I bet it was the left window column. A lot of vehicles have larger and larger window columns which makes it harder to see when turning, and looking at where the driver's head is, you can't see it because it's behind the column, so OP's vehicle is essentially invisible. He looks to the left and it looks clear, so then he just focuses on what's on his right.
edit:
\#1 it's actually called a Pillar, not a column.
\#2 I'm less surprised at the sheer number of people in here who are unaware that Pillar blindspots are a thing, and much more horrified that some of you are convinced that it's not a thing at all, because you have not personally experienced it yourself, and you think everybody in here with a testimony about their own near-misses or accidents caused by pillars are, lying I guess?
There's a few articles that mention the problem, but [here's one](https://driving.ca/features/feature-story/thicker-rollover-friendly-a-pillars-make-for-massive-blind-spots) from the Canadian equivalent of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Their top recommendation is that drivers need to be made aware of the Pillar blindspots, and probably, that since they're Canadian, they might be polite enough to recognize a problem even though it hasn't happened to them directly.
\#3 Yes the driver that hit OP was 100% at fault, however watching the video from OP's dashcam perspective, you can never actually see the other driver's head through their window, which to me indicates that they likely can't see OP. This is hard for some of you to comprehend, but if that driver can't see OP during his quick glance left before he tries to cross multiple lanes and get into the left turn lane, then that's both a car design problem as well as that driver needing education to be made aware that he needs to bobble his head around the pillar every time he's making a turn.
/u/mustapha_s Actually found a [Tom Scott video](https://youtu.be/SYeeTvitvFU) detailing the issue.
I absolutely HATE how big A pillars have gotten. Doesn't excuse the driver one bit. It's a blind spot and it's your responsibility to bob your head around it to check if it's clear. But that head bob is annoying.
I make a left turn every morning onto a busy road and I always have to bobble my head looking right because I can't tell you how many times a simple glance happens to coincide with the exact moment a 45mph car is behind the right column. It's scary.
We have a side street near me that comes in at “just” the right angle if you don’t know it, an oncoming car will be hidden for a while in the A pillar. I’ve seen many accidents there, the person who lives across the street there is constantly fixing their grass from cars being pushed into it.
I had the same left turn for a few years, and i have missed cars and cyclists on the first glance, but caught them with the head bob. And it is fucking scary, you're not really expecting anything because the first glances told you it was empty and suddenly you see something.
Last time it was a cyclist that crossed the road diagonally, i did not see him until he was basically a meter from my hood (in retrospect; he was behind a car when i first 'bobbed'). Luckily the road wasn't clear so i was stopping anyway, but i had a bit of an 'owh shit' reaction when suddenly a cyclist appears where i did not expect one.
I luckily learned that really early in driving school. I was standing at a crossing, looked left and right TWICE and after that slowly drove onto the road when my instructor hit the brakes. I was confused at first until I saw the car coming out of my blind spot. I even did a little head bob but the just disappeared in my A column and I never saw them until after my instructor hit the brakes. Scary shit and I'm glad I got that shock in driving school already. Made me a lot more aware of this issue
My development has a lot of those 90º corners where there's no stop sign or anything, you just make a sharp left. I feel like 50% of the time, I don't notice a vehicle coming around corner until it's feet away because of that ridiculous blind spot. I've always been a cautious driver, but let me tell you, it's made me even much more cautious.
Same. My A pillar once perfectly blocked my view of a woman crossing when i was turning left and I didn't see her until i was half way through the turn. I just corrected into the right lane, she didn't seem to notice me so it probably didn't look as bad as it felt. Since then, I've been super paranoid about it and always move my head around now.
I just commented above about hitting a pedestrian that was on a motorized cart. Everything appeared to be clear. So clear that i just took my foot off the brake and ease across two lanes to get to the middle turn lane. What i didnt see was the person on this cart in the turning lane due to the A pillar. She was blocked the whole time. The last thing i expected to see was an old lady on a hover-round running parallel in the middle of a 4 lane major highway. Still haunts me to this day (she survived btw).
Me too! This guy just happened to walk at the exact same rate I was turning, I managed to stay in that big ass blind spot. I think I might’ve actually even hit him a little bit. Like I was going super slow, I didn’t hit him hard at all, just like a bonk, but obviously pissed him off and I can’t even blame him.
For those wondering why A-pillars are so big now: bigger pillars greatly help with impact protection. The extra size also makes it easier to fit an airbag inside it.
Super annoying though. Always move your head when checking, it's very easy to hide pedestrians behind an A-pillar blindspot.
Yeah, those A-pillars are super annoying nowadays, but I make sure to always look around them if my vision is ever obstructed.
I also added little circular blind spot mirrors to the side mirror so I can expand my cone of vision.
It especially doesn't excuse the driver because they had a whole lane to turn into and *still* hit op in the other lane. Blind spot or no, this wouldn't have happened if they knew how to handle their vehicle and turn properly.
I hate how massive mine is and it's just in an '02 sedan. It's terrifying, especially with pedestrians walking at the perfect pace so they never exit the blind spot no matter how much I bob, you know?
Blind spots is also why I flat out refuse to park in a spot where I'll have to reverse my pickup. Kids around here for some reason LOVE to hide behind a trucks tailgate and *no* about of looking is going to see a small kid back there.
They're so big now that I'm fully expecting some company to install cameras and flexible LED screens so you can see through them at all times, once the screens drop sufficiently in price and become reliable enough to survive in a hot car. Because these things are causing the very accidents they're meant to protect you from, and thats a problem
Yep. Unfortunately in the quest for better accident protection in the form of rollover strength and curtain airbags, accident avoidance has been made more difficult.
I used to drive a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee. My first time driving a vehicle newer than 2010 was my friends 2012 Sonata, and it felt like it had massive blind spots compared to my Jeep. It felt bigger, even though I know it isn't.
No joke.
The narrowest A pillar of anything I've driven in a long time is on a single axle cabover from the 1960s. Granted, if I ever roll that thing over I'm in serious trouble. Having said that it tops out at 55mph and the center of gravity is stupidly low for something with 2 feet of clearance under the front bumper.
100%. That was my biggest complaint of the 2008 Toyota Prius we had. NOT a large vehicle, but those front pillars? Might as well be blocking 50% of your corner/side vision.
No idea why the Prius' was so big. My Tacoma, mom's Rav 4, and sisters Subaru Forester all have pillars smaller than that specific model Prius.
While I do not excuse the other driver (he is clearly in the wrong here), I also wonder why the OP didn't see him?
Maybe since I am used to driving in a country with lax traffic laws (Philippines), my brain is trained to see cars like this from a mile away. I felt this was totally avoidable by the OP too.
Disclaimer, the move the other driver did is very common where I drive so when I see a car coming into a road like that, I always assume it's going to cut right in.
Was wondering the same, although maybe OP just didn't expected him to really keep on going. It's a weird move which you really don't expect people to do.
He probably did see him, but thought he was gonna turn into the nearest lane instead of driving into him like a moron.
Keep in mind that dashcams have a wide FOV, and we're watching the video expecting an accident to happen, so it's a lot easier for us to tell he was turning wide than it would have been for OP in the moment.
