Road Trip : How to Avoid an Accident During Lane Changes

Car accidents can happen in a wide variety of ways that you might not always be prepared for. Driving is difficult and requires constant focus, so it is important to know beforehand what situations might make a crash more likely.

In particular, accidents during lane changes are a commonly overlooked hazard. The state of Texas alone experienced nearly 43,000 accidents triggered by unsafe lane-changing maneuvers in 2021.

While accidents during lane changes are highly prevalent, they are easily preventable with safer driving behaviors. To help you learn how you can safely lane change, we have a few excellent tips below.

Check Mirrors and Blindspots

Before you ever switch out of your lane, you’ll need to ensure that you have adequate space for it. The best way to do this is by looking at your side and rearview mirrors and physically looking at your blindspots.

Accidents happen most frequently when drivers cannot see one another. If you do not check to see that a lane is safe to merge into, then you won’t notice if a car is there.

When looking to see if it is safe to change lanes, you must be aware of any cars in the lane you want to move into and the adjacent lanes. Someone in a nearby lane can change lanes at the same time, which can also result in an accident.

The best way to see what’s around you is by using your mirrors and checking your blindspot. This gives you vision from every angle without distracting you from the road ahead, so you’ll have the knowledge needed to merge safely.

Good Signal Usage 

Another crucial safety tip is to use your turn signals well. There are two key components here; remembering to use them and doing so before you start changing lanes.

Driving has a lot of elements to it and it can be easy to overlook something as simple as flicking on a turn signal. Unfortunately, this minor action can quickly cause an accident if another driver is going too fast or not paying attention and winds up hitting you during or after your merge.

Signaling well in advance is also important because other drivers will not instantly notice your intent to change lanes. You must give them time to become aware and adjust accordingly before suddenly merging.

When you ensure other drivers know you want to change lanes through good signal use, you greatly reduce the possibility of an accident occurring.

Move in Advance

It is also a good idea to change lanes early.

Few situations are more stressful on the road than being in the wrong lane when you need to exit. Waiting for the next exit is a hassle and may not quickly get you to your destination. As a response, you might feel tempted to change lanes unsafely to make your exit in time.

This can cause an accident when another driver no longer has adequate stopping distance or simply doesn’t notice you when you’re rapidly zipping across the lane.

If you know your route well and know when you need to get over, there is no need to wait until right before your exit to merge. Doing so only adds pressure because there might not always be a convenient opening available for you to change lanes in time to make your exit. 

On the other hand, planning for your exit in advance allows you to wait for safe and natural opportunities to change lanes where no cars might hit you. 

Traffic Laws 

When you do change lanes, you should follow the laws for safe merging. This has three outstanding portions to it.

Firstly, you should ensure that you do not speed during a lane change. Going faster means that another driver will have less time to stop and avoid hitting you. It also makes an accident more severe if an impact happens.

Second, you need to avoid merging in intersections. Intersections are especially dangerous because they involve traffic going in different directions. A common accident that results here is changing into the right lane (from the left) and hitting a vehicle making a right turn into that same lane.

Third, you must only change one lane at a time. Other drivers only expect you to make a single lane change at a time and suddenly moving wider can scare and unnerve them.

Not only are these guidelines required by law, but they are also greatly helpful in preventing accidents. By avoiding dangerous situations on the road and driving predictably, other drivers are far less likely to hit you.

Respect Large Vehicles

A final point to remember is to respect large vehicles. This includes trucks, buses, commercial vehicles, and any car on the road that is especially bulky and difficult to drive.

Every vehicle on the road has blindspots, but large vehicles have bigger and greater blindspots. In addition, their increased size means more weight to stop when needing to brake. This means a longer stopping distance and a more significant impact should they hit you.

Because large vehicles can’t see you as well and they can’t stop quickly, you must be especially careful around them. Give them extra time to notice your turn signal and only move after they’ve noticeably created space.

Closing Thoughts

Lane changes are an unavoidable aspect of driving, but performing them poorly has a high chance of causing an accident. Safely merging requires drivers in all surrounding lanes to be aware of the situation to avoid hitting you when you move over.

Additionally, there are a few steps you should take to increase the safety of a lane change. This includes checking all mirrors and blindspots, using your turn signals properly, moving well in advance, obeying traffic laws, and respecting the vulnerabilities of larger vehicles.

Keep in mind that safe driving requires good behavior every time you’re on the road. Err on the side of caution and give other drivers plenty of time and space before changing lanes to significantly reduce your chance of seeing an accident.