9 Tips To Protect Yourself on a Run and Prevent Pedestrian Accidents
Whether you’re heading out for an early morning run or jogging with the dog at sunset, you’re doing your best to be healthy. With consistent moving and personal exhaustion, you’ll have a limited attention span. The last thing on your mind will be a pedestrian accident or a car accident.
Over 4,000 runners die every year from traffic accidents and crashes. You can never be so sure about some people’s pre-occupation when driving their vehicles. Distracted driving is becoming more prevalent and all it take is a few seconds of not paying attention for a driver to run off the road and run directly into you changing your life forever.
In Michigan, knowing how to protect yourself on a run is a crucial skill. If you get any injury, a personal injury lawyer from The Clark Law Office can help you on a later date. For now, you need to make sure no harm comes to you.
How to Protect Yourself on a Run
In this guide, we give you nine essential tips on how to protect yourself while jogging. These can be crucial in making sure you’re safe from crashes.
Here’s what you need to know.
- Tell someone you’re going on a run.
One of the easiest ways to improve jogging safety is to tell somebody at home where you’re going. Leaving your whereabouts to someone who will look for you is a great precaution when running. It gives people an idea of where to find you and to not worry if you’re out for long.
Make sure that someone close to you knows. If you’re unable to do so, leave a note with your building security or at home. Stay in pedestrian lanes and look around.
- Always run with a partner.
While it’s lamentable that you have to, it’s best if you always run with a partner with you, especially if you run close to the road as opposed to a trail or a safer side-walk. A partner is an ideal deterrent against sexual harassers, but it’s also a good help in a crash.
An extra person with you is a witness. Not only can a partner help you when you get car crash injuries, but they can also document the entire event. You can also do it vice versa, so a buddy helps a lot.
- Be attentive.
Protecting yourself on a jog is a matter of being attentive. Being aware of your surroundings can help you see any of the incoming threats around. If you can, scan your surroundings every now and then.
Some easy ways to do this include:
- Veering away from bushes
- Avoiding alleyways and slums
- Running against traffic so people can see
These things can help prevent a hit and run. You can never defeat initiative in self-defense. Get yourself a personal injury attorney afterward to slap any reckless drivers with an assault charge.
- Unplug your earphones.
If you are running in high-traffic environments, one of the best ways to do so is to unplug your ears. Music can help distract you, but it can also prevent hearing oncoming traffic.
Free your ears from earphones where you can. If you can’t run without music, consider lowering the volume or using a single ear.
- Be calm and confident.
Calm and confidence in your strides go a long way. When you’re running, running with confidence can help you focus your senses. In an accident, a focused mind can save you.
Focus can help you see things better as they happen. If you’re confident, do your best to get out of the situation when you’re a pedestrian.
- Bring your gadgets.
Tech has become pervasive in our lives, even in our health activities. If you can, try to run with a smartwatch and your GPS turned on. Set your phone’s emergency mode too.
The emergency mode in phones and smartwatches allows you to press a button in case of emergency. If someone tries to crash into you during this time, the emergency button will dial 911 or emergency numbers. It will send them your current location, which you can use as evidence in personal injury lawsuits.
- Trust your gut.
Trusting your gut is a great way to personal safety. It sounds unscientific, but people have a good feeling of when danger is about to happen. If you can detect warning signs around your area like screeching tires, trust them.
Trust your instincts. Your ability to do a quick, calm decision on a fight-or-flight response can be helpful.
- Use easy to notice running gear.
Running gear can be a crucial way to announce yourself in a crowd. If you haven’t noticed, most of the running gear you see from sports shops have gaudy, easy to notice colors. Use these to your advantage.
Use running gear from top to shoes that makes you stand out. These can help people notice you more. The more you’re noticeable to more people, the easier it is to find people who can help.
- Avoid running at night.
When you can, do your best to avoid running at night. Night running can be a great way to exercise because it’s cool, but this is at the cost of visibility. Drivers will have a limited field of view in the evening, so you need to be extra vigilant.
If you can, do your run in the morning or during twilight. This will not only prevent car crashes but help you see a runaway car from far away.
Protect Yourself on Your Run at all Costs
If you want to protect yourself on your run, you can follow our tips on making sure of your safety. It’s crucial to be vigilant, especially in these uncertain times.
If an accident occurs during your run, get a competent personal injury attorney in Michigan. Let The Clark Law Office handle your case with the strongest force of the law. Consult us today and get the right team behind you.
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