How to avoid rear-ending someone (and getting rear-ended)
7 comments so far
Few things are as much of a royal headache as being involved in a car accident - even a minor fender-bender. I’ve compiled a few short tips on how to (hopefully) avoid both being on the giving and receiving end a rear-end accident.
Always leave a car length between you and the person in front of you. We’ve all learned that since driver’s ed, but it’s rarely practiced - mostly because it would double the length of cars at every stop light. When I was a chauffeur (just one of the many random jobs I’ve had) one of the training videos I watched said you should always be able to see where the tires meet the pavement of the car in front of you. It’s a good rule of thumb to follow.
Pick your poison. When I approach a red light on a multi-lane road, I’ll look at my options of cars in front of me. For example, if there’s a Ford Taurus and a BMW, I’ll usually choose the lane with the Ford Taurus. I figure if I get hit from behind, causing my car to lurch forward and rear-end the car in front of me, I’d rather have it be a Ford than a Beemer. Of course, that can be avoided if you…
Keep your foot on the brake. If you’re rear-ended you’re less likely to launch forward into the car in front of you. So keep that foot planted firmly on the brake pedal.
Last Minute Lurch. Once I was sitting at a light and glanced in my rear view mirror only to see that the person approaching behind me clearly wasn’t going to stop in time. I pumped the breaks a few times to try to alert her via flashing break lights that she needed to brake harder, but her head was down fishing around in her purse. It wasn’t going to be a bad accident, but I could tell she was going to hit me.
I waited until the last second and then quickly lurched my car forward a bit into the (pedestrian-free) crosswalk in front of me. It did the trick and the extra six inches of space prevented an accident.
Hopefully you’ll find these tips beneficial and maybe they’ll even save you from having to pay an insurance deductible. Any other ideas on how to avoid fender benders? Let me know in the comments.
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Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 7:00 am and is filed under Transportation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Especially watch for 18 wheel trucks behind you. I was on a highway that had a 65 mph speed limit and stop lights. While I was able to stop when the light turned red, I watched in my rear view mirror an 18 wheeler fast approaching from behind me who was obviously not going to be able to stop. I quickly made a right hand turn and he went barreling through the intersection on a red light. If I hadn’t had been watching him in my mirror, I would have been toast.
Cool idea for a post. After all, preventing complicated stuff from happening is a key part of simplicity.
Laurie - Wow! That’s quite the story. Add “keep an eye on your rear view mirror” to the list. Thanks for sharing!
Sara - Thanks much.
Stay off the darn phone! Lol. Ever notice how everything is going just fine until you pick up the phone to see who just sent you that text message? Then the next thing you know, bam! You’re the guy in the mustang pictured above.
By the way…I’m 99.9% sure I know where that picture is taken… Near Westwood…
Simple and practical. Hopefully everyone driving around me has read this. ;-)
Good tips. Defensive driving is always a good idea. For most people, the most dangerous thing they do every day is get in a car. I guess these tips aren’t exactly simple, but then again, neither is haggling with an insurance company over repairs.
Interesting to know.