Car veers off road after overtaking
Driving error
Sequence of events:
The 21-year-old driver of a car attempted to overtake the car in front just before a left-hand bend. Immediately after the overtaking maneuver, the driver clipped the uneven ground by the side of the road with the right-hand wheels as he pulled back into the correct lane. The vehicle then became unsteady due to countersteering too strongly. This caused the car to completely veer off the road to the right, where it skidded and crashed into a tree on the driver’s side. The car snapped off the tree and then overturned into the field behind, where it came to a standstill on its roof.
The 21-year-old driver of a car attempted to overtake the car in front just before a left-hand bend. Immediately after the overtaking maneuver, the driver clipped the uneven ground by the side of the road with the right-hand wheels as he pulled back into the correct lane. The vehicle then became unsteady due to countersteering too strongly. This caused the car to completely veer off the road to the right, where it skidded and crashed into a tree on the driver’s side. The car snapped off the tree and then overturned into the field behind, where it came to a standstill on its roof.
Persons involved in the accident:
A car driver, a passenger
A car driver, a passenger
Consequences/injuries:
The car driver was killed and the 18-year-old passenger was seriously injured.
The car driver was killed and the 18-year-old passenger was seriously injured.
Cause/problem:
The accident resulted from a driving error of the car driver in combination with not adjusting speed. The row of young trees planted at the side of the road also played a major role in the severity of the consequences of the accident.
The accident resulted from a driving error of the car driver in combination with not adjusting speed. The row of young trees planted at the side of the road also played a major role in the severity of the consequences of the accident.
Avoidance measures, mitigation of consequences/strategy for road safety measures:
The accident could have been prevented if the car driver had refrained entirely from overtaking or had adjusted their speed to the road situation and their driving abilities during the overtaking and pulling in maneuvers. The severity of the consequences of the accident could have been prevented if, for example, shrubs had been planted along the roadside instead of a dense row of trees (infrastructure that mitigates accident consequences).
The accident could have been prevented if the car driver had refrained entirely from overtaking or had adjusted their speed to the road situation and their driving abilities during the overtaking and pulling in maneuvers. The severity of the consequences of the accident could have been prevented if, for example, shrubs had been planted along the roadside instead of a dense row of trees (infrastructure that mitigates accident consequences).