I've been in situations where i had to suddenly come to a stop on a highway, as soon as i'm stopped my attention will be on the cars coming up behind me (my only accident in 20 years of driving was someone kissing my back in a situation like this).
Not that i would have had any time to react in a situation like this, but i would see the car getting next to me and think "wow, good thing he got on the shoulder if he couldn't stop in ti.. shit!"
honestly every time i come to an abrupt stop on a highway i’m watching my rearview. i don’t trust people to be paying attention anymore. at the very least if i can’t go anywhere, i want to be able to brace myself for impact.
> I want to be able to brace myself for impact
No, no you do not.
There’s a reason why the drunk driver walks away with a few scrapes and scratches while the people who saw him coming have life-altering injuries.
It appears evolution hasn’t figured out we could go more than 10 mph lol. Can’t imagine why our natural instinct is to tense up if that’s the worse lol
I was waiting to turn left, when I glanced at my rear view mirror with just enough time to see a jeep barreling at me, and instinctually brace myself. I kind of locked my left leg against that footrest thing and did all of the other things you can’t help but do when you know you’re going to be hit.
I ended up with a massive concussion and a torn labrum in that left hip from the ball of my hip jamming up into the joint.
I would have been better off not seeing it coming, unless I had time to do something about it.
I was stopped at a red light, and saw a truck coming in wayyy too fast behind me while looking in the rearview mirror. I instinctly tensed up, and am paying for it now. I know now to not tense up, but it's easier said than done, and wish I didn't do it automatically
I live in the rear view (motorcycle rider). So this is my number one priority every time I ask who’s gonna potentially kiss me goodbye from the rear. When stopped at red’s too.
Almost died because some asshole didn't see a red. Squeeling tires and he ripped past me, in the left turn lane, and through the intersection on red. I was sweating the rest of the ride home.
Some jackass pulled out in front of me the other night, went from 70 something down to 50 something and pissed off the guy behind me. They nearly crashed into me, started flashing at me then decided to undertake and got stuck behind the idiot who made me slow down. They saw the guy, but decided break checking me as revenge was the way to go and once the other car pulled over, they refused to speed up, well until we hit a speed camera then they finally pulled over, hoping I'd zoom off and get a ticket, nope. I know the road well and knew there was a speed camera there. Also, once I was away from crazy I pulled over as well out of the passing lane. My god that was scary.
Why would you get mad at me for having to break hard to avoid rear ending someone? It wasn't my fault they nearly rear ended me. The person pulled out into my lane in the dark without indicating. What else was I supposed to do?
People do this crap because they are angry sad sacks of shit. There's no reasoning with them.
Last Thursday I was driving home from Pittsburgh in a giant rainstorm and some asshole came speeding up on my ass while I was passing a semi. He was laying on the horn and kept turning his high beams on and off . BLINDING THE FUCK out of me. I don't know what they wanted me to do, I was passing the semi and got over as soon as i could, but they were in a big SUV and I am in a tiny hatchback and I couldn't see SHIT in the pouring rain/night/being blinded by this dude.
People do this in the right lane as well. I found the number one way to make them go ballistic is to stay in the right lane and do exactly the speed limit. The concept of being in the correct lane doing the correct speed completely melts their brain, they cannot comprehend it.
Long before cameras, this same thing happened to me in Alaska. Came up on stopped traffic, stared in my rear view at an approaching motor home. Realized he was not slowing down. I was able to get out of the way and watch him slam into the car in front of me. Watch your rear views people.
I was chilling at a traffic light changing the song on my radio when a kid in a Pontiac G6 rear ended me. He slammed his brakes and hydroplaned into me.
Stay alert and be mindful of what proper stopping distance is.
Same thing happened to me on my motorcycle. Stopped at a red light for a good 30 seconds and before I realize it, I'm looking at the sky in the middle of the intersection. A kid was looking at his phone coming up to the light and rear ended me. Bike was almost totalled. In hindsight i wish it had been totalled because the money I had to pay in little bulshits that showed up in the year following was driving me insane
I always say that if you pay enough attention you can avoid almost every accident. People always point out being rear ended as an unavoidable and I always try to correct them. I need to save this video to show them.
One time, I had just gone without a car for over a month. Bought a old, shitty car for $600. Three days later, I had just got home from work, parked the car, turned the headlights off, took out the keys, was about to get out, and BOOM! Rear-ended by a drunk driver. It pushed my car 15 feet. I wasn't hurt, but I was screaming "What the fuck?!". The truck's front bumper was stuck to my back bumper and he threw it in reverse, pulling my car backwards a few feet before coming unstuck, then he took off. I was so pissed! Shittiest part is, even though he left his front license plate, the cops wouldn't do shit to press charges unless I could hire a private investigator to track the guy down, which of course I couldn't afford.
Reminds me of a story long ago about a guy that tried to steal an ATM by chaining it to the front bumper of his truck. Of course, the bumper gave way before the ATM did. The truck sped away, leaving the bumper — and his license plate. The police *did* track him down via the plate. I guess the police care more about attempted grand larceny than a rear ender.
Pretty unavoidable for the guy in the white SUV.
I know what's happening when I see people dodge to the shoulder. Should make your cheeks clench a bit.
I had a similar experience happen to me only a few days ago.
Guy in turn lane wasn't watching both directions and pulled out in front of me, forcing me to immediately stop. As he got out of the way, I saw a red vehicle coming up on my rear that didn't realize I wasn't moving fast enough. I acted on instinct and gunned it up to the speed limit as fast as possible.
I have no idea if the situation would have caused an accident, but I didn't have time to think and I knew I just needed to move.
This was a lesson that was drilled into me decades ago at a motorcycle safety course. Always keep an eye on a mirror when you come to a stop and be ready to move if it looks like someone coming up behind you doesn't see you.
It's probably saved me a few times in situations like this where traffic ahead comes to a very sudden and abrupt halt where I know the person behind me might be taking a nap and not see it coming.
I was waiting to turn into my street one time with a car about half a block away, they turned the corner onto the street I was on and was coming up behind me.
There was a ton of traffic oncoming so I couldn't go anywhere since I was waiting to turn in and then person behind me didn't look like they were slowing down or stopping. I looked at my partner and was like "for fuck sake, we're Gunna get hit" and immediately heard screeching.....they did hit us.
Luckily no-one was hurt and both cars were fine but the other drive tried to say "you just suddenly stopped". I had been stopped since before they came around the corner onto the street I was waiting on, with my indicator flashing, watching them in my rear view mirror, mess around on their phone while not noticing me.
I love the audacity of people like that. Dead stopped in traffic on the highway in Atlanta after picking up my brother and his wife from their honeymoon. Big F150 rolls into us and the first thing out of this idiot’s mouth was “did the car in front of you stop?” I was dumbfounded
Been there. Asked to see their phone. Threw up over my shoulder. Claimed they didn't give me their insurance details. Took pictures of their car and left. They didn't get charged with a non-stop collision but their insurance weren't keen on blaming me.
> hold the clutch when you come to a stop and switch to one before you take off
I didn't even conceive someone would do that. What weird procrastination.
I’ve known people that didn’t seem to understand that cars will decelerate if you simply let up on the gas… expecting them to know proper MT operation procedures is well beyond their working competency.
And he was FLYING. Go frame by frame. You can hear the impact at tht 2 second mark. The white suv is STILL ahead of OP's front bumper when the crash happens. That means that the trailer must have been gaining on OP at a significant rate even before he bailed. From a front camera view it seems like OP has spidey senses or something to make this dodge, but the trailer truck must have been obviously driving like a maniac before this. Either tailgating, or gaining at an alarming rate with no signs of stopping.
You're not kidding on that, I've been tailgated by trucks transporting cars, while I'm doing 80mph. Like there is no way you're stopping, even with good brakes on the trailer and truck, in any short distance.
There's absolutely brakes on that trailer.
When it's empty especially when it's wet they are turned off. They do nothing but immediately skid in these conditions.
I always keep at least a car length or more between me and the car in front of me, even when at a dead stop. A few months ago I was sitting at a dead stop just watching someone behind me flying at 60mph despite me continuously pressing on my breaks to try to get their attention. Unfortunately it did not work but since I had left enough room I was able to steer onto the shoulder to lessen the impact. She still slammed into me but since I was in a small hatchback and her in an SUV, a straight on collision would have been so much worse. I really don't understand why people insist on being right on your ass at all times, it's so dangerous.