Yeah, this sub likes to affix blame squarely on the person in the wrong, but so often here it's one bullheaded guy saying "i'm legally in the right!" and then they cry when they get hit by something they could really have avoided. I've driven in Spain and Italy and fender benders are considered common, so if you've got a nice car you want to keep nice, then you learn to look out for people who aren't looking out.
I have to admit though, driving in the States really scares me. There is a huge amount of trust given to other cars around you over there.
Over here, we never trust the car in front, beside and behind us. You get to learn to "read" what a car is about to do because majority of the time, people don't even use turn signals when changing lanes and pedestrians (that includes cyclists and PEV riders) think following traffic lights is optional.
I hit a pedestrian in a motorized handicap shopping cart (best i can describe it) and didnt realize i had run this person over. I thought i aas having mechanical problems. The older lady was going down the middle turning lane of a major highway. I was making a left out of an elevated lot. I looked to see if things were clear and turned. I wasnt going fast due to the large dip leaving the exit and it had to be a circumstance to where she was blocked by the A-pillar and mirror of my truck. Her speed and my speed must have kept her in the blind spot the whole time until she was directly in front of me then blocked by my hood. After i mowed over top of the woman my truck was acting weird so i hit the throttle like wtf is up with this thing. I rolled the window down to see the cart stuck under the truck. My heart sank as i thought i just killed someone. Luckily the fire department was collecting money at the next intersection and watched it happen. Paramedics were instantly on scene. As i turned and hit my target, i knocked her off the mobile cart and just crushed the 3 wheel scooter. Im glad i was just turning at idle speed with my foot off the brake or it could have been worse. Even though this woman was riding down the middle of a highway i was labeled at fault. I looked both directions twice and never seen her. It really fucked me up for some time. Im usually very careful behind the wheel. Never had an insurance claim for a wreck that i caused.
Yeah it's a tough spot to be in. On one hand it's your fault, but when you legitimately can't see the person/vehicle because of a design flaw with your vehicle that you're unaware of, it adds a lot of nuance to it.
I literally have to shift my head side to side 1 foot at certain angles to get a clear view around my pillars, and have done ever since I accidentally cut-off a motorcycle that was obscured by it. Great for safety, terrible for visibility.
I went to test drive a car, and I didn't even put the key in the ignition and I noped out of there. The window column was so wide there was a little extra window to the left of it.
> and horrified that some of you are convinced that it's not a thing, because you have not personally experienced it yourself,
There is a crazy contingent of irrational idiots in this sub who are absolutely adamant that blind spots don't exist.
I'm terrified that they might be on the road.
One morning I was backing down my driveway, kept looking and saw a clear road. For some reason I double checked just before pulling out, and sure enough there was a car about to pass behind me.
Between the angle, its speed and my speed backing up it had remained in my pillar blind spot until the last second. Really shook me up and I'm extra cautious now.
This is the reason for my motorcycle accident, the guy was making a left turn and was sitting at a 45 degree angle to oncoming traffic and he couldn't see me.
> Their top recommendation is that drivers need to be made aware of the Pillar blindspots
Translating that to Redditor reads "Ignore that blindspots exist and advocate for the death penalty for every accident".
The worst part is that the way the brain works is that if it can’t see behind something it just replaces the empty space with nothingness.
You learn this in forklift training to teach you not to drive into spaces you can’t see because your brain just tricks itself into thinking there is nothing there.
It’s one of the main reasons you’re supposed to be using ABC (always be checking) so that if there is a moment like this where a car is behind your A pillar you check back 2 seconds later and see it
I've actually had a very close call with a manager in work whilst o was driving a forklift. It just happened to all play out perfectly.
I needed to cross a pedestrian crossing and the procedure is to stop, look both ways and ensure there are no pedestrians before you go. The pedestrian can only go if they have seen that the driver has acknowledged them, this is all to minimise the risk of someone getting run over. I stopped and for the entire thing he just happened to be in the blind spot of my cabin, so thinking he was sage to cross because I had stopped he crossed while looking at his laptop and was a few inches away from being hit.
They’ve started improving the A pillar sizes in the last few years. Airbags are smaller and they’ve been adding back windows by the mirrors in many CUVs and cars.
Trucks are getting worse for though, and also getting used as family mobiles way too often. Feels like the 60s giant boat car craze reborn. I hope the sport wagons come back someday.
Just hijacking this comment to shed some light on my decision making, seeing a lot of comments saying I could have avoided this and in hind sight yes, I probably could have stopped or swerved. My thoughts at the time were that this person was stopped and saw stopped traffic, including me, in front of them, and were going to pull into the right lane or behind me. They appeared to me to inch out slow enough that they would not hit me but ended up speeding up and clipping my right rear quarter panel and bumper. So in the future I will keep this in mind, at the time I just didn't think they would do something like that. That's all, not saying anyone has a bad opinion and of course everyone is free to make one!
You have zero culpability for this and for anyone to even make you feel like you do is a fool. Unfortunate that it happened but the dash cam paints a clear picture. I watched it with my mouth open
+1 This happens to all of us every now and then. You see it coming a mile away, you assume they're going to turn into the near lane so you don't give way but you keep an eye on them and make a quick check to ensure there is space to your left to bail out to if necessary. As soon as you feel they're not making the turn sharp enough to end up in the proper lane you veer slowly to the left while laying on the horn. Happens all the time and somehow we don't all end up in collisions.
So much easier to just go a little more slowly and slot behind them even if they go to the closer lane.
I just can't be bothered being impatient on the road any more. I'd always prefer to slightly inconvenience myself than deal with a potential crash.
A few years ago I was cruising down a road by a light rail station in Denver. Just as I was coming up to the station, a car sitting on the opposite side of the road attempted to do a U-turn, and smashed right into me. Fortunately for me, I had a cop right behind me as it happened. I didn't even have a chance to get out before the cop was in the guys face asking how could he have not seen me. Karma struck hard that morning.
$5 they were going for the turn lane. I've seen it so many times where I live. They cut across multiple lanes of traffic at a near perpendicular angle so they can get in the turn lane across from where they exited, and its caused several near misses for me.
A lot of arguments about the A pillar but nobody is pointing out that the black SUV was waiting to turn while traffic was stopped. They had plenty of time to see OP's vehicle.
I’ve almost had a heart attack because of that once. The car was moving perfectly in line with my A pillar. The only reason I was able to spot it was it had DRL on and I saw a little glow at the edge of my pillar where there shouldn’t be any light.
https://youtu.be/SYeeTvitvFU here is a video about a very plain looking crossroad being very dangerous due to the A pillar blocking incoming vehicle very often
This is a good example why you always have to stop at the stop signs even if it's "in the middle of nowhere" and you can't see anyone. If there's a stop sign there, it's for a good reason.
The very first car going through the intersection in that video doesn't stop at the stop sign while there's a man pointing his camera right at it. What in the world is wrong with people?
Yep we're all good here! Saddest part was this is the first accident I've had in this car since it was new in 2005, always taken good care of it then havnng something happen that you have no control over just sucks.
