Tampa Personal Injury Law Blog

When water accumulates on the road, there's always a risk that you'll end up hydroplaning. That happens when your car's tires can't cut through the water well enough to grab the road. The lack of traction can throw you out of control, leaving you unable to brake or steer.

Serious accidents are always a possibility when hydroplaning occurs, so it's smart to learn more about what you can do to avoid it. Here are some tips:

• Keep your tires inflated and in good repair. Your tires can't do their job on the road when they aren't in good condition. If your tread is low, get your tires replaced.
• Beware of both standing water and gentle rains. Hydroplaning can happen any time the road is wet, but the first 10 minutes after a light rain starts can be particularly dangerous for drivers. When rain mixes with oil residue on the roads, it creates an especially slick area.
• When the road is wet, slow down. The higher your speed, the easier it is for your tires to lose contact with the road. If the road is particularly wet, put your car in a lower gear so that you increase the amount of traction you have.
• Avoid sharp turns and hard brakes. Both of those actions can make it harder to retain control of your vehicle and increase the likelihood that you'll slide out.
• Don't use your cruise control on wet roads. If your vehicle does start to hydroplane, cruise control will cause your wheels to accelerate instead of slowing down. It could also make it harder for you to react quickly to what's happening.

What could be more heart-stopping than to realize that the headlights you see ahead of you on the road at night are actually in your lane and coming toward you? That's the reality you can experience when you encounter a wrong-way driver.

Wrong-way accidents commonly occur on highways after a driver mistakenly gets turned around and either crosses the median or somehow confuses an off-ramp for an on-ramp. Because they usually involve head-on collisions at a high rate of speed, they can be among the deadliest of roadway accidents someone can have.

A study carried out by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in 2006 showed that the number of motorcycle-involved fatalities reached 4,810, a number that was double what it was ten years before. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported 88,000 motorcyclists injuries that same year. These alarming statistics motivated safety analysts to start delving deeper into whether some bikes are safer than others.

The researchers determined that racing, or supersport bikes, are particularly dangerous as they have significantly higher horsepower than most other sports motorbikes on the road.

When a Florida driver is behind the wheel, his or her main priority should be the safe operation of the vehicle. Most drivers would agree that they should keep their eyes on the road and their focus on driving safely, but many of them are still tempted by various things that take their attention. Distracted driving remains a significant safety concern, and cellphones play a large part in this.

Cellphones are more common than ever, and they represent a great temptation for many drivers. It may seem harmless to pick up the phone for a second or glance at a text, but the reality is that even a moment of distraction can have devastating consequences. Drivers are responsible for the choices that they make behind the wheel, especially if they cause harm to an innocent motorist.