You’re driving home at 55 miles an hour during your daily commute. Suddenly, a teenage driver ahead of you pulls out of a driveway and cuts you off.
It’s not your fault, but you’re clearly about to be involved in a serious crash. Should you swerve to try to avoid that car? You have to make this decision in a split-second, so it’s important to consider it in advance so that you know how to react.
It’s usually better to try to slow down
There are many situations in which swerving may be a good idea, especially if you can drive onto the shoulder or into another unoccupied area. What you absolutely never want to do is swerve into the oncoming lanes. It is usually a far less dangerous accident if you rear-end a car ahead of you that’s moving in the same direction than if you swerve into the oncoming lanes and get involved in a head-on crash with another car traveling at full speed in the opposite direction.
But even swerving off of the road carries risks that you need to be aware of. There was one story where a man tried to avoid hitting an animal and ended up running into two houses. This is why it’s usually better to just try to slow down. If you do swerve, there’s always the risk that you’re simply going to make the situation worse.
No matter what you do, there is a chance you could be seriously injured in the crash, and that’s when you need to know how to seek financial compensation from the driver who was at fault so that you can cover your injuries and losses.
