What Driving Accidents Look Like (Including Helpful Driving Tips)

One evening I was driving along the interstate with the conscious intention to be the best driver I could, to avoid any accidents. I drove in the middle lane. My hands were on the steering wheel. I maintained the speed limit. It seemed as if nothing could go wrong – until it did.

I could see out of my peripheral vision that a vehicle was approaching quickly from the right. It crossed several lanes as it emerged onto the interstate from the onramp. I moved a bit to the left, thinking the car would end up in the lane to my right but perhaps overestimated a bit. However, I could only move over so much as there was a vehicle immediately to my left.

Unfortunately, the driver did not stay in his or her lane, nor even stop in my lane. The driver plowed through the front right side of my car, spinning me around and into the car to my left. Then the driver continued and caused a few more accidents further down the interstate before escaping the crime scene – a series of crashes they orchestrated.

After I got my bearings and pulled to the side of the interstate, I noticed several others were not doing so. I watched as a series of cars barreled down the interstate towards them, slamming their breaks upon recognizing cars motionless in a lane on the interstate. Car after car’s tires screeched as they slid into the latest car in the pileup. To my knowledge, no one found the one who orchestrated all these accidents.

Since then, I have watched several videos online of other crashes, and I could only guess what could have been behind that driver’s performance. Perhaps they were texting and driving. Perhaps they were drunk. Perhaps they fell asleep at the wheel. Perhaps they were having a road rage moment.

While I cannot say for sure which – if any – of these factors influenced the driver’s performance, it seems that awareness of these pitfalls to safe driving and the hardships we can cause to others by unsafe driving might help alleviate such pitfalls. Thus, we can help eliminate all the personal injury, property damage, and costs associated with them. If I could speak to that person and give them some advice to help avoid such another occurrence, I might give these few:

If it is important enough to text about right now, it is important enough to pull over to text. A pernicious culprit of automobile accidents is cellular phone usage. We are texting or looking up something on our phone, and our reminder that we are driving a car is the loud crash of hitting something (or someone). If there is an urgent reason to text, please pull off the rode to do so. That way, we can put all our attention on that communication without worrying about driving at the same time. It only takes a moment to be in an accident and harm ourselves or someone else. If it is not important enough to pull off the road to address, then it can wait until later. Then everyone can make it home safely.

Don’t drink and drive. Drinking and driving are warned about so much that it has become cliché. However, we are still aware of road accidents – and even deaths – that arise from driving while intoxicated. It may seem cool to do, or perhaps there is a personal problem one is escaping by drinking. Whatever the case, the night will not be made better, or the problem will not go away by adding problems. So rather than turning that fun night into a nightmare, or rather than adding even more problems to current problems, go ahead and get a designated driver or see if someone can provide help in addressing any problems. Do not make matters worse and introduce more problems into our and someone else’s life.

Be fit to drive. It only takes one drive during rush hour traffic to recognize that personal transportation is a mainstay of our society. Unfortunately, driving can become so commonplace that we forget we are operating a complex and powerful machine that can cause severe damage if improperly operated. Just like how we would not want a construction worker operating a heavy crane to fall asleep and injure the people and property around them, let us be prepared to safely make the journey when we drive. If we are too sleepy to drive, even a short nap can help us and those around us to get home safely.

Road rage is not worth it. There are many videos about road rage incidents. Drivers cut off or ram other cars and even get out of their cars and physically fight. At the least, we take time out of our day in pursuit of added frustration. At worse, people have been injured, arrested, and even killed. If we are going through a bad day, or if a driver cuts us off or does not let us into the lane, adding to the loss of time by violently driving can only make things worse. Let us get home safely and uninjured and allow those around us to do the same by simply driving along and letting that driver be.

If we all drive by these principles and practices, the road (and the world) would be a much safer place.