Post by Admin on Jan 11, 2014 13:58:42 GMT -5
Okay, you're about to have a collision by someone who is running a red light, or a pedestrian who is running out in front of your moving vehicle, what should you do?
In all cases you are required by law to try to avoid a collision even if the other person is at fault, but what if you're in a situation where if you swerve you are bound to hit someone else and even perhaps loose complete control of your vehicle?
It's a hard, split second, decision.
Whether it's a pedestrian or vehicle in the way, one would try to avoid it if there is room to do so and you know you can keep control of your vehicle (as an out of control, spinning or rolling, vehicle isn't much good to your own or others safety).
POTENTIAL VEHICLE COLLISION:
If it's a vehicle who's in your way wrongly, and you can avoid them without loosing control and crashing into anyone else then I say avoid.
If it's a vehicle who's in your way wrongly, and you can avoid them but it would mean crashing into an 'innocent' adjacent vehicle, then I would say crash into the vehicle that is wrong and center your vehicle, as much as you can' to brace for a front-on impact. In this case I see no reason to involve another vehicle, potentially allowing the vehicle at fault to drive away even though they were the cause of the collision.
POTENTIAL COLLISION WITH PEDESTRIAN:
1) There's no point in avoiding a pedestrian who's run into your path if it means you will be driving onto a sidewalk that's full of pedestrians who would become injured as a result, again putting 'innocent' people in harms way when the fault is from someone else.
2) If it's between avoiding a pedestrian and crashing into another vehicle, I would tend to crash into the other vehicle if my speeds weren't too high that would cause injury to the occupants in the other vehicle.
3) If there's a choice between hitting a pedestrian and turning sharply over a curb one has to consider that doing so might actually cause your vehicle to flip and roll which might crush the pedestrian anyway.
4) It appears that unless there are lanes available and free from traffic the most obvious thing to do is to brake hard and attempt to stop or slow down as much as possible. If a lane is open one can hope that the pedestrian won't choose your exit path as a direction for them to escape impact.
As you probably know there are 4 possible things a pedestrian who's run out into traffic might do once realizing that they are in danger of being hit by a vehicle, and these 4 things only complicate the decision of how a driver should react.
1) They could freeze in the middle of the road;
2) They could try to speed up to get to a safe place;
3) They could try to go backwards to get to a safe place;
4) They could continue in the direction they are going at the same pace they are traveling.
There's also many other dangers they could do like tripping, dropping something and attempting to pick it up, etc.
What I've notice most is that someone who's trying to run across the street tends to not look anywhere except forward, so it is my opinion that they would attempt to go forward at the pace or faster that they are traveling. But, this isn't set in stone because if you honk your horn, or they notice you for whatever reason they might 'panic' and act instantly in any way, all very unpredictable.
The best one can hope for when driving in the city is to slow down if you don't have good sight lines to the sidewalks where you can pickup on someone approaching the roadway, especially if there are parked cars or trucks next to the lane you are traveling in. This in my experience is the only thing that helps in preventing collisions between vehicles and peds. Also if you give a warning honk as you approach someone who isn't looking at traffic or looking the wrong direction. Make sure any pedestrian who is approaching the road and your lane has eye contact with you and your vehicle. Never wave a pedestrian across the road when they are jay-walking as another driver might pass you and run into the pedestrian. Let the pedestrian wait and allow them to ensure their own safety.
In all cases you are required by law to try to avoid a collision even if the other person is at fault, but what if you're in a situation where if you swerve you are bound to hit someone else and even perhaps loose complete control of your vehicle?
It's a hard, split second, decision.
Whether it's a pedestrian or vehicle in the way, one would try to avoid it if there is room to do so and you know you can keep control of your vehicle (as an out of control, spinning or rolling, vehicle isn't much good to your own or others safety).
POTENTIAL VEHICLE COLLISION:
If it's a vehicle who's in your way wrongly, and you can avoid them without loosing control and crashing into anyone else then I say avoid.
If it's a vehicle who's in your way wrongly, and you can avoid them but it would mean crashing into an 'innocent' adjacent vehicle, then I would say crash into the vehicle that is wrong and center your vehicle, as much as you can' to brace for a front-on impact. In this case I see no reason to involve another vehicle, potentially allowing the vehicle at fault to drive away even though they were the cause of the collision.
POTENTIAL COLLISION WITH PEDESTRIAN:
1) There's no point in avoiding a pedestrian who's run into your path if it means you will be driving onto a sidewalk that's full of pedestrians who would become injured as a result, again putting 'innocent' people in harms way when the fault is from someone else.
2) If it's between avoiding a pedestrian and crashing into another vehicle, I would tend to crash into the other vehicle if my speeds weren't too high that would cause injury to the occupants in the other vehicle.
3) If there's a choice between hitting a pedestrian and turning sharply over a curb one has to consider that doing so might actually cause your vehicle to flip and roll which might crush the pedestrian anyway.
4) It appears that unless there are lanes available and free from traffic the most obvious thing to do is to brake hard and attempt to stop or slow down as much as possible. If a lane is open one can hope that the pedestrian won't choose your exit path as a direction for them to escape impact.
As you probably know there are 4 possible things a pedestrian who's run out into traffic might do once realizing that they are in danger of being hit by a vehicle, and these 4 things only complicate the decision of how a driver should react.
1) They could freeze in the middle of the road;
2) They could try to speed up to get to a safe place;
3) They could try to go backwards to get to a safe place;
4) They could continue in the direction they are going at the same pace they are traveling.
There's also many other dangers they could do like tripping, dropping something and attempting to pick it up, etc.
What I've notice most is that someone who's trying to run across the street tends to not look anywhere except forward, so it is my opinion that they would attempt to go forward at the pace or faster that they are traveling. But, this isn't set in stone because if you honk your horn, or they notice you for whatever reason they might 'panic' and act instantly in any way, all very unpredictable.
The best one can hope for when driving in the city is to slow down if you don't have good sight lines to the sidewalks where you can pickup on someone approaching the roadway, especially if there are parked cars or trucks next to the lane you are traveling in. This in my experience is the only thing that helps in preventing collisions between vehicles and peds. Also if you give a warning honk as you approach someone who isn't looking at traffic or looking the wrong direction. Make sure any pedestrian who is approaching the road and your lane has eye contact with you and your vehicle. Never wave a pedestrian across the road when they are jay-walking as another driver might pass you and run into the pedestrian. Let the pedestrian wait and allow them to ensure their own safety.