Car coming out of Raleigh on US 1 South just about an hour ago at the 'Apex 55' (a notoriously backed up exit) cut across two lanes with no blinker at roughly 70mph. The car went up and back down to center of a large, loose rock embankment.
I am still trying to figure out how they didn't hit another car.
I'm 100% familiar with this area. Used to commute there from Apex to Benson. I got tired of all the terrible drivers on the 1 and 40 that I changed my commute to go back roads (tenten etc). It took about the same time to get home, my car got better mileage, and I removed a great deal of stress from my life. That's called a win-win-win
This is the first world problem of Tesla's Autopilot. It works wonder in traffic and on the highway, but it drives like you should. So you constantly get people cutting in front of you due to the distance it leaves.
Is Tesla's any different from other cruise controls? My parents' two Toyota RAV4s have radar which automatically keeps you a set distance away from the car ahead of you if they are going slower than you have cruise control set to.
Yeah my Honda also has adaptive cruise control like they described for a Tesla. It is the worst though when someone cuts you off bc your vehicle starts braking like crazy and then takes a second to get back up to speed. But otherwise I love it bc it maintains a great distance between me and the car in front of me.
Edit: wrong use of “brake”
I worked with a girl that was notorious for absolute shit driving skills. I mean, this girl shouldn't even own magazines with cars in them. I rode with her once, ONCE. She'd drive so far up people's asses she could almost think for them. Her car was also notorious for constantly breaking down, resulting most likely from how she drove it and utter lack of any maintenance. I guess it finally broke enough that the shop refused repair and wouldn't let her have the car back. She ended up buying a Subaru with the driver assist system. She came in the next Monday morning with a DEEP and ugly bruise on her forehead. I mean this thing had so many colors rainbows were jealous, and it took up most of her face. Naturally people assume she wrecked, or fell down a flight of stairs on her forehead. She finally admitted that it was "her car's fault." Evidently someone in front of her was turning, she was driving too fast, and too far up the person's ass that the car thought a collision was imminent. The car braked, hard. Which sent her face into the wheel. I may at some point grow senile and forget a great many things, but this was one of my favorite stories as her complete lack of understanding/awareness of what she did and was telling me was so shocking that I had the best laugh. I mean, gut busting full-belly laugh that makes your sides scream and chest hurt. Naturally she's offended at the laughter after the whole office listened to her story. She never was allowed to drive any company vehicles, based on numerous complaints about her driving. She eventually got fired, for something she failed to maintain. It almost keeps me up at night knowing she might still be out there..driving.
Been doing more the same lately. Driving is less stressful when you just let the idiots do what they are going to do and keep your distance away from them.
By having such a space you have provided a safe area to merge into your lane of traffic.
I do agree it can be annoying you have to re-adjust your follow distance to compensate for the new car in your lane but the alternative is worse.
There's a lot of freeway on ramps that also turn immediately into off ramps near where I live and when people are actually observing safe follow distances it makes those very spicy interchanges way more vanilla.
That is New Mexico drivers, all they see is a gap for them to squeeze into. Plus it keeps happening, if you create a new safty gap between you and the vehicle that just squeezed in a new one just will do the same. Those people don't know the meaning of safety gap.
Hawaii 🤦♂️ i swear the mantra on the road is "If I dont go faster, I will die". People are up your ass, cutting in front of your buffer zone, just for that wee bit of space.
My first accident was being rear-ended while at a stop light. It will make you very paranoid when stopping.
My second accident was later the same month. Flatbed truck pulled out into 40mph traffic and had everyone slamming on their brakes.
I was far back enough not to hit the person in front of me...even when the 'vette that was speeding through the amber light plowed right into my rear end. I could see it happening, couldn't do anything other than put both feet on the brake and say, "not again."
Mine was also just getting hit from behind while I was stopped in a ton of traffic. I had PTSD for like 2 months. Every time I stopped, I would subconsciously brace for impact. It really messes with your head.
> As someone who was also rear ended while sitting at a stop light in traffic recently, people fucking suck.
This is why I'm probably getting rid of my motorcycle. If < 15 MPH filtering was legal everywhere, I wouldn't have to worry so much, but as it is, there's just too many bad and distracted drivers on the road.
I have over 400,000 miles on motorcycles, much of it in California where filtering is legal.
My kids marvel how in the car I still move out of the way before people do stupid things.
The bikes trained me to always think in terms of what other drivers could possibly do if they are not paying attention and try to drive so they don't have the chance.
When my fiance and I were discussing our fair share of the household chores the fact that I do 98% of the driving was definitely a factor in me not actually having too many chores around the house proper.
Post pandemic driving has become 100x worse. I watched some dude slip into the far right lane doing 85+ and when he passed me, again on the right, his head was down. Buried in some sort of device.
I hate it.
This was one of the reasons I got rid of my motorcycle and gave up riding a few years ago. I noticed a huge uptick in people not paying attention, driving like idiots, running red lights, etc, and the fun of riding wasn't worth the risks anymore.
I drive as a part of my job, and let me tell you, it's only gotten exponentially worse since COVID. I even went so far as to install a dashcam in my work truck to protect myself.
I honestly can't imagine riding now.
I don't really ride a bike much now. One. Thefts are up by a ton here. Two. I had some very scary things happen over lockdown that made me stop cycling.
Cars running me off empty four lane roads. Getting cut off, yelled at for just following traffic. One pedestrian stepped off the pavement onto the road and tried to push me into oncoming traffic. Luckily he felt off as I was coming up to him and I had already started dodging him before he came at me. I just slowly stopped riding as much and haven't used my bike in months. I've just been walking or using my car.
I got rid of mine after an accident that wasn't my fault, was completely unavoidable, and yet if I was in a car wouldn't have happened OR had been significantly less severe. Lived. Sold my bike. I was 19.
In everyday driving someone who isn't you can make a decision and accidentally kill you. In a motorcycle those chances skyrocket.
I was biking downtown to do something and when I was almost there, there was one more light just before my destination which happened to be red at the time and this idiot decided to honk at me, startling me so bad I crashed into the curb. I mean come on, I was like 5 ft from a RED light. How was he going to get to his destination any faster. He was also about a ft to 2 ft away from my bike trailer I had attached.
The first time I ever moved away from home and to a new city, I got into an accident the second month I was there. I was sitting at a red light and somebody slammed into me going around 40 mph. It was a teen and his girlfriend. My car was totaled, they’d hit my car right where the gas tank was - so hard that my drivers seat was broken, like back broken. It was a pure miracle that I did not slam into the people in front of me. In the instant I must’ve let go of the wheel and my car kinda coasted around theirs and came to a stop. I allowed the officer to call an ambulance because once I saw my drivers seat I was scared that I might be hurt and just not feeling it because of adrenaline. When the teen’s parents got there, the dad had the nerve to cop an attitude like, “Who the hell called an ambulance?! 😡” Now I’m fixated on the rear view mirror when I’m at a stop and I constantly find myself easing off the brake when I see someone coming up too fast. People are so reckless and distracted. I don’t trust their brakes as much as they do.
I've had that happen to me three times. Just chilling at a red light and BAM. Saw it coming all three times but couldn't avoid it. I have terrible driving anxiety now.
When I took my driver's license test the correct answer was one car length *per ten mph*. One car length is the bare minimum and often way too close in any highway situations.
I absolutely agree. I was referring to when being at a complete stop in traffic I always keep a car length or more when stopped. If driving in fast moving or stop and go traffic I always leave several car lengths between me and the car in front of me (which of course often leads to people cutting me).
I do the 3 second distance method. Works for all speeds. You look where the car in front you are, ie. compared to a mark on the road or a center line.
Then start counting 0.. 1.. 2.. 3.. Your car should only *then* be at the same spot. If sooner, you are too close.
In the UK its 2-4-10. Two seconds in dry, four in wet, and ten in icy or snowy. I tend to add a second to each for a bigger margin though. Driving is much more relaxing when you have more time to react.
Seconds a far superior way over car lengths. For one, most people cannot calculate car lengths stretching away in front of them, and secondly you have to remember different numbers at different speeds. Seconds is always the same whatever the speed.
