Turning Points: Why turning your car can cause a collision

When you're parked in a parking lot and you pass all the other cars on the way to your own, do you notice how many of them have scrapes, scratches, paint rubs, and dents on the corners of the bumpers? There's a good reason for that: Turning causes collisions.

I'm talking about regular turning in normal conditions – going forward or going backward while your wheels are pointed in a direction other than "straight".

While turning, drivers tend to forget where each of the four corners of their car is. It sounds strange but a lot of people have this same struggle.

Think of your car's four corners as being a triangular shape – the one point is the wheel, the second point is the corner of the car, and the third point is a space about a third of the way across the front or back of the car. That's the "danger zone" on your car which tends to swing wider than you might realize and also has a blindspot.

What adds an additional challenge to this is the relationship that these corners have: One corner will swing the widest around the outside of the turn while the opposite corner will swing the least around the inside of the turn. But all four corners will move!

It's one thing to know that this is how it works, but it's quite another thing to see it in action. If you want to be a better driver, take your car to an empty lot and try some of the following things:

• Create a corner and turn going forward. Stop two or three times in the turn and take note of where the four corners of your car is.
• Do the same thing going backward (it's harder to do because the wheels that steer you are at the "back" of your car when you're in reverse!). Train yourself to pay very close attention to the front right corner of your car if you are backing to the left, and pay very close attention to the front left corner of your car if you are backing to the right.
• Also, be aware of the blindspots. Lean a stick (use a broom or a garden rake) straight up against the bumper of your car. Then sit in your car and notice how close it is to your car.
• To further understand your blindspots, sit in your car and have someone else walk diagonally away from each corner of your car. As soon as you can see their feet, have them place a pylon on the ground. Then get out and walk around the car to see exactly how much space is in your corner blindspots!

Even with all of that practice, you might still end up in tight corners that scrape or dent your bumper. When that happens, bring your car to collision repair experts Boyd Autobody & Glass. We'll restore the look of your car and its safety (even a bumper dent can compromise your car's safety).