Safety Tips On How To Avoid Car Accidents - KAUZ-TV: Newschannel 6 Now | Wichita Falls, TX

If you're a driver, you've probably seen it happen.

"Things on the road, people not paying attention, texting, looking away, things like that," said Landon Geisinger.

It's called distracted driving and in many cases if you do it, your car could end up a complete loss and your life may end up in danger.

Chance Talley says, "An SUV cut us off just swerving lanes and not paying attention. Hit the front of the car, it flipped over once and then slit on its top across the floor. Me and my family we all went to the hospital."

Trooper Daniel Hawthorne from the Department of Public Safety says, distracted driving causes 80% of the accidents nationwide. One of the most common things he sees is drivers who start going off the road. As soon as they feel the tires hit the rug board they jerk the wheel around to get back in their lane and sometimes end up hitting another car. But there's something you can do to avoid that.

Hawthorne says, "Hold on to your steering wheel, not move it, let off the gas and as you begin to slow then feather your breaks. Once you get to a safe speed ease back into the lane of traffic and then accelerate."

Another thing that can cause you to swerve around on the road is an animal crossing the road and believe it or not your best chance at not rolling over is simply to hit it.

"If you cannot slow down before you have an opportunity to take corrective action, you are better off striking the animal than trying to swerve around it," said Hawthorne.

Hawthorne says if you can get down to 30 MPH then you can steer around the animal. Just one of many things you can do to help put the breaks on rollovers.

Tanya De Jesus, Newschannel 6