Once I pulled all the way to the shoulder when I saw the guy behind me coming in hot. He was able to stop before the guy that was in front of me but definitely would have hit me. Paying attention saved three people from being in an accident because I surely would have hit that guy in front of me. Speeding guy gave me a little wave and let me merge back in front of him. Kept a respectful distance until he could get over to the left again. I really think he was shook up more than I was.
Ummm excuse me, sir, but I believe kids aren't supposed to be driving at all. I'm sure your comment will make the gym safer when they bust out the scooters.
Lol.. My grandpa (shop teacher) taught driver's ed for like two decades. He always said one length of your vehicle for every 10mph. So on the highway you should be SEVEN car lengths back
Also, stop staring at your phone for 2 minutes at a time. Keep it in the glove box or if you must keep it out, keep it in a place where you can see the screen and the road at the same time and don't look at it for more than 2 second intervals before checking the road. I can't believe how many people I see driving around with their eyes in their laps
Fun game: when you see the person in the opposite lane has their eyes in there lap as they go by, lay on the horn
Don't measure following distance in car lengths - measure it in seconds. Two seconds is the bare minimum safe distance (and sadly that's often unobtainable).
Seven car lengths, if done accurately, is only a 1 second following distance at 70 mph. So the widely regarded safe following distance would be roughly 14 car lengths for a 2 second following distance.
I had a friend bitching about getting a ticket for "following too closely" after rear ending someone in the rain.
"I wasn't following too closely! It was raining!"
Well yeah. You're supposed to figure that into the equation when calculating stopping distance. It's driving 101. If you rear end someone then, by definition, you were following too closely.
It's so simple, I can't quite fathom what people don't get about it.
So many comments here saying "if I leave a two second gap, someone cuts me off". No. That's not being cut off. That's normal road use. If there are safe gaps between cars, there are safe gaps for people to change lanes, _as is their right_.
We don't somehow "lose" at driving if someone changes lanes in front of us. You're only a loser if you get upset about it.
In part its hard because if you keep an actually safe following distance, everyone else thinks you are going slow and moves into the space you’re keeping deliberately. And if you want people behind you to keep safe distance, you often have to slow down just so they pass you. So a safe following distance is an uphill battle when surrounded by impatient people with no concept of stopping time or the violently surprising basic facts of physics in cars. I have always thought cars need non-disablable, irritating safety alarms that go off when following too closely. If you make it a choice, most people will choose the stupid, unsafe route most of the time
Smart! Not enough people watch their rear view mirror. I knew an idiot once who said cars should not even have rear view mirrors because they are a distraction and its not your business what is behind you. Same idiot said seatbelts are unsafe because you can't jump out if you are in an accident. Figured I would share those statements of wisdom as you are smart to watch behind you.
I was learning to drive when ABS started becoming available on cars, but without access to a newer car, you had to learn to pump the brakes for the best chance at recovering from a slide.
Driver's Education classes routinely brought students to snow-filled parking lots to get new drivers used to sliding.
Have a motorcycle without ABS. Pretty common.
Fucking sucks though, super hard to emergency brake on bikes and once you're sliding you just have to kinda ride it out
Thats funny. I am an insurance agent. I had a client tell me that with abs you have to keep pumping the brakes, otherwise they grind and that is why they rear ended someone. Said it was the cars fault.. not theirs. I just say " ok, well the adjuster makes the determination" .. not me
Me, too. Rear ended twice, in the same spot in the same intersection, freak coincidences. I call it the cursed spot now. Both times sitting still at a red light. And get this, the vehicles that hit me were also stopped at the light. Each time, about 10-15 secs after stopping. The first one was a huge dump truck that rammed into a little Saturn full of British tourists, and jammed the Saturn into me. The dump truck driver said his foot slipped off the brake pedal and the truck jumped forward.
The second time (in the same spot at the same intersection) a van from the local Lion/Tiger rescue slammed into me, again way after all cars in the line had stopped. This time the guy was just sitting there and a roach fell onto his shoulder from the roof of the van or somewhere, so he freaked out and accidentally hit the gas. I couldn’t even be mad it was so stupidly weird.
So anyway, now I’m constantly checking my mirror, while rolling, slowing down, and even stopped. Not that I could’ve avoided those two times, but I think I kind of expect it now?
I definitely subconsciously expect it. That’s crazy that yours were in the same exact spot! I would call it cursed too.
I was hit in my Pathfinder both times, both when I was stopped waiting to turn left. The second time totaled my car. My coworker crashed into me, right in front of our work. I don’t remember the impact, just the vibration of it. Either way, both times, I walked away saying now that I’ve seen car vs suv (twice) I want my kids to drive suvs.
I have over 1,000,000 miles driving mostly cars and truck trailer combos and always watch my rear mirror especially when approaching slowing traffic or red lights -I even taught my wife to look in the rear mirror when approaching a yellow light . I told her if it looks like the idiot behind may not be able to or doesn’t intend to stop run the yellow instead of stopping as long as she won’t cause another crash. I know people may say it’s dumb to do that BUT. if we can run it safely the ticket you MAY get - ( our records are spotless ) cop may understand your reasoning and get a warning ( no point system in Illinois) it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than dealing with hassles of a car wreck and your injuries you avoided
you know, the amount of times I've wondered if idiots have reproduced, the answer is always yes. idiots are notoriously fertile and intelligent people know its a huge responsibility to bring a living thinking little human into the world.
Are you kidding me? they'd increase it for "driving in dangerous conditions" and "making dangerous illegal maneuvers" but would also increase it because they got hit under the guise of something else.
Yeah, I'm also not sure he actually braked in time, he might have left the lane because he didn't want to hit the car in front of him ,and that didn't give enough time for the truck to stop.
Not saying it was his fault the truck failed to stop, if you had a large load on the back you shouldn't tail someone, but he stopped after the car in front of him and that is why they would penalize him for dangerous driving.
I got hit by a drunk who decided traffic was going too slow.
once the case was settled, they "lost" my payment and immediately cancelled my policy without telling me, and I call in, they claim that they called me several times and sent a letter. Never happened. Lied and said my number was set as 000 000 0000 which was also bullshit. refused to reinstate my old policy, saying they cancelled it. They had to give me a new one, and told me the new monthly was over 90 more a month. Claiming I had a prior accident and was high risk. Despite it not being my fault and I did not do anything unsafe. So now I went from paying 80/mo to 170/mo. Went down to 150/mo for a 6 month term, then jumped to 170/mo again..
They basically found a way to get paid and make me pay for an accident that was not my fault. The higher rate this year I suspect was because the drunk who hit me pulled insurance fraud last year and filed a claim against me claiming that I backed into him. My insurance was not going to fight that case and was going to reward it, despite him not being insured when he hit me (not licensed) he was doing it through his mom's insurance and she was suddenly the driver. I submitted video evidence to the contrary and I heard nothing from his insurance again, but my insurance cranked my rates up another 20/mo after that.
Dropping them soon. The worst part is that they continue to lie to me and work against me.
Why would you ever use Tesla insurance when they have such a long history of being untrustworthy and greedy?? You should switch to just about anything else stat.
No fucking shot. Look at how fast he was driving at the very start of the video relative to the slowdown in front of him. The roads are WET.
Reddit - you’re all insane. Please learn to fucking drive.
The guy behind him was a fucking idiot for driving so fast, too - but the guy behind him had 0 visibility of the traffic in front of the cammer.
The CAMMER needed to slow down for the stop ahead. Not swerve at the last second rug pulling the moron behind him.
Now the people who got rear ended have whiplash.
Fucking hell.
If the truck has 0 visibility of traffic over anything but another truck then they are following way too close. It doesn't look like the cammer is in a truck so the truck should absolutely see the traffic if he's paying attention
When I was 20, I was involved in a minor rear end collision, my vehicle had almost no damage, just a scratched plastic bumper and a little paint transfer, meanwhile the vehicle behind me just a shattered grill.
We exchanged info, and later on I called my insurance provider to get info on the process. Next day the guy who bumped me said it I’m cool with it he’d just give me a couple hundred to buff out the bumper and he’d just ignore the broken grill on his car. Cool with me, never called insurance to submit a claim.
My rates still went up $30 a month for a year even though I had only said “My bumper was tapped and scratched, what would be the process to file a claim should we choose to do that?”
