With the rise in texting and driving, having a car swerve into your lane is more likely now than it used to be. A driver may only look down for a second, but that’s all it takes to cross the centerline.
If you see a car entering your lane as it swerves around another vehicle, animal or object ahead of you, what should you do?
Never swerve to the left
First off, do not swerve to the left, into that driver’s original lane. Yes, it is an open lane now, but what if the texting driver looks up and pulls the wheel back to the right? They’ll be in the proper lane again, but now you’ll be in that lane as well, making a crash nearly unavoidable. You also have to think about oncoming traffic behind the driver who is texting.
Try to get their attention
The best-case scenario is if you can get their attention before they hit you. Honk your horn. Flash your lights. Try to get them to look up and at least attempt to correct their path, which may turn it into a glancing impact.
Swerve even farther to the right
If you have to leave your lane while hitting the brakes, go to the right. It’s better to drive onto the shoulder, as long as there are no pedestrians, cyclists or fixed objects. If there are, just try to reduce your speed as much as you can before impact.
What if you’re injured?
This is a very hard situation to avoid and there’s a high chance that you’ll get seriously injured in the crash. If you do, then you need to know how to seek financial compensation for those costs.