Posted on April 05, 2017 in Car & Truck Accidents

You may remember the two-second rule from driver’s education. It says that your car should be at least two seconds behind the car in front of it. For example, the other vehicle passes a road sign, and you count to two. If you got to the road sign before the time was up, you were following too closely. Here is a quick look at the importance of proper driving distance on Interstate 81.

Interstate 81 can be risky

It is well-documented that Interstate 81 is the site of many crashes and traffic backups. Many of these crashes occur in part because of rear-end collisions, and what causes these? Frequently, it is driving too quickly and/or too closely, also called tailgating. Interstate 81 has a lot of traffic and a lot of tractor-trailers. A match between a car and big rig probably will not end well.

The two-second rule is not enough

The two-second rule is easy to remember, but it has its flaws. For example, it does not take into account speed variables and weather conditions. Perhaps more importantly, two seconds is often not enough time to brake to a stop. When you are on Interstate 81, this is even truer since you could be going in excess of 70 miles per hour.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 11, 2017 in Car & Truck Accidents

In Virginia, 80 percent of car accidents stem from distracted driving. We’re all aware that our actions when driving can affect our safety. We know how children arguing or crying in the back seat can take our focus off the road, and that if we reach to turn the radio up for a favorite song we’ll only have one hand on the wheel and may be looking down for a second or two. Those distractions have almost always been part of the driving experience. So what makes something like texting while driving so dangerous?

When you use your smartphone while driving, you are 23 times more likely to be in an accident. Texting or using a smartphone for any task requires different kinds of attention from us. Basically, there are three kinds of distractions.

(1) Visual: When drivers look away from the traffic ahead to glance at a map, navigation system or phone, they’re not clued in to what is happening in front of them. If traffic comes to a stop, they could be caught unaware. They won’t see a pedestrian crossing or a vehicle pulled over at the side of the road. Any action they take will be late-possibly too late to avoid a crash.

Continue Reading ››