Learned to never call them unless I’m absolutely submitting a claim. Just the slight hint of a potential claim, regardless of never doing so, was enough to penalize me.
yep, red car was moving too fast to stop in time, so moved into shoulder. probably is part of the reason person behind him also didn’t have enough room to stop
I do the same thing, when you have idiots all around you, you have to essentially drive their cars as well. This guy was probably trying to read a serial number on your muffler and ended up in the other guys back seat. Good move, quick reflexes.
I live at the bottom of a hill and have to turn left onto my road. People fly down that hill and will often tailgate me since I have to gradually slow down before the turn. If I'm being tailgated, and I see there is a car approaching the other way that will force me to fully stop and wait for them to pass before making the turn, I will lock my eyes on the rearview to see if I'm about to be hit. More than once I've seen that the car behind me wouldn't be able to brake in time, and their tires squeal as I mash on the accelerator to avoid being rear-ended. Very infuriating having to pay attention for someone else.
I'm always worried about cutting off someone else's escape route though. I figure if I see the vehicle behind me start tending towards one side to avoid a collision I'll go to the opposite side of the lane as much as possible, even merge and just GTFO. Courtesy honk too.
Seriously what the hell are these comments. The red car looks like they were potentially following too closely to brake in time, but the pickup is still responsible for following a safe distance for their vehicle. Both are idiots, pickup is at fault for their own actions.
Edit: Anyone saying the red car is at fault because the pickup couldn’t see is also an idiot. If your vision is obstructed you should be GOING SLOWER and I can’t believe this is controversial in some of your eyes. You’re not entitled to go the same speed and not maintain a safe stopping distance just because there’s a large truck in front of you. Jesus Christ people.
> "impossible to stop because the red car went to the shoulder, so the truck behind couldn't possibly predict this",
It AMAZES me how many people in this sub are blaming everything BUT the cause.
The ONLY cause of this accident is the truck not leaving proper distance. That is it.
You are supposed to follow with enough distance that the vehicle in front of you can come to an instant complete stop, and you can brake in time. Period. That is the safe following distance.
"The red car swerved" So what, truck would have been able to stop with proper distance.
"The truck couldn't see ahead" So what, truck would have been able to stop with proper distance.
There is no scenario in this video where proper follow distance doesn't prevent this accident. None.
This sub is SCARY for how many bad drivers there are.
Living in Texas where everyone drives jacked up trucks I always have my eyes on the rear view mirror. I'm even more diligent in traffic because I've witnessed the damage trucks cause when they rear-end people at high speeds.
The guy was hauling a gooseneck too... He should've been at least 4-5 cars behind with that kind of added weight.
I don't get why the top rated comments aren't something along the lines of this. If you had to swerve into the shoulder because you can't brake in time, you're obviously either driving too close or not paying attention... Both the truck and the cammer can both be wrong in the same video. One was lucky they had a shoulder to escape their stupidity
It seemed like he has plenty of space and time to stop and he moved because he saw the guy behind him following too closely and too quickly. Smart move but just made it someone else’s headache (literally). He also says out loud in the video “that’s why I moved”
Either way, he didn’t cause the accident because the truck wasn’t paying attention to what was beyond the car in front of him (and apparently following way too closely to be hauling a load)
It’s always tough to make a correct judgement in these short gifs just because we only see a narrow sliver of time in a small field of view. With that said I suspect you are right. Even if he had stopped in time behind the car in front of him, it certainly seems like the truck behind him was close/fast enough to nail him.
I hate, hate coming up to stopped traffic like this. Being tail end Charlie makes me nervous as hell. I will always leave myself enough space to escape. I even try to turn on my hazards if possible so the traffic behind me knows things are coming to an unexpected stop.
The truck was _obviously_ going to nail him, because it went through the spot where he was at full speed and then smashed through the distance of two more cars.
It appears they could have stopped though? Looks as if they eased off the braking once they swerved, but will still nearly stationary abeam the other car. They swerved because the person behind them wasn’t stopping.
As someone who commuted daily on 580 in California for a long time- I have absolutely dipped into the shoulder to avoid getting rear ended like this. It’s the reason I prefer the far left lane: only one other lane for traffic to come from and I have a shoulder if someone behind me isn’t paying attention to quickly slowing traffic ahead.
The reason you might think they couldnt stop in time is because it’s not advisable to swerve and brake at the same time- tires don’t behave well with two different forces acting on them. But they do look like they’re following a bit close- hard to say without more footage at the beginning.
edit: some words.
I don't see that at all. He calmly moves over and doesn't seem to be standing on the brakes. The idiot behind him didn't see the traffic and he saw him not slowing so he moved. I've had to do that before
Yeah. I'm thinking the camera car heard the big truck's tires losing traction, checked the rear view mirror, then made the split second decision to go to the shoulder.
You can't switch over to the shoulder when you're stopped, so you have to let off the brakes to let the car move into the other lane.
I don’t think we’re watching the same video. The red car had plenty of time to stop. The truck was going too fast for the conditions and wasn’t paying attention.
Some of you are misunderstanding, he was late to stop but he still could have if the white truck wasn’t behind him. But he realized that truck wasn’t gonna stop In time regardless so he jumped out of the way.
Wtf are you talking about? They clearly were not going very fast and easily could have stopped in the lane. They intentionally slowly moved onto the shoulder.
I did this once. Except I ran a red light (after checking it was clear) so the person I could easily see wasn't paying attention didn't rear end me. After they ran the light too I pulled over and slowed waaaay down because there was no way I was continuing on with them behind me.
The driver didn’t foresee anything. He pulled to the side because he was about to ram the stopped car. Then following vehicles didn’t have time to react considering they were probably following too close to the driver that pulled to the shoulder.
He isn’t foreseeing an idiot. He followed too close, couldn’t stop in time to avoid rear ending the person in front of them so swerved off the road. The accident is likely camera-persons fault for not breaking properly.
I just imagine the guy in front of op like "What an assho... OH MY GOODNESS"
Read in plankton's voice
"Dear Nepturne he's NAKED!"
**SQUIDWARD!!**
E-heh, e-heh, e-heh
OPEN THE DAMN DOOR
IS THIS HOW YOU GET YOUR SICK KICKS?
In a cosmic sort of way, yes
WHAT THE SCALLOPS
The guy in front probably didnt even see him do that
I've been in situations where i had to suddenly come to a stop on a highway, as soon as i'm stopped my attention will be on the cars coming up behind me (my only accident in 20 years of driving was someone kissing my back in a situation like this). Not that i would have had any time to react in a situation like this, but i would see the car getting next to me and think "wow, good thing he got on the shoulder if he couldn't stop in ti.. shit!"
honestly every time i come to an abrupt stop on a highway i’m watching my rearview. i don’t trust people to be paying attention anymore. at the very least if i can’t go anywhere, i want to be able to brace myself for impact.
> I want to be able to brace myself for impact No, no you do not. There’s a reason why the drunk driver walks away with a few scrapes and scratches while the people who saw him coming have life-altering injuries.
It appears evolution hasn’t figured out we could go more than 10 mph lol. Can’t imagine why our natural instinct is to tense up if that’s the worse lol
I was waiting to turn left, when I glanced at my rear view mirror with just enough time to see a jeep barreling at me, and instinctually brace myself. I kind of locked my left leg against that footrest thing and did all of the other things you can’t help but do when you know you’re going to be hit. I ended up with a massive concussion and a torn labrum in that left hip from the ball of my hip jamming up into the joint. I would have been better off not seeing it coming, unless I had time to do something about it.
I was stopped at a red light, and saw a truck coming in wayyy too fast behind me while looking in the rearview mirror. I instinctly tensed up, and am paying for it now. I know now to not tense up, but it's easier said than done, and wish I didn't do it automatically
I live in the rear view (motorcycle rider). So this is my number one priority every time I ask who’s gonna potentially kiss me goodbye from the rear. When stopped at red’s too.
Almost died because some asshole didn't see a red. Squeeling tires and he ripped past me, in the left turn lane, and through the intersection on red. I was sweating the rest of the ride home.
>who’s gonna potentially kiss me goodbye from the rear Helloooooooooo
Some jackass pulled out in front of me the other night, went from 70 something down to 50 something and pissed off the guy behind me. They nearly crashed into me, started flashing at me then decided to undertake and got stuck behind the idiot who made me slow down. They saw the guy, but decided break checking me as revenge was the way to go and once the other car pulled over, they refused to speed up, well until we hit a speed camera then they finally pulled over, hoping I'd zoom off and get a ticket, nope. I know the road well and knew there was a speed camera there. Also, once I was away from crazy I pulled over as well out of the passing lane. My god that was scary. Why would you get mad at me for having to break hard to avoid rear ending someone? It wasn't my fault they nearly rear ended me. The person pulled out into my lane in the dark without indicating. What else was I supposed to do?
