Driving Safely

April 12, 2011  |  Jon P. Erickson

I was driving to work the other morning, and almost collided with a car which apparently was in a “blind spot” for me as I was about to change lanes. I even have those add on blind spot review mirrors attached to my regular review mirrors, but apparently missed seeing the car. It made me once again consider the importance of safe driving.
I recall an incident when I was learning how to drive back home. My Dad was with, and I sped up to go through a yield sign out in rural Roseau County. There was a grain truck approaching from my right. My Dad asked, “Why did you do that? Didn’t you see the truck coming?” I said I had gone ahead because I had the right away. He said, “Having a right of way doesn’t help much if you’re dead.”
Just after my daughter got her license I told her she had to learn to slow down because she tended to drive too fast especially on corners and etc. About a week later she called to say she had gone in a ditch with the car as she went around a corner near her home. I simply said, “You need to slow down.”
We here at BGS see injuries from cases involving motor vehicle accidents that could have been avoided if people drove defensively and slowed down. Don’t multitask while driving; talking on cell phones, texting, radio fiddling and etc. It is especially important to signal lane changes and to go slow when making that lane change so the person behind you can react defensively to avoid a collision in the instance you just didn’t see them.
Anyway – be safe out there!
~ Jon P. Erickson
Attorney at Law