Can You Spot The Drunk Driver?

Can you spot a drunk driver, if there was one around you on the open roads? You may think that you can, and there are some ways of spotting them that are widely known and recognized. But not all signs are. In fact, many of the external signs of a drunk driver are often missed by other drivers on the road.

Why it Matters

While it’s not your job to become an expert at spotting intoxicated drivers, having some awareness of people who are behind the wheel drunk, can help you avoid them and stay safe.

Leaning Towards or Hugging the Middle of the Road

We tend to recognize swerving as a classic sign of being drunk, and it is. But often a driver under the influence does the opposite; the driver will hug the middle of the road. In other words, they will drive over the center line, or will seemingly be trying to avoid the edges/outside of the road.

This is the intoxicated driver’s attempt to try to avoid driving off the road. While you and I can do that and just drive normally, a drunk driver either cannot, or is so worried that he or she overcorrects by driving too far in the center.

Going Too Slow

The same logic applies to drivers who drive too far under the speed limit. Once again, they are overcorrecting, fearful of either police and not wanting to “stand out”, or doubtful of their ability to control a vehicle at higher speeds, they purposely drive far below the speed limit.

Use of the Car’s Signals

Yes, there are a lot of people who just don’t use their car’s signals (turn signals, for example, or headlights) properly, even when they’re fully sober. But a disconnect between a car’s signals, and what it is actually doing, is another telltale sign of being drunk.

For example, does the driver use his right turn signal and turn left? Is the drivers’ headlights on in broad daylight, or are her headlights off at night?

Attention to Signals on the Road

Many drunk drivers can, and do, follow the rules of the road. But they don’t do it the way that we do, and that’s another sign of impairment.

For example, a driver may sit at a green light for an excessive amount of time before actually driving through it. A driver may stop for a stop sign, many feet before he actually gets to the sign. A driver may miscalculate a right or left turn, making them too wide.

DUI drivers may do things at the very last minute, they may slam their brakes on at a stop sign which could have been recognized far in advance, or they may immediately swerve their car to avoid swerving into an adjacent lane. They may immediately avoid colliding into other obstacles that, if sober, the driver would have recognized very easily.

If you were injured by a DUI impaired driver, you need help getting compensation to get your life back on track. Contact our Rhode Island injury lawyers at Robert E. Craven & Associates at 401-453-2700 for help.

Sources:

madd.org/concerned-citizen/

nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/808677.pdf