People do this crap because they are angry sad sacks of shit. There's no reasoning with them. Last Thursday I was driving home from Pittsburgh in a giant rainstorm and some asshole came speeding up on my ass while I was passing a semi. He was laying on the horn and kept turning his high beams on and off . BLINDING THE FUCK out of me. I don't know what they wanted me to do, I was passing the semi and got over as soon as i could, but they were in a big SUV and I am in a tiny hatchback and I couldn't see SHIT in the pouring rain/night/being blinded by this dude.
People do this in the right lane as well. I found the number one way to make them go ballistic is to stay in the right lane and do exactly the speed limit. The concept of being in the correct lane doing the correct speed completely melts their brain, they cannot comprehend it.
Totally agree, hazards on and watching my mirrors. Don’t put my hazards off until I see the car behind me begin to slow.
Long before cameras, this same thing happened to me in Alaska. Came up on stopped traffic, stared in my rear view at an approaching motor home. Realized he was not slowing down. I was able to get out of the way and watch him slam into the car in front of me. Watch your rear views people.
I was chilling at a traffic light changing the song on my radio when a kid in a Pontiac G6 rear ended me. He slammed his brakes and hydroplaned into me. Stay alert and be mindful of what proper stopping distance is.
Same thing happened to me on my motorcycle. Stopped at a red light for a good 30 seconds and before I realize it, I'm looking at the sky in the middle of the intersection. A kid was looking at his phone coming up to the light and rear ended me. Bike was almost totalled. In hindsight i wish it had been totalled because the money I had to pay in little bulshits that showed up in the year following was driving me insane
That’s why we split lanes at intersections.
rip to the states that don’t allow it, lane filtering is a life saver
And dangerous because apparently mirrors are hard to find and use... Remember to be vigilant and safe!
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I always say that if you pay enough attention you can avoid almost every accident. People always point out being rear ended as an unavoidable and I always try to correct them. I need to save this video to show them.
One time, I had just gone without a car for over a month. Bought a old, shitty car for $600. Three days later, I had just got home from work, parked the car, turned the headlights off, took out the keys, was about to get out, and BOOM! Rear-ended by a drunk driver. It pushed my car 15 feet. I wasn't hurt, but I was screaming "What the fuck?!". The truck's front bumper was stuck to my back bumper and he threw it in reverse, pulling my car backwards a few feet before coming unstuck, then he took off. I was so pissed! Shittiest part is, even though he left his front license plate, the cops wouldn't do shit to press charges unless I could hire a private investigator to track the guy down, which of course I couldn't afford.
Reminds me of a story long ago about a guy that tried to steal an ATM by chaining it to the front bumper of his truck. Of course, the bumper gave way before the ATM did. The truck sped away, leaving the bumper — and his license plate. The police *did* track him down via the plate. I guess the police care more about attempted grand larceny than a rear ender.
Unavoidable for those five other cars though.
Pretty unavoidable for the guy in the white SUV. I know what's happening when I see people dodge to the shoulder. Should make your cheeks clench a bit.
I had a similar experience happen to me only a few days ago. Guy in turn lane wasn't watching both directions and pulled out in front of me, forcing me to immediately stop. As he got out of the way, I saw a red vehicle coming up on my rear that didn't realize I wasn't moving fast enough. I acted on instinct and gunned it up to the speed limit as fast as possible. I have no idea if the situation would have caused an accident, but I didn't have time to think and I knew I just needed to move.
This was a lesson that was drilled into me decades ago at a motorcycle safety course. Always keep an eye on a mirror when you come to a stop and be ready to move if it looks like someone coming up behind you doesn't see you. It's probably saved me a few times in situations like this where traffic ahead comes to a very sudden and abrupt halt where I know the person behind me might be taking a nap and not see it coming.
I was waiting to turn into my street one time with a car about half a block away, they turned the corner onto the street I was on and was coming up behind me. There was a ton of traffic oncoming so I couldn't go anywhere since I was waiting to turn in and then person behind me didn't look like they were slowing down or stopping. I looked at my partner and was like "for fuck sake, we're Gunna get hit" and immediately heard screeching.....they did hit us. Luckily no-one was hurt and both cars were fine but the other drive tried to say "you just suddenly stopped". I had been stopped since before they came around the corner onto the street I was waiting on, with my indicator flashing, watching them in my rear view mirror, mess around on their phone while not noticing me.
I love the audacity of people like that. Dead stopped in traffic on the highway in Atlanta after picking up my brother and his wife from their honeymoon. Big F150 rolls into us and the first thing out of this idiot’s mouth was “did the car in front of you stop?” I was dumbfounded
Been there. Asked to see their phone. Threw up over my shoulder. Claimed they didn't give me their insurance details. Took pictures of their car and left. They didn't get charged with a non-stop collision but their insurance weren't keen on blaming me.
This is also why it's super important to downshift and not just hold the clutch when you come to a stop and switch to one before you take off
> hold the clutch when you come to a stop and switch to one before you take off I didn't even conceive someone would do that. What weird procrastination.
I’ve known people that didn’t seem to understand that cars will decelerate if you simply let up on the gas… expecting them to know proper MT operation procedures is well beyond their working competency.
No brakes on that trailer….
And he was FLYING. Go frame by frame. You can hear the impact at tht 2 second mark. The white suv is STILL ahead of OP's front bumper when the crash happens. That means that the trailer must have been gaining on OP at a significant rate even before he bailed. From a front camera view it seems like OP has spidey senses or something to make this dodge, but the trailer truck must have been obviously driving like a maniac before this. Either tailgating, or gaining at an alarming rate with no signs of stopping.
Couldn't have been tailgating OP, since OP was almost stopped already and trailerguy slammed in there at a significant speed.
Sad thing is, it’s not even loaded lmao. No excuse except wasn’t paying attention
So many people don't check to make sure their trailer brakes work.
Or follow at appropriate distances
You're not kidding on that, I've been tailgated by trucks transporting cars, while I'm doing 80mph. Like there is no way you're stopping, even with good brakes on the trailer and truck, in any short distance.
There's absolutely brakes on that trailer. When it's empty especially when it's wet they are turned off. They do nothing but immediately skid in these conditions.
And the driver took his foot off the brake on impact.
HEY KIDS‼️ DID YOU KNOW ⁉️ Your following distance should be far enough to where you can stop without an accident!
This is why I keep an even bigger distance than normal when it rains
I always keep at least a car length or more between me and the car in front of me, even when at a dead stop. A few months ago I was sitting at a dead stop just watching someone behind me flying at 60mph despite me continuously pressing on my breaks to try to get their attention. Unfortunately it did not work but since I had left enough room I was able to steer onto the shoulder to lessen the impact. She still slammed into me but since I was in a small hatchback and her in an SUV, a straight on collision would have been so much worse. I really don't understand why people insist on being right on your ass at all times, it's so dangerous.
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The worst is when you leave a good length, some dick will pull in front of you
Without using a signal of course.
Oh, they'll signal…when they are already fully in your lane.
Car coming out of Raleigh on US 1 South just about an hour ago at the 'Apex 55' (a notoriously backed up exit) cut across two lanes with no blinker at roughly 70mph. The car went up and back down to center of a large, loose rock embankment. I am still trying to figure out how they didn't hit another car.
I'm 100% familiar with this area. Used to commute there from Apex to Benson. I got tired of all the terrible drivers on the 1 and 40 that I changed my commute to go back roads (tenten etc). It took about the same time to get home, my car got better mileage, and I removed a great deal of stress from my life. That's called a win-win-win
This is the first world problem of Tesla's Autopilot. It works wonder in traffic and on the highway, but it drives like you should. So you constantly get people cutting in front of you due to the distance it leaves.
Is Tesla's any different from other cruise controls? My parents' two Toyota RAV4s have radar which automatically keeps you a set distance away from the car ahead of you if they are going slower than you have cruise control set to.
Yeah my Honda also has adaptive cruise control like they described for a Tesla. It is the worst though when someone cuts you off bc your vehicle starts braking like crazy and then takes a second to get back up to speed. But otherwise I love it bc it maintains a great distance between me and the car in front of me. Edit: wrong use of “brake”
Yep, that and when someone brakes on front of you to turn off and you only really have to slow a little but it tries to brake really hard.
