23.6 C
Manama
HomeTAKE EVERY CARE WHEN CHANGING LANES

TAKE EVERY CARE WHEN CHANGING LANES

Follow Bahrain This Week on Google News
- Advertisement -

Quite a few road accidents are caused by drivers not so much due to speeding or jumping the red signals but simply because they are in too much of a hurry to overtake [or switch the lane] and carry on. Impatience is a dangerous thing when it comes to switching lanes because you are on a territory where no one is static and everyone is on the move in a vehicle.

But if you must change the lane then the first thing you need to do is check your rear and side-view mirrors. Especially the rear-view mirror on the side where you want to enter the new lane. Do not forget to check the blind-spot area too in the rear-view mirror of that side. And then switch the indicator signifying you mean to change the lane.

Make sure there is no impediment in the way of your changing the lane such as a vehicle in the lane you want to join which is too close to your vehicle or coming too fast for you to have a decent time to enter that lane before it. Never cut into the path of a running vehicle. That’s a recipe for accident.

When changing lanes, majority of accidents occur when drivers ignore these two kinds of vehicles. Therefore allow the fast or too-close vehicles to pass even as your indicator is on. While entering the new lane also make sure that in addition to the vehicle immediately behind you, you keep an eye on the one ahead as well to ensure there is a safe gap between your vehicle and the one ahead.

- Advertisement -

While changing the lane do look out for cyclists, motorcyclists as well as truant pedestrians who tend to ignore the zebra crossings and prefer to weave their way in and out of flowing traffic. And at sundown, night and wet or foggy weather be extra careful in observing all the precautions of changing the lane.

Some young or rash drivers also have this tendency to drive in the style of a serpent, twisting and turning their way on the road, quickly jumping lanes in the process, to get ahead on a road clogged with traffic. Do not imitate them and to the extent possible try to keep away from them. Any contact with such rash drivers could be dangerous if not fatal.

That brings us to the point that if one mentally plans one’s itinerary carefully in advance there may either be no – or hardly any –  need to change lanes as one hits the road to one’s destination. When you start the engine you know where you are going. Draw a map in your mind and from the very start stay in the lanes which will take you to your goal. That way you have barely any need to change lanes and the driving will be safe.

And finally, when you do change the lane change it quickly and like many a bad driver do not continue to drive on the lane-dividing markings keeping both the lanes occupied for a long distance.

- Advertisement -

Check out our other news

Trending Now

Latest News