Experienced drivers make it look easy. In reality, good drivers spend a majority of their time behind the wheel, constantly moving their eyes, paying attention to their surroundings and maneuvering their vehicles in the safest way possible.
If you allow yourself to drive distracted, drowsy or impaired, you could end up missing the signs that you are about to encounter an emergency to which you need to react quickly and efficiently in order to avoid an accident.
Know the common types of accidents
As you fail to keep your eyes on the road, avoid distractions and other circumstances that jeopardize your ability to drive safely, you could find yourself in situations that could lead to the following accidents:
- If distracted, you may not see that another vehicle has moved into your lane, traveling in the opposite direction. The resulting head-on collision could cause serious or fatal injuries.
- In some cases, it doesn’t matter that you have a green light. You need to watch carefully as you move through intersections in order to avoid broadside collisions caused by another vehicle entering the intersection when you have the right-of-way.
- If you fail to pay attention to your exit, turn or that stop sign coming up, you may need to slam on your brakes, which could cause the car behind you to slam into the back of yours.
- Passing requires you to pay attention so that you don’t end up in the path of another car. In the alternative, you could end up sideswiping a vehicle if you aren’t careful.
- Debris, potholes or some other obstacle in the road could cause you to roll your vehicle if you hit it just right.
- Failing to pay proper attention could also cause you to run off the road. If you over-correct in order to get back on the road, you could end up hitting another vehicle.
If you remain vigilant, you may avoid these eventualities. However, other drivers may not be as diligent in their duty. You could end up suffering injuries as a result that require significant medical care, time off work and recovery time. Under these circumstances, you will experience substantial financial losses. You may be able to pursue compensation from the other driver. If an Oregon civil court rules that his or her negligence led to your injuries, you could receive an award of damages to offset those losses.