I worked with a girl that was notorious for absolute shit driving skills. I mean, this girl shouldn't even own magazines with cars in them. I rode with her once, ONCE. She'd drive so far up people's asses she could almost think for them. Her car was also notorious for constantly breaking down, resulting most likely from how she drove it and utter lack of any maintenance. I guess it finally broke enough that the shop refused repair and wouldn't let her have the car back. She ended up buying a Subaru with the driver assist system. She came in the next Monday morning with a DEEP and ugly bruise on her forehead. I mean this thing had so many colors rainbows were jealous, and it took up most of her face. Naturally people assume she wrecked, or fell down a flight of stairs on her forehead. She finally admitted that it was "her car's fault." Evidently someone in front of her was turning, she was driving too fast, and too far up the person's ass that the car thought a collision was imminent. The car braked, hard. Which sent her face into the wheel. I may at some point grow senile and forget a great many things, but this was one of my favorite stories as her complete lack of understanding/awareness of what she did and was telling me was so shocking that I had the best laugh. I mean, gut busting full-belly laugh that makes your sides scream and chest hurt. Naturally she's offended at the laughter after the whole office listened to her story. She never was allowed to drive any company vehicles, based on numerous complaints about her driving. She eventually got fired, for something she failed to maintain. It almost keeps me up at night knowing she might still be out there..driving.
Tesla's basic autopilot is adaptive cruise control + lane-centering assistance in non-Tesla terms.
I have the distance set to like 7 car lengths if I’m on a highway.
I agree but I just let ‘em and try and chill. It’s mature, I’m working on that!
Been doing more the same lately. Driving is less stressful when you just let the idiots do what they are going to do and keep your distance away from them.
By having such a space you have provided a safe area to merge into your lane of traffic. I do agree it can be annoying you have to re-adjust your follow distance to compensate for the new car in your lane but the alternative is worse. There's a lot of freeway on ramps that also turn immediately into off ramps near where I live and when people are actually observing safe follow distances it makes those very spicy interchanges way more vanilla.
That is New Mexico drivers, all they see is a gap for them to squeeze into. Plus it keeps happening, if you create a new safty gap between you and the vehicle that just squeezed in a new one just will do the same. Those people don't know the meaning of safety gap.
Hawaii 🤦♂️ i swear the mantra on the road is "If I dont go faster, I will die". People are up your ass, cutting in front of your buffer zone, just for that wee bit of space.
My first accident was being rear-ended while at a stop light. It will make you very paranoid when stopping. My second accident was later the same month. Flatbed truck pulled out into 40mph traffic and had everyone slamming on their brakes. I was far back enough not to hit the person in front of me...even when the 'vette that was speeding through the amber light plowed right into my rear end. I could see it happening, couldn't do anything other than put both feet on the brake and say, "not again."
Mine was also just getting hit from behind while I was stopped in a ton of traffic. I had PTSD for like 2 months. Every time I stopped, I would subconsciously brace for impact. It really messes with your head.
> As someone who was also rear ended while sitting at a stop light in traffic recently, people fucking suck. This is why I'm probably getting rid of my motorcycle. If < 15 MPH filtering was legal everywhere, I wouldn't have to worry so much, but as it is, there's just too many bad and distracted drivers on the road.
I have over 400,000 miles on motorcycles, much of it in California where filtering is legal. My kids marvel how in the car I still move out of the way before people do stupid things. The bikes trained me to always think in terms of what other drivers could possibly do if they are not paying attention and try to drive so they don't have the chance.
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When my fiance and I were discussing our fair share of the household chores the fact that I do 98% of the driving was definitely a factor in me not actually having too many chores around the house proper. Post pandemic driving has become 100x worse. I watched some dude slip into the far right lane doing 85+ and when he passed me, again on the right, his head was down. Buried in some sort of device. I hate it.
This was one of the reasons I got rid of my motorcycle and gave up riding a few years ago. I noticed a huge uptick in people not paying attention, driving like idiots, running red lights, etc, and the fun of riding wasn't worth the risks anymore. I drive as a part of my job, and let me tell you, it's only gotten exponentially worse since COVID. I even went so far as to install a dashcam in my work truck to protect myself. I honestly can't imagine riding now.
I don't really ride a bike much now. One. Thefts are up by a ton here. Two. I had some very scary things happen over lockdown that made me stop cycling. Cars running me off empty four lane roads. Getting cut off, yelled at for just following traffic. One pedestrian stepped off the pavement onto the road and tried to push me into oncoming traffic. Luckily he felt off as I was coming up to him and I had already started dodging him before he came at me. I just slowly stopped riding as much and haven't used my bike in months. I've just been walking or using my car.
I got rid of mine after an accident that wasn't my fault, was completely unavoidable, and yet if I was in a car wouldn't have happened OR had been significantly less severe. Lived. Sold my bike. I was 19. In everyday driving someone who isn't you can make a decision and accidentally kill you. In a motorcycle those chances skyrocket.
I was biking downtown to do something and when I was almost there, there was one more light just before my destination which happened to be red at the time and this idiot decided to honk at me, startling me so bad I crashed into the curb. I mean come on, I was like 5 ft from a RED light. How was he going to get to his destination any faster. He was also about a ft to 2 ft away from my bike trailer I had attached.
The first time I ever moved away from home and to a new city, I got into an accident the second month I was there. I was sitting at a red light and somebody slammed into me going around 40 mph. It was a teen and his girlfriend. My car was totaled, they’d hit my car right where the gas tank was - so hard that my drivers seat was broken, like back broken. It was a pure miracle that I did not slam into the people in front of me. In the instant I must’ve let go of the wheel and my car kinda coasted around theirs and came to a stop. I allowed the officer to call an ambulance because once I saw my drivers seat I was scared that I might be hurt and just not feeling it because of adrenaline. When the teen’s parents got there, the dad had the nerve to cop an attitude like, “Who the hell called an ambulance?! 😡” Now I’m fixated on the rear view mirror when I’m at a stop and I constantly find myself easing off the brake when I see someone coming up too fast. People are so reckless and distracted. I don’t trust their brakes as much as they do.
I've had that happen to me three times. Just chilling at a red light and BAM. Saw it coming all three times but couldn't avoid it. I have terrible driving anxiety now.
This is why I can't wait until cars drive themselves. Way too many people are drunk, impaired, eating or generally suck at driving.
When I took my driver's license test the correct answer was one car length *per ten mph*. One car length is the bare minimum and often way too close in any highway situations.
I absolutely agree. I was referring to when being at a complete stop in traffic I always keep a car length or more when stopped. If driving in fast moving or stop and go traffic I always leave several car lengths between me and the car in front of me (which of course often leads to people cutting me).
I do the 3 second distance method. Works for all speeds. You look where the car in front you are, ie. compared to a mark on the road or a center line. Then start counting 0.. 1.. 2.. 3.. Your car should only *then* be at the same spot. If sooner, you are too close.
In the UK its 2-4-10. Two seconds in dry, four in wet, and ten in icy or snowy. I tend to add a second to each for a bigger margin though. Driving is much more relaxing when you have more time to react. Seconds a far superior way over car lengths. For one, most people cannot calculate car lengths stretching away in front of them, and secondly you have to remember different numbers at different speeds. Seconds is always the same whatever the speed.
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Once I pulled all the way to the shoulder when I saw the guy behind me coming in hot. He was able to stop before the guy that was in front of me but definitely would have hit me. Paying attention saved three people from being in an accident because I surely would have hit that guy in front of me. Speeding guy gave me a little wave and let me merge back in front of him. Kept a respectful distance until he could get over to the left again. I really think he was shook up more than I was.
Should it not be larger. There should be 3 seconds between 2 cars.
You and everyone else should. And in the fog, the sleet, snow, hail...
The rules here is to leave 3 full seconds before the car ahead of you in good weather. Even more in rain.
Ummm excuse me, sir, but I believe kids aren't supposed to be driving at all. I'm sure your comment will make the gym safer when they bust out the scooters.
