Want to change how safe you are on the road? Some driving instructors say that the best way to do it is to assume others are going to make mistakes. Even when they’re trying to make their intentions clear, they could be wrong. In fact, some take it so far as to suggest that you should never trust any other driver sharing your road.
Here’s a good example: Say you pull up to an intersection, meaning to turn left. The car coming toward you also has its blinker on. It appears that you’re both going to turn left — in opposite directions — so you can do it at the same time. There’s no other traffic, so you start to turn.
However, the other car does not turn or even slow down. The driver just continues on straight through the intersection, slamming into you as you turn. This appears to be your fault since you did not yield the right of way, but you know that they caused it by having their blinker on when they weren’t actually going to turn.
Maybe they had just passed someone a bit further down the road. After the pass, they forgot to turn the blinker off. That mistake may sound minor, but this example shows how it could cause a devastating accident that neither one of you expected to happen. If you trust that blinker light, you crash. If you don’t trust it and wait to see if the car is actually going to slow down, you avoid the accident. It’s frustrating, but it’s safer.
Those who suffer serious injuries in accidents caused by other drivers must know what legal options they have. If you’ve suffered losses due to another party’s negligence, talk to an attorney with the experience to help you obtain fair compensation.