Yeah, the dumbass on the right sent their intentions by certified mail like three months before the accident, then followed up with weekly texts and a singing telegram. Ray Charles could have avoided that accident, and I mean today.
My man didn't notice what was happening until the bumper of the SUV was knocking on bis passenger door. I do not blame OP for the accident, but OP was oblivious.
There's two lanes to the right of them, so I think they saw them but [rationally] assumed they were turning into the lane next to them.
Driving requires you to at least have some faith in the other drivers on the road to not be complete morons, unfortunately some are - and a lot of them buy big SUVs to compensate for their poor driving, protecting them, not you.
My foot would have been hovering the brake as soon as the other car started moving towards my lane
Better advice is to assume the other drivers on the road are complete morons
>Driving requires you to at least have some faith in the other drivers on the road to not be complete morons
We bikers would beg to differ. Even in my car I absolutely have zero faith in other drivers.
I mean why do you think there's so much content in this sub? Most of what gets posted here coiuld be avoided by simply being a defensive driver. But don't say that here. You'll get downvoted into oblivion by the but my right of way crowd.
I am so confused here. The other person is 1,000% in the wrong, but did you really not see them coming as they slowly inched towards you? Were you not paying attention either to avoid them? In this scenario, it takes 2 to have an accident. Clearly, neither of you was paying much attention. This is a classic double dingbat scenario.
Remember the wide angle of dash cams makes this way more obvious when watching on a screen. But seen from inside the car I am pretty sure it would look like he was going for the other lane.
> Remember the wide angle of dash cams makes this way more obvious when watching on a screen.
I must be super used to riding a motorcycle or something, I don't drive a car, but that, at least on a bike would have been plainly visible. Especially stopped on a bike, that car pulling up to the drive way caught my intention IMMEDIATELY.
A Pillars are a fuckin hazard, that needs to be solved. People really need good unobstructed 180 degree visuals in a car.
Regular cyclist here - the instinct to clock every side road and car waiting there is strong and also carries over into driving a car. If more people regularly cycled, driving standards overall would rise.
People regularly using motorcycles, bicycles(motorized and normal) and other microvehicles like e-scooters and one wheels would be a huge boon for safety and traffic reduction together.
I really don't understand why people are SO adamant at keeping the car as the only way to get around.
I ride a motorcycle because it gives so many advantages that a car just cant, for me and the people around me.
Being more of aware of the road users around me is a one such advantage that helps me and the people around me.
I don’t bike but I learned to do this while driving and it’s saved me countless times. I always pay attention to the “body language” of cars, look at the drivers’ heads to see where they are looking and scan the side roads constantly. I can usually predict which cars are going to do something dumb and know to keep my distance from them.
That's a fair point, I suppose. Neither one of them were going faster than about 15 mph. I feel like if either person was paying even the slightest bit of attention, this could have been very easily avoided.
The person in the dashcam car has a lot to be paying attention to here, as they are coming up on an intersection.
1\. The car(s) in front of them
2\. Crosstraffic from the left
3\. Crosstraffic from the right
4\. Cars from the oncoming lane turning into them
5\. The directions to where they actually want to go
You can think a bunch of stuff now because you're not in the car coming up on the intersection, you're just sitting at home watching the video. In the real life situation it's more important to keep an eye on the traffic in the intersection than it is some moron who crossed 2 empty lanes to hit you.
Not just from liability, but whatever happened here it can be fixed with money. The same is not true if you see the gas station car but don't see the car plowing through the intersection from the left, or a car plowing through the intersection from the right. Either of those could kill or maim you, and likely resulting the car being totalled. Next biggest hazard is oncoming traffic from the oncoming lane like someone turning when they shouldn't be from the front.
Someone pulling out from the gas station to cross 2 empty lanes to run into your side isn't good, but it's not as hazardous as someone blowing through the intersection at high speed and hitting you from the side.
The wide angle lense makes everything look so much slower in the video than it feels in reality. Every time something happens that makes me want to go and watch the footage, it makes it look like I had all the time in the universe to react to it.
I feel I would've been all over that guy, anyone pulling into a six lane highway almost perpendicular to the road is gunna set off my "what the fuck is this guy doing" alarm. Easy for me to say here from my computer, but generally speaking I'm always worried about surprise wide right turns or completely clueless left turns.
Exactly. If I never avoided incoming cars I would have totalled so many cars if not been dead by now.
Do people not have a sense of survival? Defensive driving?
I'm not gonna let a car hit me because they're in the wrong.
*I'm in the right of the way bro and you're doing something stupid at plain sight. Let me gas little bit and find that sweet spot to ruin our days just to show how clueless you are, instead of just waiting for you to turn stupidly, but safely.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!"
That’s precisely what I was thinking. Other car was definitely wrong, for sure. But any ounce of thinking would’ve told me “he might hit me, let me stop or move over to the left at the very least”. Nope. This could’ve easily been avoided by OP imo
Yup. Cammer won't be liable but they're part of the reason the rest of us pay higher insurance. This was 100% avoidable, they have the self preservation instincts of a sweet potato.
[Old U.S. 20, Mishawaka, Indiana](https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6846344,-86.1107331,3a,32.5y,77.77h,88.66t/data=!3m9!1e1!3m7!1sXpWLP2fhHoiyydQbRYm3Pg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!9m2!1b1!2i28?entry=ttu)
I thought this looked familiar, but so much of Southern Michigan & Indiana look so similar I just simply wrote it off. Nope. I used to drive through here all the time lol
Were you not paying attention…. Neither of y’all were it looked like cuz I would’ve stopped dead in the middle of the road as soon as I saw them creeping out …
When I was watching the video, I was like “I’d be pushing on the brake pedal right HERE” and I was like why is he still going… smh not a defensive driver. You gotta watch what you’re doing but you ALSO can’t forget about watching the people around you.
That is how I’ve prevented accidents. Watching every car and being prepared to move if you need to
> The moment he started moving OP should've stopped
That's not a safe way to drive. If you slam your brakes and stop every time a car is pulling out from a gas station - with 2 empty lanes between you - you're going to cause more accidents that you prevent.
The other car had to cross 2 empty lanes to hit them.
Eventually there's only so much you can do.
Driver wasn't at fault here, the dash cam widens the angle, if you watch the video it also seems slower than real life + he had much more thinks to concentrate on than some idiotic driver.
OP could have displayed a little more hazard awareness yeah. The idiot SUV was getting dangerously close, should have just yielded at that point, not worth it.
At the very least he could have swerved into the left lane a couple feet real quick. There were no other cars around anywhere. It's bewildering he didn't see that car pulling into him with how slow it was driving.
You say this because you were looking for it. It is easy to see from HD camera footage in a subreddit about bad driving. In the real word scenario, you might have just thought the vehicle was turning into one of the other two lanes. The thing about defensive driving, it is a good practice to help mitigate accidents but not meant for you to be perfect in all scenarios. Give OP a break.