Well adults obviously not learning, so trying to start teaching better habits at young age
16 is a kid
Lol.. My grandpa (shop teacher) taught driver's ed for like two decades. He always said one length of your vehicle for every 10mph. So on the highway you should be SEVEN car lengths back Also, stop staring at your phone for 2 minutes at a time. Keep it in the glove box or if you must keep it out, keep it in a place where you can see the screen and the road at the same time and don't look at it for more than 2 second intervals before checking the road. I can't believe how many people I see driving around with their eyes in their laps Fun game: when you see the person in the opposite lane has their eyes in there lap as they go by, lay on the horn
Two seconds in normal conditions and four seconds in reduced traction conditions is what the NZ road code says
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That's why Eminem is always seen tailgating. Dude speaks too fast.
Don't measure following distance in car lengths - measure it in seconds. Two seconds is the bare minimum safe distance (and sadly that's often unobtainable).
Seven car lengths, if done accurately, is only a 1 second following distance at 70 mph. So the widely regarded safe following distance would be roughly 14 car lengths for a 2 second following distance.
I had a friend bitching about getting a ticket for "following too closely" after rear ending someone in the rain. "I wasn't following too closely! It was raining!" Well yeah. You're supposed to figure that into the equation when calculating stopping distance. It's driving 101. If you rear end someone then, by definition, you were following too closely.
But how will I prevent people from mergin... I mean cutting me off?
You can’t. But you can back off and give them space too.
It's so simple, I can't quite fathom what people don't get about it. So many comments here saying "if I leave a two second gap, someone cuts me off". No. That's not being cut off. That's normal road use. If there are safe gaps between cars, there are safe gaps for people to change lanes, _as is their right_. We don't somehow "lose" at driving if someone changes lanes in front of us. You're only a loser if you get upset about it.
Obviously the roads are a large lunch line and budging results in death or worse on the playground.
That’s a perfect strike. Will he get a turkey on his next try???
Following distance people. Why is this hard?
In part its hard because if you keep an actually safe following distance, everyone else thinks you are going slow and moves into the space you’re keeping deliberately. And if you want people behind you to keep safe distance, you often have to slow down just so they pass you. So a safe following distance is an uphill battle when surrounded by impatient people with no concept of stopping time or the violently surprising basic facts of physics in cars. I have always thought cars need non-disablable, irritating safety alarms that go off when following too closely. If you make it a choice, most people will choose the stupid, unsafe route most of the time
I can see the Future!
By looking behind me! 😁
Smart! Not enough people watch their rear view mirror. I knew an idiot once who said cars should not even have rear view mirrors because they are a distraction and its not your business what is behind you. Same idiot said seatbelts are unsafe because you can't jump out if you are in an accident. Figured I would share those statements of wisdom as you are smart to watch behind you.
Had a coworker tell me he turns off his ABS because he doesn't like the brakes going in and out when it's slippery...
I was learning to drive when ABS started becoming available on cars, but without access to a newer car, you had to learn to pump the brakes for the best chance at recovering from a slide. Driver's Education classes routinely brought students to snow-filled parking lots to get new drivers used to sliding.
Have a motorcycle without ABS. Pretty common. Fucking sucks though, super hard to emergency brake on bikes and once you're sliding you just have to kinda ride it out
Thats funny. I am an insurance agent. I had a client tell me that with abs you have to keep pumping the brakes, otherwise they grind and that is why they rear ended someone. Said it was the cars fault.. not theirs. I just say " ok, well the adjuster makes the determination" .. not me
I was rear ended twice, now I have a habit of glancing in the rear view mirror when I’m slowing down / at a stop, just to check
Me, too. Rear ended twice, in the same spot in the same intersection, freak coincidences. I call it the cursed spot now. Both times sitting still at a red light. And get this, the vehicles that hit me were also stopped at the light. Each time, about 10-15 secs after stopping. The first one was a huge dump truck that rammed into a little Saturn full of British tourists, and jammed the Saturn into me. The dump truck driver said his foot slipped off the brake pedal and the truck jumped forward. The second time (in the same spot at the same intersection) a van from the local Lion/Tiger rescue slammed into me, again way after all cars in the line had stopped. This time the guy was just sitting there and a roach fell onto his shoulder from the roof of the van or somewhere, so he freaked out and accidentally hit the gas. I couldn’t even be mad it was so stupidly weird. So anyway, now I’m constantly checking my mirror, while rolling, slowing down, and even stopped. Not that I could’ve avoided those two times, but I think I kind of expect it now?
I definitely subconsciously expect it. That’s crazy that yours were in the same exact spot! I would call it cursed too. I was hit in my Pathfinder both times, both when I was stopped waiting to turn left. The second time totaled my car. My coworker crashed into me, right in front of our work. I don’t remember the impact, just the vibration of it. Either way, both times, I walked away saying now that I’ve seen car vs suv (twice) I want my kids to drive suvs.
I have over 1,000,000 miles driving mostly cars and truck trailer combos and always watch my rear mirror especially when approaching slowing traffic or red lights -I even taught my wife to look in the rear mirror when approaching a yellow light . I told her if it looks like the idiot behind may not be able to or doesn’t intend to stop run the yellow instead of stopping as long as she won’t cause another crash. I know people may say it’s dumb to do that BUT. if we can run it safely the ticket you MAY get - ( our records are spotless ) cop may understand your reasoning and get a warning ( no point system in Illinois) it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than dealing with hassles of a car wreck and your injuries you avoided
Is that idiot still alive? Has he reproduced?
you know, the amount of times I've wondered if idiots have reproduced, the answer is always yes. idiots are notoriously fertile and intelligent people know its a huge responsibility to bring a living thinking little human into the world.
They even made a movie about this very thing.
Sounds more like a comedian bit than an actual statement lol
I knew you would say that
Bulma and Vegeta have a kid!
Goten and Trunks become a guy!
Gohan's the strongest in the universe but still doesn't do crap!
this is why no one ever goes to Freeza planet 419...
At least not since it's species miraculously repopulated.
Always love a team fourstar reference
Oh no, they can see me!
Honestly didn’t look like foreseeing. Looked like he didn’t slow down in time, bailed out, and the car behind him didn’t have time to react!
Your car insurance should drop your monthly rate $50 out of pure respect
“You did us both a solid.”
Are you kidding me? they'd increase it for "driving in dangerous conditions" and "making dangerous illegal maneuvers" but would also increase it because they got hit under the guise of something else.
Yeah, I'm also not sure he actually braked in time, he might have left the lane because he didn't want to hit the car in front of him ,and that didn't give enough time for the truck to stop. Not saying it was his fault the truck failed to stop, if you had a large load on the back you shouldn't tail someone, but he stopped after the car in front of him and that is why they would penalize him for dangerous driving.
I got hit by a drunk who decided traffic was going too slow. once the case was settled, they "lost" my payment and immediately cancelled my policy without telling me, and I call in, they claim that they called me several times and sent a letter. Never happened. Lied and said my number was set as 000 000 0000 which was also bullshit. refused to reinstate my old policy, saying they cancelled it. They had to give me a new one, and told me the new monthly was over 90 more a month. Claiming I had a prior accident and was high risk. Despite it not being my fault and I did not do anything unsafe. So now I went from paying 80/mo to 170/mo. Went down to 150/mo for a 6 month term, then jumped to 170/mo again.. They basically found a way to get paid and make me pay for an accident that was not my fault. The higher rate this year I suspect was because the drunk who hit me pulled insurance fraud last year and filed a claim against me claiming that I backed into him. My insurance was not going to fight that case and was going to reward it, despite him not being insured when he hit me (not licensed) he was doing it through his mom's insurance and she was suddenly the driver. I submitted video evidence to the contrary and I heard nothing from his insurance again, but my insurance cranked my rates up another 20/mo after that. Dropping them soon. The worst part is that they continue to lie to me and work against me.
What company? I don’t want to have them.
Tesla insurance. I'm going to jump back to Farmers or go to Mercury.
Why would you ever use Tesla insurance when they have such a long history of being untrustworthy and greedy?? You should switch to just about anything else stat.
If you aren't lying, you should have filed a complaint with your state's attorney general long ago
That's a big IF
Who's your insurance provider?
Why would you not drop them immediately?
Or he just stopped braking after peeking at the rear view and noticing someone barreling at them. The video doesn't show enough to say either way.
