up crash ratings and select a vehicle that offers superior protection. Be aware that crash test ratings are a little misleading. The tests are for specific types of impacts under specific conditions that may not apply well to real life. So take the data with a grain of salt.

In summary, the driver's side impact is the worst, followed by the passenger side, followed by a frontal impact, with a rear impact offering somewhat better protection than the front. Results vary from car to car, so that is a general rule.

Push the drivers side ejection button! No seriously, my sister was involved in such a scenario... she pushed the eject button. Honestly I have thought of such a scenario as it has came close to happening a few times to me, and it did happen to my sister. Really if you are sitting still, I don't think you would even have time to react. If you did I would agree to pull back out into traffic pointed in my direction.

Carry an RGP. Open fire it's America. You have the right to defend your self from attack.

I'm not sure an RPG would do the job, and my alternator won't support a charged particle beam weapon.

Turning into the oncoming drivers path is no good for legal reasons plus it only adds to the total energy at time of impact. Turning to the right and accelerating is even worse since not only do you risk being hit on the passenger side now, you have also exposed yourself to a driver side DOOR impact.

Your best choice in this scenario is to brake firmly with your right foot, sit upright, relax and take the hit. Braking firmly will force your vehicle to absorb as much impact energy as possible before the passenger compartment moves to impact with your legs and arms. Remember that your vehicle will be moving before and faster than you which tends to result in painful contact when it reaches where you are sitting.

Another option is to drive a old rust bucket such as a '75 Ford farm truck with one of those massive steel bumpers, guarantee no one will hit you.

Richard is absolutely right. Stay still and don't move, relax and take the hit. Your car is designed to handle the impact and absorb the shock. Any other move risks others and imparts more energy that must be removed before comming to a halt. You can survive a crash in a stationary position if your belt is on and you are relaxed. The nice thing is, if you are stationary you absorb none of the fault in the accident and you won't be liable. Unfortunately in this world, these things must be thought of. It goes without saying, all this assumes you are not in any way blocking oncomming traffic.

J

This is assuming that some stupid guy will either ignore the red light or not see it in time due to the curve before the intersection. You have good reason to be concerned. Do what I did.

I looked for an alternative. I found a left turn that was in a safer (relatively speaking) intersection. If you do not have an alternative like that, make your own.

Drive on past your usual intersection and find a way to get into the opposite lane either via a U-turn (in a safe place) or take a longer route. This way, you'd be making a less-dangerous right turn than a lane-crossing left turn. It'll add to your time-on-the road and fuel consumption but you'll be safe, at least.

This is the safest entrance into the neighborhood - since it is at a light - the two other entrances have the same blind turn, but no protected turn light. The problem is not that the other guy will run the light - the light is green for him, red for me - waiting for the left turn signal.

I suppose I could try to find someone else who's turning left and get behind them and let them take the impact. Or perhaps drink a bit more so that I can stay relaxed in the event that it's me that gets hit.

Has there ever been an accident at this intersection? if so;

You could ask the municipality to put up a concrete divider or curb between the lanes.

Oh, you Canadians crack me up.

what if you just go past the hill...turn around and come back then make a RIGHT! :)

That would mean doing a u-turn in Seabrook, and that's just short of suicide.

How about a right turn instead of a left, then a u turn, and wait for the light

A right turn ends me up in the bay. Honestly, it's like you guys don't realize the amount of thought I've put into this!

well then, I still think the only thing that will slow the other drivers down is a cop, or the fear of hitting a concrete divider

Interestingly, from where I sit waiting to turn, I can see our little police station - but the guy coming from the other direction can only see a gas station.

Probably the best deterrent would be some of those road grooves that make such a racket when you drive over them - like the ones that wake me up on my long drives to Dallas when I start to drift onto the shoulder.

A few blocks back, Space Center BLVD dead ends into NASA RD 1, at the edge of the bay. If you're driving down Space Center toward NASA RD 1, there is a Dead End sign, and arrows across the intersection to indicate that you have to turn left or right, you can't go straight. Plus, there's the bay in front of you that might give you a clue that it's a bad idea to go straight. Last Halloween, not one, but two, idiots ran straight through the intersection and into the bay. Now there are two more signs, and speed bumps, and new concrete barriers. So, even if you do go straight, you're not going into the bay. At least not all of you.

This is how we drive in Houston.

I have a map up here. Are we talking Lakeshore Dr?

If so here are a couple of possibilities,

Turn around in Yatch club lane

Take the next turn, (Bayou View dr)even though there may not be a light, at least it is not on a curve.

Yes - Lakeshore (don't you have a job or something?)

I could turn around on Yacht Club, but then I'm crossing traffic to get back to Lakeshore. Bayou Vista is a possibility, but that means driving by my boss's house on Cedar Ln, which I guess would be OK since I leave work before him.

My neighbors go down to Repsdorph and take it up to Lake Lock, but Repsdorph has wicked storm ditches on either side, and who want s to drive on a road called Repsdorph?

My house is at Crestwood and Lake Bluff, on the SE corner. Drop by some time.

OK I'll get back to work , I just have this need to help people.

One last thing, It seems that you are using the presumed safety of a light to turn left, when it is not necessarily safer then the other exits. They put lights in where safety is a concern.

The other exits are probably your best bet. After you try it a few times it will become easier, and you will become more confident. Just be patient for a safe break in traffic. Remember you usually waited a number of minutes at the light.

I'm just going to get a bigger car.

A humvee? with a 50 cal on the roof?

The keyword is "avoiding". Among other options is to proceed past the dubious junction, turn left at a later one, regain the main road again, and then return to the desired junction travelling in the other direction ready for a right turn.

Actually, the key word is not "avoiding". That title was added by the cr4 editors. My question concerned the physics of the inevitable crash - and how to minimize my injuries. It's applicable to any use of this road, which has no median, curb, or barrier between opposing traffic.

This is one of the top car killer on the roads worldwide. If you are ready to react move away from the direction of the car killer.

Solution:A distance sensor and speed limit that any car should be equiped may block the car killer to do crazy driving and avoiding to kill people on the streets.