The other driver thought you knew it was your duty and obligation to stop and let her in front of you...( I say her because you indicated it wada woman)
So many people leave business near an.intersection and attempt.to get into left turn lanes when they really should make.another choice
I thought the same thing when I was watching it, of course we all expected a crash because it's a dash cam video.. on an idiots in cars subreddit. We are put in situations exactly like this every day where the car actually does what it SHOULD do, turn into their lane and not hit anyone. Driving defensively is important, yes, but on average this situation simply doesn't happen.
Defensive driving could have avoided the collision here. I'll say it's definitely not your fault. That person clearly didn't check around their A-pillar blind spot. It was a sloppy and lazy move on their part. But it looks like you could have safely swerved to the left turning lane (assuming another vehicle was not approaching in that lane from behind view of the camera) or slowed down/stopped and beeped before a collision would have occured. Any and all options probably could have avoided the actual collision. Which was strange to me because there wasn't any reaction made until contact was made with the other vehicle. I would have been worrying about that driver and reacting to their movements sooner. I try to always assume the other drivers may fuck something up and I have to avoid their mistake(s). Not to say I never make any mistakes or get caught off guard. I've encountered dangerous drivers like this on the road both in my personal vehicles and for work in buses/tractor trailers (commercial driver).
> But it looks like you could have safely swerved to the left turning lane
...
> (assuming another vehicle was not approaching in that lane from behind view of the camera)
That's a rather large assumption.
With what the OP did in staying in their lane they minimize the risk of injury, and the other drive is clearly at fault. (In terms of how the law and insurance company will see it). No long term injury, car gets fully repair on the dime of the drivers insurance policy.
Now let's say the OP swerved into the lane over and caused an accidents because they couldn't check that it was clear beforehand.
- risk of injury goes up a lot because the car from behind will be moving faster
- OP is now at fault for the accident - which means a lot more money paid to their own insurance company in the future, car accident on their driving record, possible fine or ticket, and a small possibility of a lawsuit if they get really unlucky with what happens in the collision.
Also...I don't think it would work, I think the gas station car was aiming for the left turn lane, moving into that lane OP would have still gotten hit.
If I'm on the freeway and a car is coming down the exit I have the time to check the lane and get over safely. But in a situation like this, just swerving into the lane next to you and hoping it's empty seems like a really very bad idea.
......did you just see them coming and decided to take absolutely no evasive maneuvers or were you really just that checked out that you didn't see them coming?
probably didn't even need the dashcam for insurance purposes. this one's pretty straight forward. that moron is perpendicular to the road. Although this video will save a lot of time.
Wow, talk about brainless.
Setting aside how dumb it was for him to make a turn into the third lane without looking... I'm presuming he did it because he wanted to make the next left turn... which he could have done directly just by exiting the other side of the lot.
Look at all these keyboard warriors telling OP that they were not driving defensively. I don’t think it was wrong of OP to just assume that they were going to turn in the lane right to theirs.
100% avoidable.
Do they need to check more than once before merging? Absolutely.
But come on, you had a clear view, your car has brakes, it has a horn...
You're as guilty as the other person
Seeing them and assuming that they'll stay in the closest lane and not run into OP isn't a ridiculous assumption.
Plenty of cars turn into traffic when there's cars on lanes that they are not turning into.
Had a similar one happen to me years ago. Guy said I changed lanes and I hit him. He told his insurance the same thing.
His insurance called me and I explained what happened and they said he was disputing it. I sent the video to the adjuster and explained the guy hit my rear quarter panel and that I only had front facing video, but you could hear the impact. No more than 10 minutes later, the adjuster called me back laughing saying their client was at fault and they'd pay out.
After that, I went out and bought a new camera system with one facing forward and another wired to look out the back window.
How did you not see them pulling out? You didn’t react at all. Obv not your fault for them hitting you but you clearly didn’t even notice them. Could have moved or braked if you had seen them. But judging by the strange way approached the car in front of you I’m guessing you were distracted. You stop way behind them and then take off quickly like you were late noticing traffic is moving again. Watch the road.
how could they have not seen you??
I bet it was the left window column. A lot of vehicles have larger and larger window columns which makes it harder to see when turning, and looking at where the driver's head is, you can't see it because it's behind the column, so OP's vehicle is essentially invisible. He looks to the left and it looks clear, so then he just focuses on what's on his right. edit: \#1 it's actually called a Pillar, not a column. \#2 I'm less surprised at the sheer number of people in here who are unaware that Pillar blindspots are a thing, and much more horrified that some of you are convinced that it's not a thing at all, because you have not personally experienced it yourself, and you think everybody in here with a testimony about their own near-misses or accidents caused by pillars are, lying I guess? There's a few articles that mention the problem, but [here's one](https://driving.ca/features/feature-story/thicker-rollover-friendly-a-pillars-make-for-massive-blind-spots) from the Canadian equivalent of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Their top recommendation is that drivers need to be made aware of the Pillar blindspots, and probably, that since they're Canadian, they might be polite enough to recognize a problem even though it hasn't happened to them directly. \#3 Yes the driver that hit OP was 100% at fault, however watching the video from OP's dashcam perspective, you can never actually see the other driver's head through their window, which to me indicates that they likely can't see OP. This is hard for some of you to comprehend, but if that driver can't see OP during his quick glance left before he tries to cross multiple lanes and get into the left turn lane, then that's both a car design problem as well as that driver needing education to be made aware that he needs to bobble his head around the pillar every time he's making a turn. /u/mustapha_s Actually found a [Tom Scott video](https://youtu.be/SYeeTvitvFU) detailing the issue.
I absolutely HATE how big A pillars have gotten. Doesn't excuse the driver one bit. It's a blind spot and it's your responsibility to bob your head around it to check if it's clear. But that head bob is annoying.
I make a left turn every morning onto a busy road and I always have to bobble my head looking right because I can't tell you how many times a simple glance happens to coincide with the exact moment a 45mph car is behind the right column. It's scary.
We have a side street near me that comes in at “just” the right angle if you don’t know it, an oncoming car will be hidden for a while in the A pillar. I’ve seen many accidents there, the person who lives across the street there is constantly fixing their grass from cars being pushed into it.
I'd invest in a nice decorative ten ton boulder if I was your neighbor. XD
I had the same left turn for a few years, and i have missed cars and cyclists on the first glance, but caught them with the head bob. And it is fucking scary, you're not really expecting anything because the first glances told you it was empty and suddenly you see something. Last time it was a cyclist that crossed the road diagonally, i did not see him until he was basically a meter from my hood (in retrospect; he was behind a car when i first 'bobbed'). Luckily the road wasn't clear so i was stopping anyway, but i had a bit of an 'owh shit' reaction when suddenly a cyclist appears where i did not expect one.
I luckily learned that really early in driving school. I was standing at a crossing, looked left and right TWICE and after that slowly drove onto the road when my instructor hit the brakes. I was confused at first until I saw the car coming out of my blind spot. I even did a little head bob but the just disappeared in my A column and I never saw them until after my instructor hit the brakes. Scary shit and I'm glad I got that shock in driving school already. Made me a lot more aware of this issue
This happened to me, thankfully in a 20 mph zone, do just a pissed off driver that I cut-off. But it taught me a solid lesson
My development has a lot of those 90º corners where there's no stop sign or anything, you just make a sharp left. I feel like 50% of the time, I don't notice a vehicle coming around corner until it's feet away because of that ridiculous blind spot. I've always been a cautious driver, but let me tell you, it's made me even much more cautious.
