Whether it’s on or off the highway or a busy street, merging into traffic is scary for many of us because it can be so dangerous! Especially when done inconsiderately, merging can often provoke road rage in high traffic areas, leading to motorists making errors in judgment that cause serious accidents. Refresh your knowledge on merging into traffic with these quick tips before you take your car for a spin in Albuquerque! 

Merging in New Mexico

In a world where everyone is rushing to get to their next destination, whether that be to work, school, or home, it can be easy to forget the rules and common courtesies of the road. Here are a few examples of some behaviors that you may catch others, or even yourself, doing that can be hazardous to those around you:

• Merging onto the highway too quickly or too slowly.
• Crossing over multiple lanes of traffic at a time.
• Motorists cutting other vehicles off abruptly.
• Merging while paying too much attention to the next lane over and not watching the car in front of you.
• Not switching lanes to make room for people merging onto the highway.
• Merging without checking your blind spot.
• Lane changes with no warning signal.
• Merging onto the off-ramp at the last moment.
• Weaving in and out of lanes.

Tips for Avoiding Merging Accidents

The best way to avoid causing a merging accident is to be aware of the ways to avoid them. You can’t always avoid being a victim to other reckless drivers, but you can avoid causing wrecks and being liable for an avoidable accident. Here are just a few suggestions to help keep you safe:

• Always use your turn signals so that others know you are merging.
• Check all of your mirrors, as well as your blind spots before you merge.
• When merging onto the highway, always yield to oncoming traffic.
• Use acceleration lanes to speed up to the flow of traffic before completing a merge.
• Merge gradually, and only one lane at a time.
• Obey traffic laws and posted speed limits.
• Do not tailgate the car in front of you.
• Keep up with the speed of other vehicles around you.

This all may seem like common knowledge, but when you throw hundreds of other cars onto the road while you’re driving, you can get mixed up in other people’s distracted or negligent driving very quickly. By operating your vehicle correctly and obeying merging laws and speed limits, you can lessen your chance of getting into a serious car accident with another driver. If you’ve been the victim of another vehicle’s negligence when merging, call the Albuquerque car accident experts at The Dinelli Law Firm today for experienced, dedicated representation! (505) 582-2157.