This is not a simple question, and anyone offering a one-line answer is oversimplifying a complex, high-risk scenario. The issue was referred to forensic collision reconstruction specialist Stan Bezuidenhout, whose response highlights not only driver behavior, but also the legal and evidentiary consequences that follow split-second decisions.

The discussion arose from an increasingly common observation on South African roads—mirrored daily on U.S. two-lane highways: unsafe overtaking, familiarity with routes breeding overconfidence, and drivers assuming that “being right” will somehow protect them in a head-on conflict.

 

The Core Scenario: “The Other Vehicle Is in My Lane”

Imagine driving on a two-lane road—day or night—and you suddenly realize that an oncoming vehicle is drifting into, or already occupying, your lane. A head-on collision is imminent.

At that moment, drivers typically perceive three options:

  • Do nothing / hold your line
  • Swerve left (toward the shoulder)
  • Swerve right (into the oncoming vehicle’s lane)

The third option—swerving right—creates one of the most dangerous and legally complex outcomes in crash analysis.

 

“Faked Right Syndrome” (Originally “Faked Left Syndrome” in the U.S.)

In the United States, this phenomenon was first identified and studied as Faked Left Syndrome. In left-hand-drive jurisdictions like South Africa, it manifests as Faked Right Syndrome.

Here is how it unfolds:

  • Vehicle A is lawfully in its lane.
  • Vehicle B unlawfully encroaches into Vehicle A’s lane.
  • Vehicle A swerves right into Vehicle B’s original lane to avoid impact.
  • At the last moment, Vehicle B “wakes up” and swerves back into its proper lane.
  • The vehicles collide head-on—on Vehicle B’s side of the road.

From a legal perspective, this is catastrophic.

Without forensic proof, Vehicle A now appears to be the wrong-side driver.

 

In both South African and U.S. courts, the burden shifts brutally. Absent clear evidence, investigators, prosecutors, insurers, and even juries may conclude that Vehicle A unlawfully crossed the centerline—despite acting in self-preservation.

 

Proving otherwise requires advanced forensic analysis, including:

  • Principle Direction of Force (PDOF)
  • Crush depth and structural deformation
  • Vehicle rotation and departure angles
  • Occupant kinematics
  • Scene geometry and timing

This is not theoretical. It has resulted in wrongful prosecutions, adverse civil judgments, and devastating liability findings.

 

Legal Duties When Faced With an Oncoming Vehicle in Your Lane

Both South African law (via the reasonable driver standard) and U.S. negligence jurisprudence impose duties on a driver faced with imminent danger. In broad terms, a driver is expected to take reasonable steps to avoid a collision.

Those steps include, where practicable:

  • Alerting the other driver
    • Flash headlights
    • Sound the horn
  • Reducing speed
    • Brake firmly and decisively
    • Come to a stop if necessary
  • Moving left
    • Use available shoulder or verge
    • Yield space, even if you are “in the right”

 

What the law does not protect is pride, stubbornness, or what investigators increasingly refer to as passive-aggressive vigilantism.

 

The Psychology That Kills: “I’m Right, So I’m Not Moving”

One of the most disturbing patterns seen in serious head-on collisions is this:

“I’m in my lane. He’s wrong. I’m not backing off.”

This mindset is lethal.

Investigators have documented collisions where drivers had more than two vehicle widths of available escape space, yet chose not to use it—sometimes consciously, sometimes subconsciously—because they believed yielding would be “rewarding bad behavior.”

This is not defensive driving. It is escalation.

There are no living heroes on public roads.

Being legally correct does not confer physical immunity. Courts may vindicate you posthumously, but that is cold comfort to your family.

 

Practical Guidance: What Actually Gives You the Best Chance of Survival

Brake First

Speed reduction is non-negotiable. Collision energy increases exponentially with speed. Every kilometer per hour you shed improves survivability—for both vehicles.

Move Left If At All Possible

Leftward escape preserves lane integrity and avoids the evidenti nightmare of Faked Right Syndrome.

Never Assume the Other Driver Will “Hold Their Line”

Unconsciousness, intoxication, distraction, medical events, or panic can all cause erratic last-second corrections.

Accept “Losing” the Moment

Survival is not a moral contest. Yielding space is not surrender—it is strategy.

When Moving Left Is Impossible

There are situations where leftward escape is genuinely unavailable:

  • Cliff edges
  • Concrete barriers
  • Deep embankments
  • No shoulder

 

In these cases, moving right may be the only survivable option—but it carries severe legal risk.

 

For this reason alone, in-vehicle video recording systems (dashcams) have become indispensable. In both South Africa and the United States, video evidence increasingly determines:

  • Criminal charging decisions
  • Civil liability apportionment
  • Insurance outcomes

A dashcam can mean the difference between exoneration and prosecution.

 

If You Are the Overtaking Vehicle

If you are overtaking and suddenly face oncoming traffic:

  • Abort immediately
  • Brake as hard as conditions safely allow
  • Return to your lane as quickly as possible

 

Never overtake unless you can see far enough ahead to guarantee clearance—regardless of broken lines, local knowledge, or habit.

Broken barrier lines do not override physics.

 

Responsibility of the Vehicle Being Overtaken

This point is often ignored, yet it saves lives.

If you are being overtaken and you see danger ahead:

  • Move left where safe
  • Brake gently
  • Create space for the overtaking vehicle to return

This single act of cooperation has prevented countless fatal collisions. The law may not explicitly require it—but humanity should.

 

Familiarity, Traffic Friction, and Escalating Risk

Drivers who “know the road” often drive faster. Unfamiliar drivers slow down. The interaction creates traffic friction—a well-documented risk amplifier.

Frustration leads to:

  • Aggressive overtaking
  • Queue-jumping
  • Risk normalization

Add distractions—cell phones, fatigue, impatience—and the system becomes unstable.

The root cause is rarely a single “reckless driver.” It is usually a chain of small, human decisions interacting under pressure.

 

Final Guidance That Actually Works

  • Plan travel time generously
  • Know your vehicle’s limits
  • Keep left, pass right
  • Respect speed limits in context
  • Be courteous—even when others are not

Public roads are shared spaces, not proving grounds.

 

If you treat every other road user as a temporary guest—rather than an obstacle—you will slow down, relax, and dramatically improve your odds of arriving alive.

And that, ultimately, is the only outcome that matters.