If you’re a licensed driver, you assume some risk every time you head to work or run some errands. It has to be that way because even if you’re very safe and follow all traffic laws, you have virtually no way of knowing if someone around you will do something unsafe or reckless. Also, even the most careful driver can make a mistake from time to time, and if that happens, it can prove fatal.
Most people are willing to assume that risk since, without vehicles, it can be challenging to get through your days and accomplish everything you need to. You want to avoid all accident types, but probably the head-to-head collision most of all. In this article, we’ll talk about what a head-to-head collision is, why they are frequently deadly, and what you might do to avoid them.
What Exactly is a Head-to-Head Collision?
A head-to-head collision occurs when two vehicles collide, coming from opposite directions. Insurance companies or the police sometimes call these front-end collisions or front impact accidents.
This kind of collision does not happen all that often. There are plenty of other ones that occur more frequently, such as T-bone or side-impact crashes, fender benders, and so forth.
If you get in a head-to-head car accident, then either you or the other driver probably made a serious driving mistake. It’s easy not to see a vehicle ahead of you stopping and to run into them before you can apply the brakes. It’s significantly more challenging to get in a situation where you ram into a vehicle from front-end to front-end, coming from opposite directions.
What Causes Head-to-Head Collisions?
There are several possible front-end collision causes. Probably alcohol or illegal drug use would be right at the top of the list. If you ingest alcohol but think you’re okay to drive, it’s much easier for you to get in an accident. If you’re blind drunk, though, that’s the time when you increase your front-end collision chances much more.
As for illegal drugs, you can also make a fatal mistake, such as getting in a head-to-head collision, if you decide to smoke marijuana or ingest an edible before driving. Crack, coke, speed, meth, acid, mushrooms, or any other drugs might also put you in an altered state to the point that you risk a head-to-head collision.
Poor Weather Conditions
Bad weather conditions can cause a head-to-head collision. For instance, you might cross a double yellow line without realizing it and plow into a car coming from the other direction. If you’re on the highway, this can easily be fatal.
Heavy snow might cause this crash variety, or pouring-down rain might do it. You also might lose control of the vehicle on the ice and cross the double yellow lines.
Driver Fatigue
Driver fatigue can cause these accidents. If you happen to fall asleep at the wheel because you just worked a double at your job, that might cause you to drift into the wrong lane. You might be on a new medication, and you don’t realize how it will impact you.
Truck drivers risk this collision type if they drive for too many hours in a row. Of course, head-to-head collisions involving commercial trucks are frequently much worse for the other driver since these vehicles are so much larger than most of what’s on the road.
Why Are These Crashes Usually So Deadly?
It’s not difficult to understand why head-to-head collisions often end in deaths or severe injuries. It’s because, unlike a fender bender that you will usually survive, it’s genuinely difficult for the human body to live through a head-to-head impact.
The car’s protective shell will help you to some extent, but if you’re traveling at high speed, and the other vehicle is as well, that’s a recipe to lose your life or paralyze yourself.
What Injuries Can You See from a Car Crash of This Sort?
Aside from deaths, head-to-head crashes often cause whiplash. You will often see concussions or more serious traumatic brain injuries. You might see a spinal cord injury that will prevent you from ever walking again.
Fractures and compound fractures are possible. You might also have all sorts of cuts, bruises, and lacerations.
You might lapse into a coma if the other car strikes your vehicle hard enough. You can rarely walk away from a head-to-head injury unscathed, but the faster you and the other vehicle were going, the worse it is probably going to be.
What Can You Do to Prevent Head-to-Head Car Wrecks?
There are several things you can do to avoid this car wreck variety. You can avoid driving if you know that it will rain, snow, or hail heavily. Look at the weather forecast, and don’t drive unless it’s necessary.
You can avoid ingesting alcohol or drugs before you drive. If you know that you have to head home and you’re intoxicated, call for a taxi or an Uber. You might ask a buddy to drive you home and come back for the car later.
You can follow all traffic laws and rules. Stop completely at stop signs, and don’t try to run yellow lights. Don’t take turns too fast, and don’t speed. If you’re going slower, you have much less of an injury risk, regardless of whether you’re out on the highway or a quiet suburban street.
You can make sure never to drive if you know that you’re exhausted. You should avoid driving if you’re on new prescription medication, and you don’t know yet how your body will react to it.
The safer you are and the better decisions you make, the less likely this collision variety will be.
You’ll rarely be able to walk away from a head-to-head collision, so do everything in your power to avoid one. If you get in one, then even if you survive, the other driver might not be so lucky.
