We’ve all been in this situation when driving on a multiple-lane highway. A vehicle next to you suddenly begins moving into your lane, and you honk a warning to prevent an accident. Or, to avoid a crash, you swerve into another lane, hopefully, not hitting someone in that lane.
If you’re guessing that improper and illegal lane changes cause a lot of accidents, many of them fatal, you’d be correct. A recent study (undertaken by the personal injury firm Suzuki Law Offices in Phoenix, Arizona) confirms that reality. Alarmingly, the data, compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), found that Ohio was the second most dangerous state in which to change lanes during the study period, 2017-2021.
In the worst-offending state, Massachusetts, 8.07% of drivers in fatal crashes (49 out of 607) were changing lanes – or making a “pre-event movement” as termed in the data — at the time of their crash. In second-place Ohio, 6.16% of drivers (173 out of 2,808) were making an improper lane change before the fatal crash.
Other states in this unfortunate top 10 included in order from third to 10th: Texas, Rhode Island, Florida, Arizona, Indiana, California and Virginia (tied for eighth), and New Jersey.
While a significant percentage of fatal accidents are caused by improper lane changes, the three main behavioral factors in traffic accidents in 2020 were speeding, alcohol-impaired driving, and seatbelt non-use, according to a 2021 NHTSA report, “Overview of Motor Vehicle Crashes in 2020.” Of course, speeding and drunk-driving likely contribute to many accidents that occur after a driver carelessly changes lanes.
Passenger Vehicles Lose Big in Underride Crashes
That NHTSA report includes statistics concerning large-truck accident fatalities in 2019 and 2020, many of them caused by improper lane changes and the related occurrence, underride crashes. In 2019, some 5,032 people were killed in large-truck accidents; 2020 saw a decrease of 1.3% to 4,965 fatalities, the great majority who were occupants of other vehicles in the crash.
The aforementioned underride situation, which often occurs during a careless lane change, is a major factor in fatalities that result when a large truck and passenger vehicle crash.
An article on the Lawfirm for Truck Safety website, “What Is an Underride Truck Crash?”, answers that question while delving into the tragic circumstances that cause and result from these common accidents.
“Bumper misalignment between semi-trucks and passenger vehicles makes underride crashes one of the most devastating kinds of trucking collisions,” the intro to the article reads. “When a passenger vehicle is involved in an underride crash, because of the height difference, the first points of impact become the windshield and then the heads of the occupants inside.”
The article points out that life-saving technology built into passenger vehicles – such features as energy-absorbing bumpers, airbags, crumple zones, and seatbelts – become irrelevant when a low-profile passenger vehicle hits a higher-riding large truck, often sliding under it. This leaves the car’s windshield, windows and passenger’s heads exposed to the full force of the crash and goes a long way toward explaining why when a large truck and passenger vehicle crash, many more fatalities occur among occupants of the latter. (Another factor, of course, is the weight and size disparity between a large commercial truck and a typical passenger vehicle.)
The three types of underride crashes involve a passenger car hitting the front, rear and sides of a large truck, with the latter usually resulting from an improper lane change by the truck.
The hazards of improper lane-changing hit home Feb. 14, 2024, when a 54-year-old Pike County man died after a two-vehicle accident involving a large truck occurred on U.S. Rt. 23 in Chillicothe.
According to an article in the Scioto Guardian, the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s preliminary investigation found that Randal R. Benner of Waverly, driving a 2012 Ford Escape, suffered fatal injuries after a semi-truck driven by a California man “went to merge lanes and failed to see (Benner’s) SUV in a blind spot.” A photo accompanying the Guardian article shows the front of the SUV crumpled underneath the right side of the semi-truck trailer. This image explains better than words what’s meant by a side underride truck-car crash.
Lobbying for Laws to Address Underride Crashes
For a number of years, Andy Young of the Lawfirm for Truck Safety has been lobbying for changes in law that would reduce the number of underride crashes and their severity. In June 2019, Young testified before the U.S. House of Representatives in favor of the Stop Underrides Act. The bill would require underride guards on the front and sides of large trucks, along with updating standards for underride guards on the rear of large trucks.
