You probably won’t hear the advice I am about to give you from anyone else. I came up with this safety tip myself from my years of experience as a Central and Syracuse New York car accident lawyer. I will give you two simple techniques you can use to minimize your injuries if you are rear-ended. Before I give you my tips, though, let me explain why I am giving them now.
You see, I am getting more and more rear-end auto accident cases caused by distracted drivers, usually someone texting or looking down at his or her phone. I just took one in the other day. These rear-end collisions come with explosive force because the distracted driver never applies the brakes. He or she is too busy looking down at his or her phone to even notice the stopped vehicle. Further, these collisions usually don’t happen at stop signs or traffic lights. They usually happen when the front vehicle is waiting to turn left into a driveway. That is an area of the roadway where the distracted driver never really expected the front vehicle to stop before he looked down at to check his calls or text his friend.
I hear you, “enough lawyer talk already, give us the tips!” OK, here is the first of my two tips: Don’t wait with your steering wheel turned. Instead, keep your front wheels straight, and only turn them as you actually make your turn. Why? Because if you wait with your wheels turned, and you are rear-ended with force, your car can flip, and you will end up upside down. Not fun at all, believe me, I have been there! Two of my recent rear-ended clients got flipped. Their wheels were turned as they waited. If you keep your wheels straight as you wait, you will instead be catapulted forward, a much better deal.
Ready for tip number two? I thought so. Look in the rearview mirror while you are waiting to turn left. If you see you are going to be rear-ended, take your foot off the brake. That way your car will take the impact by rolling forward, rather than absorbing the full impact, which will translate more damage into your body.
Remember: Wheel STRAIGHT as you WAIT and get ready to lift that foot off the BRAKE (hey, it rhymes, kind of!). And when the dust has settled, come see me, your Central and Syracuse New York auto accident lawyer!
Keep safe!
Mike Bersani
Email me at: bersani@mbk-law.com I’d love to hear from you!
Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
mbk-law.com
Central NY Personal Injury Lawyer Michaels Bersani Kalabanka
1-315-253-3293