What is the importance of maintaining or adjusting your speed during a lane change?

Maintaining or adjusting your speed during a lane change is crucial primarily to avoid collisions. When changing lanes, it’s important to match your speed with the surrounding traffic to ensure a safe merge. If you maintain a speed that is too fast or too slow compared to vehicles in the adjacent lane, it can create a hazardous situation where other drivers may misjudge your intentions or fail to anticipate your movement, leading to possible crashes.

While visibility is important, it's not the primary reason for adjusting speed. Similarly, while fuel consumption and signaling other drivers have their roles in driving safety and efficiency, they do not directly address the immediate safety concern that arises with the dynamics of traffic during a lane change. Thus, ensuring that you adjust your speed appropriately is key to preventing accidents and maintaining a safe flow of traffic.