Entering A Nashville Interstate – A Lesson In Anxiety
Entering An Interstate
In my capacity as a Nashville automobile accident attorney I have become a keen observer of driver attitudes, especially on Nashville area Interstate highways. Today as I was driving to a meeting across town I observed a driver who was smoking and talking on his cell phone, and from my point of view, doing something else on the front seat while entering I-40 who did everything wrong and but for some “on their toes” drivers he would have caused a multi-car collision. After calming down from the near miss I had just witnessed I knew exactly what the topic of my evening blog would be. Entering an Interstate.
In most driving situations, you slow down or stop before you enter a busy road, but when entering an interstate, you do the opposite. You must use the merging or acceleration lane to speed up and merge with fast-moving traffic already on the interstate. Good judgment and good timing are necessary to merge smoothly with fast-moving traffic. Upon entering the interstate on-ramp, stay to the right and increase your speed in the acceleration lane/entrance ramp. Use the ramp to reach interstate speed so you can merge smoothly into the travel lane when the way is clear. Be sure to give the proper left turn signal to indicate your need to enter the traffic lane. Drivers already on the interstate should, for their own safety, make allowance for vehicles attempting to enter. It is your responsibility to yield the right-of-way to other cars on the interstate.
Unnecessary stopping on interstate on-ramps causes many rear-end collisions and also obstructs the even flow of traffic. Do not drive to the end of the ramp and stop, or you will not have enough room to get up to the speed of the interstate traffic. Drivers behind you will not expect you to stop. If they are watching the traffic on the main road for space to merge, you could easily be hit from the rear. If you have to wait for space to enter an interstate, slow down on the ramp so that you will still have some room to speed up before you have to merge. Heavy traffic conditions sometimes create a slowdown at an entrance ramp. Unless it is absolutely unavoidable, it is best to keep your vehicle moving at least at some slow pace.
Remember please, you are piloting a 3000 lb deadly weapon at a reasonably high rate of speed when you make this maneuver, put down the cell phone, the coffee and put on your eye makeup when you arrive at your destination.
If you or a loved one is injured or killed by a negligent driver entering a Nashville Interstate highway contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.
Phillip Miller is a Tennessee Accident Attorney specializing in
Phillip has an AVVO rating of 10.0 (Superb), has been designated as a “Superlawyer”, and is the President Elect of the Tennessee Association for Justice.
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