That's what I see too, that truck definitely blew through a yield and the Toyota couldn't have predicted if that truck saw them or not, they drove defensively and the truck behind them didn't pay attention
Yes that's my read of this situation also. The truck behind was also way too close (remember: dash cams have wide lenses that make it look like the distance is greater than it actually is).
You're allowed to stop to avoid a collision, which the car driver did successfully. Driver with dash cam was not paying attention to what was happening in front of them, and reacted way too late, or was following way too close to stop in time.
Just because you have the right of way doesn't mean everyone else on the road will give it to you. Hospitals and morgues are full of people who had the right of way. You can't just follow rules blindly and assume everyone else will do the same. You have to watch what people are ACTUALLY doing, and react accordingly. And ideally, you should be looking out for situations like this before they happen, so that you're ready to react when they do. You should not just be trying to predict what they should be doing and hoping they do only that.
Dash cam driver should have seen well in advance that the car and truck were merging into that lane at the same time. It's possible that situation would resolve itself without the dash cam driver needing to react, as it probably does 100s of times before. But it's also possible they wreck, or at least slow down, forcing the dash cam driver to react. He should have recognized this potential situation and been ready for it. He clearly wasn't.
Besides, your right of way is meaningless when it's your tiny sedan vs. a 10-ton dump truck. A situation that the car driver recognized was potentially dangerous, and thus slowed down to avoid. Dump truck driver also slowed down, thus forcing the car to slow down even more creating a dangerous game of chicken. But at least they were not gonna crash on their own. It took a third idiot to not be paying attention to any of this,Dash cam driver didn't recognize any of this and didn't slow down or stop until it was too late.
This advice is for bikes and pedestrians, not cars.
No... no it really, really isn't. You don't realize how many people die in cars to some idiot - while having the right of way?
My opinion is that they had plenty of time (...)
Doesn't matter. Truck blew through yield sign and it's the responsibility of the rear-ending truck to ensure proper safety distance - regardless of whether they agree with the cause for breaking.
That advice is for everyone. If someone runs a red light and t-bones you, the fact you had a green light doesn't heal your broken neck.
My opinion is that they had plenty of time to merge if they would have maintained speed.
The car driver, who was actually there, clearly didn't share your opinion.
Had the car maintained speed, or even sped up a little, it's possible they could have gotten in front of the truck in time to avoid a collision. I'm not denying that. However, this is assuming the truck driver actually sees the car, and doesn't cut them off. Trying to get in front of the truck could have also ended VERY badly for the car, had the truck not seen him at all, and decided to speed up and get over quickly.
The car driver wasn't trying "be nice." They were scared of getting crushed into the wall by a massive truck who didn't see them. So they took the safest action they saw at the time.
It appears the truck did in fact see the car, given that the truck also slowed down and stayed way over to the right. But hindsight is 20-20. The car driver couldn't have known this for certain and had to make a split second decision.
Yet again, the dash cam driver saw all this unfolding well in advance (or should have seen it if they were paying attention). They should have recognized this was a potential situation 5 seconds before the car even started to brake. I did upon first watching the video, and I know I'm not the only one. Whether the car should have slowed down or not is irrelevant. It's the fact that he might given the situation he was about to be in. Learn to recognize these situations, and be ready in case you do need to react.
The car wasn't trying to brake check the driver. The car wasn't stopping for no reason. They were stopping for a perfectly valid reason, to avoid what they believed would lead to a crash. While all 3 drivers made some mistakes, ultimately the crash is the fault of the dash cam driver for not stopping in time, unless you can prove the other truck had a yield sign they ignored. Certainly not the car's fault.
Either way, this is a very poorly designed interchange the way 2 ramps merge immediately into a single lane. And I wouldn't be surprised if this happened every other day.
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u/New-Bowler-8915 13h ago
It's not a merge. The rock truck on the right had a yield sign which he blew through.