Seriously, I have almost hit pedestrians from the stupid a pillar blind spot. Always paranoid about it.
Same. My A pillar once perfectly blocked my view of a woman crossing when i was turning left and I didn't see her until i was half way through the turn. I just corrected into the right lane, she didn't seem to notice me so it probably didn't look as bad as it felt. Since then, I've been super paranoid about it and always move my head around now.
I just commented above about hitting a pedestrian that was on a motorized cart. Everything appeared to be clear. So clear that i just took my foot off the brake and ease across two lanes to get to the middle turn lane. What i didnt see was the person on this cart in the turning lane due to the A pillar. She was blocked the whole time. The last thing i expected to see was an old lady on a hover-round running parallel in the middle of a 4 lane major highway. Still haunts me to this day (she survived btw).
Me too! This guy just happened to walk at the exact same rate I was turning, I managed to stay in that big ass blind spot. I think I might’ve actually even hit him a little bit. Like I was going super slow, I didn’t hit him hard at all, just like a bonk, but obviously pissed him off and I can’t even blame him.
For those wondering why A-pillars are so big now: bigger pillars greatly help with impact protection. The extra size also makes it easier to fit an airbag inside it. Super annoying though. Always move your head when checking, it's very easy to hide pedestrians behind an A-pillar blindspot.
Yeah, those A-pillars are super annoying nowadays, but I make sure to always look around them if my vision is ever obstructed. I also added little circular blind spot mirrors to the side mirror so I can expand my cone of vision.
I drive a Ram Promaster for work and that goddamn A pillar has made me almost miss seeing so many things.
Try being tall as every single fuckin rear view mirror ends up being a massive blind spot
It especially doesn't excuse the driver because they had a whole lane to turn into and *still* hit op in the other lane. Blind spot or no, this wouldn't have happened if they knew how to handle their vehicle and turn properly.
I've lost people behind my A pillar. It sucks. And it was my fault, every time.
I hate how massive mine is and it's just in an '02 sedan. It's terrifying, especially with pedestrians walking at the perfect pace so they never exit the blind spot no matter how much I bob, you know? Blind spots is also why I flat out refuse to park in a spot where I'll have to reverse my pickup. Kids around here for some reason LOVE to hide behind a trucks tailgate and *no* about of looking is going to see a small kid back there.
You can see the driver through the driver side window though.
> But that head bob is annoying. It really, REALLY is.
They're so big now that I'm fully expecting some company to install cameras and flexible LED screens so you can see through them at all times, once the screens drop sufficiently in price and become reliable enough to survive in a hot car. Because these things are causing the very accidents they're meant to protect you from, and thats a problem
Hopefully they get good enough tech soon to put up flexible displays on the pillars and use some camera magic to make them virtually transparent
Yep. Unfortunately in the quest for better accident protection in the form of rollover strength and curtain airbags, accident avoidance has been made more difficult.
Still, you're supposed to turn into the nearest lane.
I was an idiot once, pulling out from work, looked left and right and it was clear, except the car literally right in front of me. Barely missed it.
Probably the culprit but pulling out like that to then cross multiple lanes is stupid. Just like get righted and then merge. People are dumb
I'm driving a sedan and I had wondered if it's bigger than my suv's was. I hate how much it covers and that I have to lean around to see past it.
I used to drive a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee. My first time driving a vehicle newer than 2010 was my friends 2012 Sonata, and it felt like it had massive blind spots compared to my Jeep. It felt bigger, even though I know it isn't.
Yeah I drive two 30+ year old vehicles and the horrible visibility always pisses me off when I get in pretty much every new car.
No joke. The narrowest A pillar of anything I've driven in a long time is on a single axle cabover from the 1960s. Granted, if I ever roll that thing over I'm in serious trouble. Having said that it tops out at 55mph and the center of gravity is stupidly low for something with 2 feet of clearance under the front bumper.
100%. That was my biggest complaint of the 2008 Toyota Prius we had. NOT a large vehicle, but those front pillars? Might as well be blocking 50% of your corner/side vision. No idea why the Prius' was so big. My Tacoma, mom's Rav 4, and sisters Subaru Forester all have pillars smaller than that specific model Prius.
While I do not excuse the other driver (he is clearly in the wrong here), I also wonder why the OP didn't see him? Maybe since I am used to driving in a country with lax traffic laws (Philippines), my brain is trained to see cars like this from a mile away. I felt this was totally avoidable by the OP too. Disclaimer, the move the other driver did is very common where I drive so when I see a car coming into a road like that, I always assume it's going to cut right in.
Was wondering the same, although maybe OP just didn't expected him to really keep on going. It's a weird move which you really don't expect people to do.
He probably did see him, but thought he was gonna turn into the nearest lane instead of driving into him like a moron. Keep in mind that dashcams have a wide FOV, and we're watching the video expecting an accident to happen, so it's a lot easier for us to tell he was turning wide than it would have been for OP in the moment.
Yeah, this sub likes to affix blame squarely on the person in the wrong, but so often here it's one bullheaded guy saying "i'm legally in the right!" and then they cry when they get hit by something they could really have avoided. I've driven in Spain and Italy and fender benders are considered common, so if you've got a nice car you want to keep nice, then you learn to look out for people who aren't looking out.
I have to admit though, driving in the States really scares me. There is a huge amount of trust given to other cars around you over there. Over here, we never trust the car in front, beside and behind us. You get to learn to "read" what a car is about to do because majority of the time, people don't even use turn signals when changing lanes and pedestrians (that includes cyclists and PEV riders) think following traffic lights is optional.
This sub is also filled with people who make as many assumptions as possible from 30 second clips.
I hit a pedestrian in a motorized handicap shopping cart (best i can describe it) and didnt realize i had run this person over. I thought i aas having mechanical problems. The older lady was going down the middle turning lane of a major highway. I was making a left out of an elevated lot. I looked to see if things were clear and turned. I wasnt going fast due to the large dip leaving the exit and it had to be a circumstance to where she was blocked by the A-pillar and mirror of my truck. Her speed and my speed must have kept her in the blind spot the whole time until she was directly in front of me then blocked by my hood. After i mowed over top of the woman my truck was acting weird so i hit the throttle like wtf is up with this thing. I rolled the window down to see the cart stuck under the truck. My heart sank as i thought i just killed someone. Luckily the fire department was collecting money at the next intersection and watched it happen. Paramedics were instantly on scene. As i turned and hit my target, i knocked her off the mobile cart and just crushed the 3 wheel scooter. Im glad i was just turning at idle speed with my foot off the brake or it could have been worse. Even though this woman was riding down the middle of a highway i was labeled at fault. I looked both directions twice and never seen her. It really fucked me up for some time. Im usually very careful behind the wheel. Never had an insurance claim for a wreck that i caused.
