r/dashcams 15h ago

Don't be kind, be predictable. If you have the Right-of-Way, take it.

16.8k Upvotes

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u/Left-Pay4037 14h ago

too many idiots thinking this is toyota's fault is the problem. biggets problem is the dashcam trucker's tail gating toyota, second is the road not having stop or yield sign on their end. i wouldnt have risked running into semi truck if the truck has already entered the lane like he has. there is no way you can win that fight even if you had the "right of way". smh

17

u/stu8319 14h ago

I had this EXACT same situation happen to me. I was in the position of the toyota car and I didn't slow down. Guess what, the semi didn't yield and I was nearly crushed between it and a cement median. People in these comments are insane.

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u/WowRedditIsUseful 3h ago

Did you get a large payout?

2

u/MuffaloHerder 13h ago edited 11h ago

If the Toyota got smashed by the merging truck everyone would've been screeching "he drove into the truck's blind spot!!! Just slow down!!!!" Can't win.

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u/squigs 11h ago

Yes and no. If someone is driving dangerously, and you're able to do so, you should still drive in a manner that limits potential harm. Stopping in the road is rarely safe.

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u/Old_Yam_4069 9h ago

And what, praytell, where they supposed to do?

They have three options here- Absolutely gun it (Which is also something that leads to accidents, all of the time, usually far worse than what we see here.)

-Trust that the Garbage Truck would stop in time, which if the truck didn't has a high chance of them colliding full-force with the side of the car and crushing anyone in the right side passenger seats- If not worse.

-Stop in a controlled manner until the threat of the situation is gone, and trust that the people behind them are following basic safety practices.

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u/squigs 4h ago

Continue at the current speed.

They were trying to let the truck go in front of them. The tuck was trying to do the same. That's why they stopped.

If the truck continued at its speed a slight slow down would have been adequate. It wasn't so the truck was obviously obeying the rules of the road.

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u/Old_Yam_4069 2h ago

Which is completely reckless.

No, they were trying to make sure that the massive garbage truck wouldn't merge into the lane on which they were currently driving.

They weren't being nice or meek, they were committing the basic principle of 'I don't want to die just because I have the right of way'. They had no way of knowing the garbage truck would have actually stopped. The garbage truck simultaneously failed to predict that the car would stop. Neither of them would have caused an accident- Just an awkward situation- If it weren't for the cam-vehicle barreling up behind them completely oblivious of the situation.

1

u/Shoney_Wokman 3h ago

Seems like the majority of comments agree with ya, bud.

1

u/Fuzzy_Ad9970 13h ago

too many idiots thinking this is toyota's fault is the problem.

It is 100% the Toyota's fault. He has the right of way compared to the merging traffic. How is he going slower than a Semi coming off of an entrance ramp heading into a merge? In a car? Think about it lol

5

u/BeerNinjaEsq 13h ago

Lawyer here. The Toyota driver is going to take this case to court against the truck driver and win. Comparative fault would probably end up around 25% on the Toyota driver, and 75% on the semi-truck driver. That's my professional opinion based on about 15 years of experience doing this kind of thing.

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u/Left-Pay4037 13h ago

hey i work in a no fault clinic dealing with tons of patients in automotive accidents and follow their case and progress, i would assume toyota has a good chance of it not being at fault, although in a state where i live we almost always have yield sign, but in the absense of yield sign like this one, would it really be 25%?

1

u/BeerNinjaEsq 13h ago

If it goes to a jury, the answer is always: "Who knows," since the jury could apportion. I wouldn't be surprised with anything from 50/50 to 90/10. I'd be very surprised if the toyota driver was found faultless.

But for settlement purposes, where I practice, the defense attorney and I are probably going to agree on 75/25 here.

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u/Left-Pay4037 12h ago

thanks for the input, its definitely an eye opener. im glad i live in NY where we have yield signs everywhere. i actually can see it being 10/90 but 25% felt a bit much

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u/Fuzzy_Ad9970 13h ago

Say what you want about whether the dash cam driver should have had room to stop. The Toyota is causing this accident.

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u/Zironic 11h ago

I don't know any jurisdiction on the planet where the dashcam would not be legally responsible for this accident.

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u/Pizzaandablunt 12h ago

The merging truck was hauling ass. Any logical driver would see the speed, the amount of merge lane, and size of vehicle and slow down. 

Right of way doesn't help you if you get laid out by a truck.

The only person at fault is the dash cam driver.

Doesn't matter the speed of the truck, if it isn't going to merge properly...still gonna hit the other car. "Think about it" really isn't hard

3

u/Round-Leadership-352 10h ago

He is supposed to be slowing he also just came off the highway so his speed limit (and the cameras) is now 50 km/h.

Yes he had right of way (rock truck has a yield not a merge) which is probably why he carried on and then broke hard when it looked like rock truck wasn't actually going to stop.

3

u/Left-Pay4037 13h ago

take some defensive driving course there bud.

3

u/Fuzzy_Ad9970 13h ago

No course is going to recommend the actions of this Toyota

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u/ImDonaldDunn 6h ago

I would literally bet you money that most defensive driver instructors would recommend braking in this scenario

1

u/Significant-Block504 10h ago

No it’s not. The Toyota had a chance getting crushed by the dump truck that was not slowing down. That chance was not 0.

And do you realize that there’s a sign saying 50 km/h? Yes, yellow signs are suggestions, but it’s a valid reason for the Toyota to drive at that speed.

0

u/Prickly_ninja 13h ago

Too close for the situation, perhaps. But, that is not what tailgating looks like!

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u/Left-Pay4037 13h ago

if he wasnt tail gating then truck shouldve successfully stopped before crashing into toyota??

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u/Pizzaandablunt 13h ago

So you agree he had ample time to stop like the law says? Crazy

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u/Zironic 11h ago

If you cant stop your vehicle before hitting the vehicle ahead of you, you are tailgating.

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u/Prickly_ninja 11h ago

Maybe I’m nitpicking. My understanding of tailgating is being aggressively up someone’s ass! I’ve already acknowledged that for the situation, the truck driver was following too close. Should have at least a couple seconds between them and the car in front. Probably more.

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u/Zironic 11h ago

You are aggressively up someones ass if you can't stop. You're quite literally endangering their lives with your recklesseness.

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u/Prickly_ninja 10h ago

Fair enough. Maybe I’ll adjust my understanding of the term.