When a driver takes their attention off the road for even a few seconds, that turns into hundreds of yards of driving blind. A reckless driver can cause a significant accident that can change the lives of many people. Spotting a distracted driver before an accident can prevent one from happening, but how do you place them?
Distracted driving causes nearly 400,000 accidents annually. Prepared, safe drivers will identify the distracted ones. Here are some classic signs of distracted driving:
Drifting
When a reckless driver is not looking at the road, they cannot make the small corrections that keep their car on course. This neglect results in the vehicle slowly drifting into other lanes. When a car drifts in this manner, it can result in the driver overcorrecting in the other direction, causing a collision with another driver.
Irregular speeds
When a driver is not paying attention to the road, they may also wind up applying the incorrect pressure to their gas pedal. When a driver begins lagging behind traffic or speeding in an unorthodox manner, accidents are bound to happen.
The light from a phone
When it is dark out, it can be easy to spot the light from a smartphone’s screen in another car, even from a short distance. There is a good chance they are not giving their full attention to driving if you can see the light coming from a driver’s lap.
Wild gestures
Constant honking and waving arms out the window of a car can indicate that a driver is experiencing road rage. When a driver enrages themselves, they become less aware of their surroundings, including other drivers.
Reckless driving
Bad driving habits like speeding through lanes without signaling is a dead giveaway of a distracted driver. One of the reasons there are speed limits is giving drivers time to react to other cars. If someone is speeding, it limits the amount of time they have to recognize what is happening around them.
Distance yourself
If you feel that another driver is not paying attention to the road, the chances are that they are not. If you spot a driver exhibiting any of these or other odd behaviors, put a reasonable distance between yourself and that driver.
Contact Scherline Injury Law
If you have been injured in a car accident due to a distracted driver in Pennsylvania, please contact our personal injury attorneys at Scherline Injury Law.
