Avoiding rear-end collisions

Ever so often cars come to a halt on city roads while the traffic signal is still glowing green, only to find out that a car has rear-ended another in front of it. It is very easy to avoid rear-end collisions but the negligence and aggressive attitude of drivers often cause rear-end collisions.

Apart from damage to the cars involved in rear-end collisions another dangerous aspect of rear-end collisions is whiplash injury to occupants in a vehicle. Whiplash is a term used to describe a range of injuries caused by sudden distortion of the neck. This type of injury is common with occupants involved in automobile rear-end collisions. It is therefore more than important to drive safely and avoid rear-end collisions.

Here are a few tips to avoid rear end collisions;

• Keep a good distance from the car in front of you so that you can slow down gently when you need to. This means the car behind yours will have the time to do the same.

• Except in an emergency, always look in the mirror before braking. Knowing what the car behind is doing is the best way to avoid getting hit from behind.

• Make sure you have a properly adjusted head restraint. The top of the head restraint should be level with the top of your head for maximum safety. This ensures your neck does not travel too far backwards resulting in whiplash injury.

• Anticipate the traffic ahead and drive to avoid stopping as often – slowing down earlier gives the driver behind more time to react.

• Try and signal early for junctions to give time for the traffic behind you to react.

• Keep your foot lightly on the footbrake as traffic approaches from behind to show brake lights as a warning, until you are sure the vehicle behind is slowing down.