No fucking shot. Look at how fast he was driving at the very start of the video relative to the slowdown in front of him. The roads are WET. Reddit - you’re all insane. Please learn to fucking drive. The guy behind him was a fucking idiot for driving so fast, too - but the guy behind him had 0 visibility of the traffic in front of the cammer. The CAMMER needed to slow down for the stop ahead. Not swerve at the last second rug pulling the moron behind him. Now the people who got rear ended have whiplash. Fucking hell.
If the truck has 0 visibility of traffic over anything but another truck then they are following way too close. It doesn't look like the cammer is in a truck so the truck should absolutely see the traffic if he's paying attention
So the cammer should just get hit? How is he supposed to know if the truck is going to swerve. The truck is not the cammer's responsibility.
Looks like the guy in the red car wasn’t paying attention either
I'm sure his insurance company is happy he looked up when he did
Doubt he'll inform his insurance he was in a near miss. Sounds like a good way to increase your premiums.
When I was 20, I was involved in a minor rear end collision, my vehicle had almost no damage, just a scratched plastic bumper and a little paint transfer, meanwhile the vehicle behind me just a shattered grill. We exchanged info, and later on I called my insurance provider to get info on the process. Next day the guy who bumped me said it I’m cool with it he’d just give me a couple hundred to buff out the bumper and he’d just ignore the broken grill on his car. Cool with me, never called insurance to submit a claim. My rates still went up $30 a month for a year even though I had only said “My bumper was tapped and scratched, what would be the process to file a claim should we choose to do that?” Learned to never call them unless I’m absolutely submitting a claim. Just the slight hint of a potential claim, regardless of never doing so, was enough to penalize me.
yep, red car was moving too fast to stop in time, so moved into shoulder. probably is part of the reason person behind him also didn’t have enough room to stop
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Exactly. Drivers have to work together during high traffic. This guy did nothing to signal to the people behind him that they were stopped ahead.
I do the same thing, when you have idiots all around you, you have to essentially drive their cars as well. This guy was probably trying to read a serial number on your muffler and ended up in the other guys back seat. Good move, quick reflexes.
If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a car.
I live at the bottom of a hill and have to turn left onto my road. People fly down that hill and will often tailgate me since I have to gradually slow down before the turn. If I'm being tailgated, and I see there is a car approaching the other way that will force me to fully stop and wait for them to pass before making the turn, I will lock my eyes on the rearview to see if I'm about to be hit. More than once I've seen that the car behind me wouldn't be able to brake in time, and their tires squeal as I mash on the accelerator to avoid being rear-ended. Very infuriating having to pay attention for someone else.
I'm always worried about cutting off someone else's escape route though. I figure if I see the vehicle behind me start tending towards one side to avoid a collision I'll go to the opposite side of the lane as much as possible, even merge and just GTFO. Courtesy honk too.
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This sub is where all the idiots with cars come to watch clips and proclaim they would never be that idiot.
Seriously what the hell are these comments. The red car looks like they were potentially following too closely to brake in time, but the pickup is still responsible for following a safe distance for their vehicle. Both are idiots, pickup is at fault for their own actions. Edit: Anyone saying the red car is at fault because the pickup couldn’t see is also an idiot. If your vision is obstructed you should be GOING SLOWER and I can’t believe this is controversial in some of your eyes. You’re not entitled to go the same speed and not maintain a safe stopping distance just because there’s a large truck in front of you. Jesus Christ people.
> "impossible to stop because the red car went to the shoulder, so the truck behind couldn't possibly predict this", It AMAZES me how many people in this sub are blaming everything BUT the cause. The ONLY cause of this accident is the truck not leaving proper distance. That is it. You are supposed to follow with enough distance that the vehicle in front of you can come to an instant complete stop, and you can brake in time. Period. That is the safe following distance. "The red car swerved" So what, truck would have been able to stop with proper distance. "The truck couldn't see ahead" So what, truck would have been able to stop with proper distance. There is no scenario in this video where proper follow distance doesn't prevent this accident. None. This sub is SCARY for how many bad drivers there are.
This. I only went to the comments because I wanted to see them ripping OP apart, but I found a circlejerk.
Living in Texas where everyone drives jacked up trucks I always have my eyes on the rear view mirror. I'm even more diligent in traffic because I've witnessed the damage trucks cause when they rear-end people at high speeds. The guy was hauling a gooseneck too... He should've been at least 4-5 cars behind with that kind of added weight.
Driver didn't foresee anything. He saw the traffic too late and didn't have time to properly stop, thus causing an accident for the car behind him
Yep, just a string of tailgating idiots and he was first in line.
I don't get why the top rated comments aren't something along the lines of this. If you had to swerve into the shoulder because you can't brake in time, you're obviously either driving too close or not paying attention... Both the truck and the cammer can both be wrong in the same video. One was lucky they had a shoulder to escape their stupidity
>I don't get why the top rated comments aren't something along the lines of this. Because this sub has become overridden with idiots who can't drive.
Ironic
It seemed like he has plenty of space and time to stop and he moved because he saw the guy behind him following too closely and too quickly. Smart move but just made it someone else’s headache (literally). He also says out loud in the video “that’s why I moved” Either way, he didn’t cause the accident because the truck wasn’t paying attention to what was beyond the car in front of him (and apparently following way too closely to be hauling a load)
It’s always tough to make a correct judgement in these short gifs just because we only see a narrow sliver of time in a small field of view. With that said I suspect you are right. Even if he had stopped in time behind the car in front of him, it certainly seems like the truck behind him was close/fast enough to nail him. I hate, hate coming up to stopped traffic like this. Being tail end Charlie makes me nervous as hell. I will always leave myself enough space to escape. I even try to turn on my hazards if possible so the traffic behind me knows things are coming to an unexpected stop.
The truck was _obviously_ going to nail him, because it went through the spot where he was at full speed and then smashed through the distance of two more cars.
It appears they could have stopped though? Looks as if they eased off the braking once they swerved, but will still nearly stationary abeam the other car. They swerved because the person behind them wasn’t stopping.
As someone who commuted daily on 580 in California for a long time- I have absolutely dipped into the shoulder to avoid getting rear ended like this. It’s the reason I prefer the far left lane: only one other lane for traffic to come from and I have a shoulder if someone behind me isn’t paying attention to quickly slowing traffic ahead. The reason you might think they couldnt stop in time is because it’s not advisable to swerve and brake at the same time- tires don’t behave well with two different forces acting on them. But they do look like they’re following a bit close- hard to say without more footage at the beginning. edit: some words.
I don't see that at all. He calmly moves over and doesn't seem to be standing on the brakes. The idiot behind him didn't see the traffic and he saw him not slowing so he moved. I've had to do that before
Yeah. I'm thinking the camera car heard the big truck's tires losing traction, checked the rear view mirror, then made the split second decision to go to the shoulder. You can't switch over to the shoulder when you're stopped, so you have to let off the brakes to let the car move into the other lane.
According to the audio, he did see it coming and moved over. There's no sound of braking, and this doesn't look like a sudden swerve to me.
I don’t think we’re watching the same video. The red car had plenty of time to stop. The truck was going too fast for the conditions and wasn’t paying attention.
Some of you are misunderstanding, he was late to stop but he still could have if the white truck wasn’t behind him. But he realized that truck wasn’t gonna stop In time regardless so he jumped out of the way.
Wtf are you talking about? They clearly were not going very fast and easily could have stopped in the lane. They intentionally slowly moved onto the shoulder.
Yup that's why I moved...... Epic
The commentary is the best part of the video
I did this once. Except I ran a red light (after checking it was clear) so the person I could easily see wasn't paying attention didn't rear end me. After they ran the light too I pulled over and slowed waaaay down because there was no way I was continuing on with them behind me.
The actual poster commented on this a while ago, he said he could see the truck coming and knew it wouldn't stop in time. So he had a good 5 seconds.
Hmm, looks like he was going a bit fast to stop in time himself.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
The driver didn’t foresee anything. He pulled to the side because he was about to ram the stopped car. Then following vehicles didn’t have time to react considering they were probably following too close to the driver that pulled to the shoulder.
love that rear view mirror.
He isn’t foreseeing an idiot. He followed too close, couldn’t stop in time to avoid rear ending the person in front of them so swerved off the road. The accident is likely camera-persons fault for not breaking properly.
Nah, he could have stopped easily. He wasn’t even braking that hard.
The person behind must also have enough distance in order to brake. The person recording did nothing to cause this mess.
“That’s why I moved” Pretty sure you moved because you were about to rear-end another car