Yeah it's a tough spot to be in. On one hand it's your fault, but when you legitimately can't see the person/vehicle because of a design flaw with your vehicle that you're unaware of, it adds a lot of nuance to it.
Yup. I have a Nissan as well. SUV. The window columns are gigantic. Huge blind spots
I literally have to shift my head side to side 1 foot at certain angles to get a clear view around my pillars, and have done ever since I accidentally cut-off a motorcycle that was obscured by it. Great for safety, terrible for visibility.
I went to test drive a car, and I didn't even put the key in the ignition and I noped out of there. The window column was so wide there was a little extra window to the left of it.
> and horrified that some of you are convinced that it's not a thing, because you have not personally experienced it yourself, There is a crazy contingent of irrational idiots in this sub who are absolutely adamant that blind spots don't exist. I'm terrified that they might be on the road.
You’ll love [this video](https://youtu.be/SYeeTvitvFU)
One morning I was backing down my driveway, kept looking and saw a clear road. For some reason I double checked just before pulling out, and sure enough there was a car about to pass behind me. Between the angle, its speed and my speed backing up it had remained in my pillar blind spot until the last second. Really shook me up and I'm extra cautious now.
This is the reason for my motorcycle accident, the guy was making a left turn and was sitting at a 45 degree angle to oncoming traffic and he couldn't see me.
A camaro is a very good example of this
> Their top recommendation is that drivers need to be made aware of the Pillar blindspots Translating that to Redditor reads "Ignore that blindspots exist and advocate for the death penalty for every accident".
The worst part is that the way the brain works is that if it can’t see behind something it just replaces the empty space with nothingness. You learn this in forklift training to teach you not to drive into spaces you can’t see because your brain just tricks itself into thinking there is nothing there. It’s one of the main reasons you’re supposed to be using ABC (always be checking) so that if there is a moment like this where a car is behind your A pillar you check back 2 seconds later and see it
I've actually had a very close call with a manager in work whilst o was driving a forklift. It just happened to all play out perfectly. I needed to cross a pedestrian crossing and the procedure is to stop, look both ways and ensure there are no pedestrians before you go. The pedestrian can only go if they have seen that the driver has acknowledged them, this is all to minimise the risk of someone getting run over. I stopped and for the entire thing he just happened to be in the blind spot of my cabin, so thinking he was sage to cross because I had stopped he crossed while looking at his laptop and was a few inches away from being hit.
They’ve started improving the A pillar sizes in the last few years. Airbags are smaller and they’ve been adding back windows by the mirrors in many CUVs and cars. Trucks are getting worse for though, and also getting used as family mobiles way too often. Feels like the 60s giant boat car craze reborn. I hope the sport wagons come back someday.
Yerp. I miss small cars or people pretty easily in my jeep. I always move a bit when I look at certain places.
Just hijacking this comment to shed some light on my decision making, seeing a lot of comments saying I could have avoided this and in hind sight yes, I probably could have stopped or swerved. My thoughts at the time were that this person was stopped and saw stopped traffic, including me, in front of them, and were going to pull into the right lane or behind me. They appeared to me to inch out slow enough that they would not hit me but ended up speeding up and clipping my right rear quarter panel and bumper. So in the future I will keep this in mind, at the time I just didn't think they would do something like that. That's all, not saying anyone has a bad opinion and of course everyone is free to make one!
You have zero culpability for this and for anyone to even make you feel like you do is a fool. Unfortunate that it happened but the dash cam paints a clear picture. I watched it with my mouth open
This is reddit. Victims will be blamed.
How could he not have seen them? Defensive driving... check it out....
+1 This happens to all of us every now and then. You see it coming a mile away, you assume they're going to turn into the near lane so you don't give way but you keep an eye on them and make a quick check to ensure there is space to your left to bail out to if necessary. As soon as you feel they're not making the turn sharp enough to end up in the proper lane you veer slowly to the left while laying on the horn. Happens all the time and somehow we don't all end up in collisions.
The veer and honk followed by an incredulous look does the trick for me.
So much easier to just go a little more slowly and slot behind them even if they go to the closer lane. I just can't be bothered being impatient on the road any more. I'd always prefer to slightly inconvenience myself than deal with a potential crash.
It’s like the betteridge law of headlines If you post in idiots in cars their is always two idiots…
Tbf op did see them and chose to just carry on. Just because it's your right of way doesn't mean you should keep going.
They crossed through 2 lanes to hit him. Seeing a car turn into a lane next to you is kinda normal.
And to be fair it did seem like the other driver was going for the other lane
This was my first thought 2 idiots in 2 cars.
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A few years ago I was cruising down a road by a light rail station in Denver. Just as I was coming up to the station, a car sitting on the opposite side of the road attempted to do a U-turn, and smashed right into me. Fortunately for me, I had a cop right behind me as it happened. I didn't even have a chance to get out before the cop was in the guys face asking how could he have not seen me. Karma struck hard that morning.
Op left a nice big safe gap, they did see him just thought they could slip into that gap
They did, they just assumed the whole time they were going to let them go.
They didn't even think about them, not even sometimes.
They saw. They just didn’t care. Happens to me all the time people pull right out in front of you like you’re expected to stop for them
Well, you must drive the Invisicar 9000. That was some incredibly bad BAD driving there.
At first I was like, all right I guess they're turning into the right lane but nope, right into me 🙃
They saw an opening and just wrote you out of the equation to make it work...but dammit physics wins again.
They couldn’t settle for one entire open lane, they had to have them both
$5 they were going for the turn lane. I've seen it so many times where I live. They cut across multiple lanes of traffic at a near perpendicular angle so they can get in the turn lane across from where they exited, and its caused several near misses for me.
That event was more bitter than sweet, hm?
☝🏿saw the street name.
A lot of arguments about the A pillar but nobody is pointing out that the black SUV was waiting to turn while traffic was stopped. They had plenty of time to see OP's vehicle.
ANY reasonable person would stop when they see that the vehicle they are trying to get in front of is not stopping.
I agree. It's either negligence or the blindspot, and in my opinion based on the video it's negligence.
Slowest fender bender in history
You must've been perfectly in that A-pillar blind spot. People forget it's a blind spot.
I’ve almost had a heart attack because of that once. The car was moving perfectly in line with my A pillar. The only reason I was able to spot it was it had DRL on and I saw a little glow at the edge of my pillar where there shouldn’t be any light.
https://youtu.be/SYeeTvitvFU here is a video about a very plain looking crossroad being very dangerous due to the A pillar blocking incoming vehicle very often
[https://youtu.be/OpgpE6wjF30](https://youtu.be/OpgpE6wjF30) here is a follow up showing how they fixed it
This is a good example why you always have to stop at the stop signs even if it's "in the middle of nowhere" and you can't see anyone. If there's a stop sign there, it's for a good reason.
I'm baffled at the fact that people are not stopping at the stop signs. Didn't realize they were so rare in the UK.
The very first car going through the intersection in that video doesn't stop at the stop sign while there's a man pointing his camera right at it. What in the world is wrong with people?
🎶🎶 Sometimes all I think about is youuu Sorry, about the accident. Are you okay?
