The treacherous danger of blind corners

When you first learn to drive a car, one of the things you’ll be taught is road safety. Even before you have turned on the vehicle or been allowed to sit in the driver’s seat, the instructor will go over this subject. He or she will inform you have the dangers of specific things on the road. You’ll learn about aquaplaning, black ice, potholes, and avoiding rocks in the road.

At first, you’ll nod along just trying to get them to hurry up so you’re handed over the keys. Yet when we finally pass our test and it’s just us on the road driving alone, those safety lessons aren’t such a yawnfest anymore. Pretty soon you realise that keeping what you’ve learned at the forefront of your mind all the time, could potentially save your life.

Pity then that you have to share the road with absolute idiots who cannot comprehend the danger they put other road users in. For some reason, no matter how advanced the technology gets, blind corners are still a major cause for injuries and accidents.

Adapting isn’t enough

Modern cars are basically computers on wheels. They have so much driver assistance technology on board that it can cause even the most skilled of drivers to relax and stop paying close attention to the road. Adaptive headlights are able to rotate as the car turns so that when going around corners, you’re never looking into a dark spot. It’s an active safety feature that a lot of cars are coming from as standard when they leave the showroom. The LED lights are great as they have a much stronger pierce through the darkness as well as the rain and fog.

However, you have to bear in mind that adaptive headlights aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Firstly, they can only rotate to a certain angle, meaning that they can go as far up to a point but no further. The maximum degrees of different vehicles vary. Some can rotate to 8 degrees, others more and less. However, if you’re going above a certain speed, sometimes the angle won’t be enough so you’re constantly chasing a dark spot.

Caught in the middle

You would think that the chance of dying at a blind corner would mitigate everyone’s lead foot until they had passed through. Unfortunately, some drivers are missing a part of their brain that would make them care about this threat. Getting caught in the middle and being crashed into by someone who is literally on the wrong side of the road attempting an overtake maneuvers can leave you to fight for your life and limbs.

After the dust settles down, the one positive thing is that there is no doubt at all that you were in the right and them in the wrong. Road traffic accident claims lawyers will have the other driver for breakfast. Usually, when road accidents happen the other person’s lawyer can barter, haggle and filibuster for their client because some facts aren’t clear and situations and circumstantial. But when it comes to someone hitting you on a blind corner while coming the other way. The offending party may as well accept their fate, for doing something so unbelievably stupid.

Perhaps one day there will be a technology that allows you to see around blind corners. But for now, keep your wits about you and try to keep your eyes on drivers coming from the other way and that’s where the danger comes from.

** This is a collaborative post