Georgia lane change wrecks occur on a daily basis. However, far too often drivers switch lanes without realizing they lack the space to do so. Another vehicle may be in their blind spot or another car may have to take evasive action to avoid a crash.
Typically, the driver who is seeking to change lanes is to blame for these kinds of accident in Georgia.
Drivers in the state are not permitted to change lanes unless they can do so safely. There are cases in which the driver who changed lanes was not at-fault for a Georgia lane change wreck.
Lane changing accidents are deadliest when they occur at a high speed on interstates such as I-285 and I-675. Other cars may swerve to avoid a vehicle encroaching into their lane and hit other vehicles or cause serious rollover crashes.
In Georgia, a driver can only change lanes when it’s reasonably safe to do so. The onus is on the driver who is changing lanes to be aware of surrounding traffic, check blind spots, and show the intention to change lanes by using a turn signal.
Georgia lane change wrecks are common
The majority of lane change accidents could be avoided if the driver making the lane change checked his or her surroundings to make sure it was safe to switch lanes.
In a minority of cases, another driver may have been to blame. A driver may have been intoxicated, speeding, aggressive or unexpectedly moving into the same lane as the changer without checking.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has studied lane change accidents.
It concluded these wrecks are most likely to be caused by seven scenarios, namely:
1 Two vehicles are on parallel paths. One driver intentionally changes lanes and hits the other vehicle. This is the most common cause of a lane change accident, accounting for more than 200,000 accidents in a given year.
2 Two vehicles are on parallel paths. One of them turns across the path of the other at an intersection.
- Two vehicles are on parallel paths. One drifts into the other’s lane for no apparent reason.
- Two vehicles are on parallel paths. One turns at an intersection and the other one collides with it.
- Two vehicles are traveling on parallel paths. One of the vehicles moves into the other’s lane to pass the other or attempts to pass a third vehicle.
- One vehicle leaves a parking position and is sideswiped by another pushing it into a lane into which the first vehicle is trying to merge.
- One vehicle merges into the lane of another from an entrance to a highway with limited access and is sideswiped by the other vehicle.
If you are hurt in a Georgia lane change wreck or another accident, take basic precautions like receiving medical assistance and contact our Georgia car accident injury lawyer at (404) 913-1529.