Guides

Best Practice: Head – On Collisions

Look Ahead

A head-on collision is one in which the front end of 2 vehicles collide.

Fatalities occur frequently in this type of collision, mainly due to the fact that the impact speed is a combination of the speed of both vehicles. In other words a head-on collision of 2 vehicles travelling at 60 mph / 96 kph is roughly equivalent to a vehicle hitting a stationary object at 120 mph / 193 kph.

Head-on collisions are usually the result of ‘lane-departure incidents’, where a vehicle moves from its original lane into a lane of oncoming traffic. This may be intentional (for example, if the driver is overtaking) or unintentional (such as if the driver loses control on a bend).

A number of incident prevention techniques can help to reduce your chances of being involved in a head-on collision.