In his testimony, Young stated, “We need to have underride guards that allow the safety engineering of passenger cars to interact with safety features of trucks so that all of those features can work together to protect vehicle occupants. The fact that many catastrophic injuries and deaths are easily and affordably preventable, yet nobody is doing anything to prevent them, is simply unconscionable.”
As of March 2024, the bill had not been passed in Congress.
Left-Hand Turns and Weekend Driving
Another common and occasionally fatal factor in serious crashes is improper left-hand turns. This occurs when a driver turns left to enter a road, driveway or business entrance in front of oncoming traffic, causing a crash. While it’s permissible to do this at a four-way stop when it’s your turn to move through the intersection or when a traffic arrow allows you to make the left turn, it’s otherwise illegal and dangerous.
Increasingly in recent years traffic circles (aka roundabouts) have increased in Ohio and other states, with the main reason cited being safety.
According to the Ohio Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration studies show that roundabouts accomplish a 44% reduction in crashes while decreasing serious injury and fatal crashes by nearly 90% at two-way stop intersections. Much of that reduction comes from eliminating left-hand turn crashes.
Driving on weekends also is a risk factor in traffic accidents, with a higher percentage of crashes occurring then than during weekdays. A recent study by Georgia-based injury lawyers Bader Scott ranked the U.S. counties on which were the most dangerous to drive on the weekends (Friday to Sunday). The study used data from the NHTSA that looked at each U.S. county with at least 50 fatal accidents between 2017 and 2021.
Placing first in that data was south-central Ohio’s Pickaway County with 56.86% of all fatal crashes happening on the weekend. Vigo County, Indiana, placed second in this unfortunate category, and San Benito County, California, third.
While Pickaway County, whose county seat is Circleville, had the fewest crashes in the top 10, with 29 of 51 fatal crashes occurring on the weekend, it had the highest proportion. And since the data did not include counties with fewer than 50 fatal crashes in that four-year period, Pickaway still suffered a lot of death on its highways for a relatively sparsely populated county (almost 60,000 people).
Injured in a Traffic Crash in South-Central Ohio?
Clearly, driving these days as always poses many risks, among them fatal crashes due to improper lane changes, illegal left-hand turns, and weekend driving.
If you or a family member suffers serious injuries as a result of another driver’s carelessness, or far worse, a family member dies, you should seriously consider seeking compensation. Nobody should have to suffer the terrible repercussions of someone else’s poor driving without some compensation.
Mike Warren of the Warren Law Firm in Chillicothe has an impressive record of recovering financial compensation in traffic accidents caused by other drivers, including medical bills, loss of work, and mental anguish. The firm covers communities throughout South-Central Ohio, including Chillicothe, Jackson, Circleville, Waverly, Washington Court House, Athens, Lancaster and Portsmouth.
If you are interested in a free no-hassle consultation from lawyer Mike Warren, please contact Buckeye Legal.
Written by Terry Smith, a freelance writer working with Warren Law Firm.
In 2020, Terry left The Athens NEWS in Athens, Ohio, after editing that award-winning publication for 34 years. His columns and editorials have placed first in the Ohio News Media Association’s annual weekly newspaper awards in recent years.
Before returning to Athens and his alma mater, Ohio University, in 1986, Smith reported for newspapers in Ohio, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado and West Virginia.
He is currently freelance editing and writing from his home in Southern Ohio.
References:
theshopmag.com/news/new-study-reveals-riskiest-states-for-lane-changes
crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813266
chillicothegazette.com/story/news/local/2024/02/15/waverly-man-killed-in-crash-with-commercial-vehicle-on-us-23/72610971007
sciotovalleyguardian.com/2024/02/14/crash-shuts-down-route-23-helicopter-requested/
truckaccidents.com/safety-initiatives/underride-side-guard-protection
congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/665/all-actions
transportation.ohio.gov/about-us/basics/roundabouts
baderscott.com
suzukilawoffices.com
