Driving on the highway presents certain dangers that you won’t see while driving on local roads. That’s mostly because you’re traveling at a higher rate of speed than you normally would while in residential neighborhoods. However, you still need to do all you can to stay safe, both for yourself and any passengers who you might have with you in the car.
Several South Carolina highways see a high accident rate, and you’ll likely notice the same thing if you look at highway crash stats from other states. Let’s take a few moments to talk about how you can remain safe on the highway so that you don’t become a statistic.
Wait Till You Can Safely Enter the Freeway
Many accidents and near-accidents happen when you have someone trying to get onto the freeway from an on-ramp. Everyone needs to get onto the freeway safely, but to do so, you need to wait for your turn.
While you’re traveling along the on-ramp trying to get onto the highway, you should turn to your left to see when you can safely do so. If there’s a lot of traffic coming in the lane nearest to you, then ideally, you should slip in between two cars in a smooth, zipper-like motion.
Try to time this maneuver as best you can. You would hope that a driver will see you coming and will either speed up so that you can slip in behind them or slow down so that you can enter the lane in front of them.
You should also remember when you’re in the highway’s far right-hand lane that you are going to have cars periodically trying to enter the highway by accessing your lane. If you see one trying to access that lane, either make it obvious that you’re slowing down so that they can enter it ahead of you or speed up so that they can slip in behind you. You’re trying to promote a steady flow of traffic.
Try to Avoid Semi-Trailers
Semi-trailers are the huge 18-whelers that you often see thundering down America’s highways. Some of them operate within just a couple of states, while others might go all the way from one side of the country to the other, carrying goods.
They’re a necessary part of this country’s infrastructure. You need to respect them as a driver on the highway, though. That’s because they’re so large and heavy.
You would hope that if you’re near one, then the driver won’t do anything unexpected, like suddenly change lanes without signaling. The drivers of these 18-wheelers must get a CDL, or a commercial driver’s license. To obtain one, they must show that they can successfully operate one of these juggernauts of the road.
The driver of a commercial truck can make a mistake, though, the same as any driver. That’s why it’s in your best interest to give these vehicles a wide berth when you see them on the highway.
Try to keep your distance, unless a traffic pattern forces you near one. If that happens, then try to create distance from it again as soon as you can safely do so.
Don’t Tailgate
When you’re driving on the highway, you should not tailgate a car ahead of you. That means you’re riding a vehicle’s bumper.
You should keep at least three car lengths between yourself and the vehicle ahead of you. That especially applies when you’re on the highway, since you’re going at a faster rate of speed.
If a driver ahead of you decides to break check you, meaning they press down on the brakes suddenly, you might slam into them if you’re driving too closely behind them. That’s why, if you have a slower car ahead of you in the fast lane, it’s best that you get in the slow lane and drive around them if you want to pass them.
Get Out of the Fast Lane if There’s Someone Riding Your Bumper
Conversely, if you’re in the fast lane, but you’re driving relatively slowly, you should try to change lanes so that faster traffic can pass you if you can conveniently do so. If there’s someone who comes up behind you, and it seems like they’re in a hurry, get in the slower lane so that they can get by.
Also, if you know that you’re going to drive right at the speed limit or below it for several miles, it’s best that you stay out of the fast lane. There’s nothing wrong with staying in one of the slow lanes, especially if you’re on a longer trip. That way, you can maintain a steady pace, and other, faster drivers can pass you any time they like.
Don’t Speed
You also shouldn’t speed when you’re on the highway. You might sometimes see other drivers around you going considerably faster than the speed limit. That’s always each driver’s prerogative. However, if you speed, you make an accident more likely.
That’s because, the faster you drive, the more probable it becomes that you can lose control of the vehicle. If that happens when you’re driving very fast, it could prove fatal for you and your passengers.
If you stick to the speed limit, and you stay in the slow lane, then that’s your best opportunity to use the highway like its designers intended. You will not attract the attention of highway patrol officers who sometimes sit in speed traps waiting for faster traffic.
If you drive five miles over the speed limit, it’s not too likely that a police officer may pull you over and ticket you. However, you should understand that when you exceed the posted speed limit, even by just a little, you’re breaking the law. A police officer can still technically pull you over and ticket you if they want to, so keep that in mind.
By following this advice, you should do fine with highway driving and get to your destination safely.
