Why are U-turns so dangerous?

On Behalf of | Jan 14, 2020 | Car Accidents

A driver ahead of you misses their turn. They decide to quickly pull a U-turn in the road, legal or otherwise, so they can get back on the right track.

Just watching it happen, you can tell that it’s dangerous. But why is it so risky, and why is it often illegal?

In some cases, the issue is visibility. The driver may know that they do not have any cars behind them, for instance, and they may not see any cars coming toward them. It feels safe, but, if they’re near a sharp bend in the road or a hill, a car could be coming closer far faster than they realize. They can’t see as well during the U-turn, and that car could slam into them.

Another issue is just that a U-turn is typically unexpected. If the driver puts on their blinker, other drivers expect them to turn onto a side street, not to spin around in the traffic lanes. This confusion and chaos can lead to accidents. If the driver doesn’t put on their blinker, it’s even more unexpected and problematic.

At an intersection, U-turns get extra risky. Drivers have standard rules of the road to follow about who gets to proceed through the intersection and who has to wait. A driver making a U-turn could break those rules and cause a crash with another driver who properly waited their turn.

As dangerous as this is, you still see people do it to save a few seconds on the road. If one of them injures you in an accident, you need to know how to seek compensation.

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