What to do when faced with wrong-way driver

With help from Gordon Fox, an Arizona Licensed Driving Instructor and the owner of 2Passdd.com, a Defensive Driving School, we came up with five simple ways to help you avoid an accident with a wrong-way driver.

Step one: Aim high.

“You want to keep your eyes high, looking as far down the road as you possibly can,” Fox said. “You don’t want to be focused on just the car or cars directly in front of you. You want to see as far down the road as possible so you know what’s coming up ahead.”

Step two: Stay right at night.

“Stay right at night — that means stay to the right side of the center of the road, in the far right lane, because the wrong-way driver is most likely to be traveling in the far left lane, thinking he or she is driving the right way down the road, and that he or she is driving safely in the right lane. They are not,” Fox said. “You want to always stay right at night. Don’t drive in the far left lane at night between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.”

Step three: If you see a wrong-way driver coming at you, slow down immediately.

Reduce your speed by taking your foot off the gas pedal and applying the brakes.

Experts say not to slam on your brakes, because that can cause you to lose control, but slow the car down by pumping the brakes.

Step four: The moment of truth: Steer right to avoid the wrong-way driver.

“You have to turn one way or the other. It is best to turn right and go as far right as possible without leaving the roadway and losing control of your car,” Fox said.

What do you do if there is a driver to your immediate right, blocking you from turning right to avoid the oncoming car? There may be sometime in your driving career that you have to choose what to hit. If you have a choice between a head on collision and side-swipe collision, you should drive into the car on your immediate right.

Step five: Turn right anyway.

“There may be sometime in your driving career that you have to choose what to hit. It may well be a situation where there’s a car right there on your right side,” Fox said. “Turn right anyway and just push him off the road. That impact with a car on your side is way better than a head-on collision, which is potentially fatal. Your job is to survive this encounter.”