Wanting to stay safe while on the road may be a strong goal of yours. You may want to protect yourself, your passengers and other travelers on the roadways by staying focused and remaining defensive behind the wheel. This may mean that you need to be on the lookout for other drivers who may not have your best interests — or even their own — in mind as they travel the roads.
In particular, drunk drivers pose considerable threats to other individuals. While the idea of drinking and driving may never cross your mind, you may still want to recognize what actions could potentially indicate that a driver is under the influence or otherwise impaired. Recognizing certain signs could help you avoid placing yourself in a dangerous situation.
Indicators
Many different signs could help you to spot an impaired driver. Some of the more common signs of an intoxicated driver include:
- Driving under the speed limit
- Weaving or drifting in and out of the proper lane
- Leaning over the steering wheel with face close to the windshield
- Taking an extended time to respond to traffic signals, such as lights turning from red to green
- Almost or actually hitting other vehicles or property
- Sudden braking or acceleration
- Making unnecessarily wide turns
- Carrying out illegal maneuvers
- Drinking alcohol inside the vehicle
- Driving close to other vehicles
If you notice any of these signs, you should not attempt to get the driver off the road yourself. In fact, you should keep as much distance between yourself and the other driver as possible, even getting off the road if you can. You should then call emergency services, tell them of your suspicions and allow them to handle the situation.
Accidents
Of course, even as a defensive driver, you cannot always find hazards on the road. A drunk driver may make a sudden move that results in an accident that you had no way of avoiding. Unfortunately, this type of event could also lead to your suffering serious injuries.
If you are injured in a car accident due to a drunk driver, you may have legal grounds to seek compensation for damages. Many hardships can stem from this type of event, and filing a personal injury claim could help you work toward obtaining justice and monetary restitution for medical bills, pain and suffering, and other allowable damages.