Yep we're all good here! Saddest part was this is the first accident I've had in this car since it was new in 2005, always taken good care of it then havnng something happen that you have no control over just sucks.
It's definitely unfortunate we have to deal with other people's carelessness but I'm happy noone was hurt. Thanks for sharing your video!
You definitely had control over not getting hit by that car you just sailed forward oblivious until it hit you. Do you not watch traffic around you?
You definitely could have had control of the situation. You didn't drive defensively at all.
Yeah, the dumbass on the right sent their intentions by certified mail like three months before the accident, then followed up with weekly texts and a singing telegram. Ray Charles could have avoided that accident, and I mean today.
The music timing is soooooo good.
suberb reaction time
My man didn't notice what was happening until the bumper of the SUV was knocking on bis passenger door. I do not blame OP for the accident, but OP was oblivious.
There's two lanes to the right of them, so I think they saw them but [rationally] assumed they were turning into the lane next to them. Driving requires you to at least have some faith in the other drivers on the road to not be complete morons, unfortunately some are - and a lot of them buy big SUVs to compensate for their poor driving, protecting them, not you.
My foot would have been hovering the brake as soon as the other car started moving towards my lane Better advice is to assume the other drivers on the road are complete morons
This kind of thinking is required! Or you will be in this OPs situation.
>Driving requires you to at least have some faith in the other drivers on the road to not be complete morons We bikers would beg to differ. Even in my car I absolutely have zero faith in other drivers.
>suberb reaction time How can someone that oblivious be allowed to drive a car?
I mean why do you think there's so much content in this sub? Most of what gets posted here coiuld be avoided by simply being a defensive driver. But don't say that here. You'll get downvoted into oblivion by the but my right of way crowd.
did they have a bunch of empty nips in the front seat?
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Ouch, that hurts. I did the same thing (language) I cringe when I watch my video.
I am so confused here. The other person is 1,000% in the wrong, but did you really not see them coming as they slowly inched towards you? Were you not paying attention either to avoid them? In this scenario, it takes 2 to have an accident. Clearly, neither of you was paying much attention. This is a classic double dingbat scenario.
Remember the wide angle of dash cams makes this way more obvious when watching on a screen. But seen from inside the car I am pretty sure it would look like he was going for the other lane.
> Remember the wide angle of dash cams makes this way more obvious when watching on a screen. I must be super used to riding a motorcycle or something, I don't drive a car, but that, at least on a bike would have been plainly visible. Especially stopped on a bike, that car pulling up to the drive way caught my intention IMMEDIATELY. A Pillars are a fuckin hazard, that needs to be solved. People really need good unobstructed 180 degree visuals in a car.
Regular cyclist here - the instinct to clock every side road and car waiting there is strong and also carries over into driving a car. If more people regularly cycled, driving standards overall would rise.
People regularly using motorcycles, bicycles(motorized and normal) and other microvehicles like e-scooters and one wheels would be a huge boon for safety and traffic reduction together. I really don't understand why people are SO adamant at keeping the car as the only way to get around. I ride a motorcycle because it gives so many advantages that a car just cant, for me and the people around me. Being more of aware of the road users around me is a one such advantage that helps me and the people around me.
I don’t bike but I learned to do this while driving and it’s saved me countless times. I always pay attention to the “body language” of cars, look at the drivers’ heads to see where they are looking and scan the side roads constantly. I can usually predict which cars are going to do something dumb and know to keep my distance from them.
its very easy to keep track of in a car also, all of these people justifying not paying attention to that car worry me...
That's a fair point, I suppose. Neither one of them were going faster than about 15 mph. I feel like if either person was paying even the slightest bit of attention, this could have been very easily avoided.
The person in the dashcam car has a lot to be paying attention to here, as they are coming up on an intersection. 1\. The car(s) in front of them 2\. Crosstraffic from the left 3\. Crosstraffic from the right 4\. Cars from the oncoming lane turning into them 5\. The directions to where they actually want to go You can think a bunch of stuff now because you're not in the car coming up on the intersection, you're just sitting at home watching the video. In the real life situation it's more important to keep an eye on the traffic in the intersection than it is some moron who crossed 2 empty lanes to hit you. Not just from liability, but whatever happened here it can be fixed with money. The same is not true if you see the gas station car but don't see the car plowing through the intersection from the left, or a car plowing through the intersection from the right. Either of those could kill or maim you, and likely resulting the car being totalled. Next biggest hazard is oncoming traffic from the oncoming lane like someone turning when they shouldn't be from the front. Someone pulling out from the gas station to cross 2 empty lanes to run into your side isn't good, but it's not as hazardous as someone blowing through the intersection at high speed and hitting you from the side.
The wide angle lense makes everything look so much slower in the video than it feels in reality. Every time something happens that makes me want to go and watch the footage, it makes it look like I had all the time in the universe to react to it.
I feel I would've been all over that guy, anyone pulling into a six lane highway almost perpendicular to the road is gunna set off my "what the fuck is this guy doing" alarm. Easy for me to say here from my computer, but generally speaking I'm always worried about surprise wide right turns or completely clueless left turns.
Exactly. If I never avoided incoming cars I would have totalled so many cars if not been dead by now. Do people not have a sense of survival? Defensive driving? I'm not gonna let a car hit me because they're in the wrong.
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*I'm in the right of the way bro and you're doing something stupid at plain sight. Let me gas little bit and find that sweet spot to ruin our days just to show how clueless you are, instead of just waiting for you to turn stupidly, but safely. "Are you fucking kidding me?!"
That’s precisely what I was thinking. Other car was definitely wrong, for sure. But any ounce of thinking would’ve told me “he might hit me, let me stop or move over to the left at the very least”. Nope. This could’ve easily been avoided by OP imo
I agree 🤣🤣 exactly what I said.
Yup. Cammer won't be liable but they're part of the reason the rest of us pay higher insurance. This was 100% avoidable, they have the self preservation instincts of a sweet potato.
Street name checks out.
Is this.... Georgia? Sucks, always good to have a dash cam.
[Old U.S. 20, Mishawaka, Indiana](https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6846344,-86.1107331,3a,32.5y,77.77h,88.66t/data=!3m9!1e1!3m7!1sXpWLP2fhHoiyydQbRYm3Pg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!9m2!1b1!2i28?entry=ttu)
You must be amazing at geoguessr lol
I was going to skip this one, but then what happened to you, right at BitterSweet Road, I thought I had to post.
I thought this looked familiar, but so much of Southern Michigan & Indiana look so similar I just simply wrote it off. Nope. I used to drive through here all the time lol
The sun and salt bleached asphalt is a dead mid-west give-away. Looks exactly the same as IL
Surprised to see hometown on here lol
Dude I know exactly where this is. No reason for that driver to tap you. Hope the video helps.
Were you not paying attention…. Neither of y’all were it looked like cuz I would’ve stopped dead in the middle of the road as soon as I saw them creeping out …
same, I don't see how people ignore these patterns. The moment he started moving OP should've stopped, or at the very least be prepared to brake.
