When you see that you’re about to be involved in a car accident, you may only have a split second to decide what to do. Many people’s natural instinct is to swerve to avoid the impact, but is that always wise?
Considering this issue in advance — before you’re faced with it on the road — may help you make the right decision at that moment.
You must consider the ramifications of swerving
The problem with swerving is that you may avoid one issue and cause a worse one. For instance, you could swerve to avoid a glancing impact with another vehicle and end up hitting a fixed object like a light pole on the side of the road. This could cause far more serious injuries.
You also do not want to swerve into the oncoming lanes, so you should never go to the left. You could strike another unsuspecting driver head-on. Moreover, if the driver who drifted into your lane suddenly realizes their mistake, they could swerve back into the right lane — hitting you head-on in the process.
Finally, you need to be wary of pedestrians and cyclists. As dangerous as a car accident is for the drivers in both cars, it’s safer for those cars to collide than for one driver to swerve off of the road and hit a cyclist near the curb or a group of joggers on the sidewalk.
Do you need compensation for your injuries?
No matter what decision you make, you could get injured in the resulting crash, and you may need compensation for those injuries. You need to know what legal steps you can take to recover your losses so you can move forward.