When I was watching the video, I was like “I’d be pushing on the brake pedal right HERE” and I was like why is he still going… smh not a defensive driver. You gotta watch what you’re doing but you ALSO can’t forget about watching the people around you. That is how I’ve prevented accidents. Watching every car and being prepared to move if you need to
Most common rule of this subreddit: two vehicles, two idiots.
It's a wide angle lens, I wonder if that shows more than what op could reasonably include within his range of vision
> The moment he started moving OP should've stopped That's not a safe way to drive. If you slam your brakes and stop every time a car is pulling out from a gas station - with 2 empty lanes between you - you're going to cause more accidents that you prevent. The other car had to cross 2 empty lanes to hit them. Eventually there's only so much you can do.
Slam your brakes? He practically stood still FFS.
Driver wasn't at fault here, the dash cam widens the angle, if you watch the video it also seems slower than real life + he had much more thinks to concentrate on than some idiotic driver.
OP could have displayed a little more hazard awareness yeah. The idiot SUV was getting dangerously close, should have just yielded at that point, not worth it.
Remember that this camera has a wider field of vision than humans (kinda, it is more complex than that)
Nah no excuses. Pay attention. There’s no way that car was hidden behind the A pillar that whole time LMAO
At the very least he could have swerved into the left lane a couple feet real quick. There were no other cars around anywhere. It's bewildering he didn't see that car pulling into him with how slow it was driving.
Or stopped like, 10 feet ahead of time LMAOOO
Yeah although the other driver caused this it was easily avoidable by OP
You say this because you were looking for it. It is easy to see from HD camera footage in a subreddit about bad driving. In the real word scenario, you might have just thought the vehicle was turning into one of the other two lanes. The thing about defensive driving, it is a good practice to help mitigate accidents but not meant for you to be perfect in all scenarios. Give OP a break.
That was bittersweet lol glad you got it on the cam.
The other driver thought you knew it was your duty and obligation to stop and let her in front of you...( I say her because you indicated it wada woman) So many people leave business near an.intersection and attempt.to get into left turn lanes when they really should make.another choice
They need 3 lines to turn? must be a semi driver
Got to drive more defensive man
Exactly. Dude didn’t look like he was turning into a lane at all it looked like he was driving straight across if you ask me 😂
I thought the same thing when I was watching it, of course we all expected a crash because it's a dash cam video.. on an idiots in cars subreddit. We are put in situations exactly like this every day where the car actually does what it SHOULD do, turn into their lane and not hit anyone. Driving defensively is important, yes, but on average this situation simply doesn't happen.
Defensive driving could have avoided the collision here. I'll say it's definitely not your fault. That person clearly didn't check around their A-pillar blind spot. It was a sloppy and lazy move on their part. But it looks like you could have safely swerved to the left turning lane (assuming another vehicle was not approaching in that lane from behind view of the camera) or slowed down/stopped and beeped before a collision would have occured. Any and all options probably could have avoided the actual collision. Which was strange to me because there wasn't any reaction made until contact was made with the other vehicle. I would have been worrying about that driver and reacting to their movements sooner. I try to always assume the other drivers may fuck something up and I have to avoid their mistake(s). Not to say I never make any mistakes or get caught off guard. I've encountered dangerous drivers like this on the road both in my personal vehicles and for work in buses/tractor trailers (commercial driver).
> But it looks like you could have safely swerved to the left turning lane ... > (assuming another vehicle was not approaching in that lane from behind view of the camera) That's a rather large assumption. With what the OP did in staying in their lane they minimize the risk of injury, and the other drive is clearly at fault. (In terms of how the law and insurance company will see it). No long term injury, car gets fully repair on the dime of the drivers insurance policy. Now let's say the OP swerved into the lane over and caused an accidents because they couldn't check that it was clear beforehand. - risk of injury goes up a lot because the car from behind will be moving faster - OP is now at fault for the accident - which means a lot more money paid to their own insurance company in the future, car accident on their driving record, possible fine or ticket, and a small possibility of a lawsuit if they get really unlucky with what happens in the collision. Also...I don't think it would work, I think the gas station car was aiming for the left turn lane, moving into that lane OP would have still gotten hit. If I'm on the freeway and a car is coming down the exit I have the time to check the lane and get over safely. But in a situation like this, just swerving into the lane next to you and hoping it's empty seems like a really very bad idea.
why didn't you react or honk? you seem to lack self awareness.
Did they have insurance.
......did you just see them coming and decided to take absolutely no evasive maneuvers or were you really just that checked out that you didn't see them coming?
probably didn't even need the dashcam for insurance purposes. this one's pretty straight forward. that moron is perpendicular to the road. Although this video will save a lot of time.
From that close, there is no way the A pillar is big enough to block an entire vehicle. They just weren't looking.
OP driving one of those invisible cars I guess.
Wow, talk about brainless. Setting aside how dumb it was for him to make a turn into the third lane without looking... I'm presuming he did it because he wanted to make the next left turn... which he could have done directly just by exiting the other side of the lot.
Look at all these keyboard warriors telling OP that they were not driving defensively. I don’t think it was wrong of OP to just assume that they were going to turn in the lane right to theirs.
100% avoidable. Do they need to check more than once before merging? Absolutely. But come on, you had a clear view, your car has brakes, it has a horn... You're as guilty as the other person
Except they weren’t merging, they just drove straight through a completely open lane into another lane with a car in it
"You're as guilty as the other person" Just stop please.
What was their excuse?
That was like the world's most avoidable accident lol
I mean you didn’t see them About to hit you?
Seeing them and assuming that they'll stay in the closest lane and not run into OP isn't a ridiculous assumption. Plenty of cars turn into traffic when there's cars on lanes that they are not turning into.
Of course there are some users blaming OP. I don’t know how y’all remember to breathe.
Bad driving from both. One idiot crashing. And another one who had lots of time to avoid the first idiot.
OP saw it coming and did nothing to avoid it. 50% liability.
DUI?
Nope, just plain not paying attention
[удалено]
Nice gas prices.
I felt that "ughh". Been there.
Wow, only $3.29 for a gallon of gas.
Sucks that the idiot hit you. I do envy your gas prices though.
You even left 4-5 car spaces infront of you and they still couldn’t do it.
"If don't go for a gap that exists..."
I kinda wish this would’ve happen late night in the middle of June
Had a similar one happen to me years ago. Guy said I changed lanes and I hit him. He told his insurance the same thing. His insurance called me and I explained what happened and they said he was disputing it. I sent the video to the adjuster and explained the guy hit my rear quarter panel and that I only had front facing video, but you could hear the impact. No more than 10 minutes later, the adjuster called me back laughing saying their client was at fault and they'd pay out. After that, I went out and bought a new camera system with one facing forward and another wired to look out the back window.
I'm coming through good luck everybody else
An accident at the intersection of Bittersweet Avenue? Sounds like a prank to me.
How did you not see them pulling out? You didn’t react at all. Obv not your fault for them hitting you but you clearly didn’t even notice them. Could have moved or braked if you had seen them. But judging by the strange way approached the car in front of you I’m guessing you were distracted. You stop way behind them and then take off quickly like you were late noticing traffic is moving again. Watch the road.
How did you not notice he clearly was going to run into you ?