Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/02/07/dashcam-footage-shows-driver-b.html
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The white van actually pulled forward
a bit
making it look like the driver
was Psychic.
(unless my eyes are deceiving me)
ETA: I was graciously corrected and took a
closer, brighter screen look…the van did
Not back up!
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Yeah, it’s hard to tell from the angle of view, but I think the white van was inching into the intersection. Maybe the driver with the camera intuitively realized the hazard and gave a little space†. I’ll bet it seemed more likely that the van might get T-boned by through-traffic. The car making the left-turn was likely focused on the through-traffic to judge whether they had time to make the turn and failed to notice the van pulled partway into the intersection.
It’s something I see a lot: vehicles pulling partway into cross-traffic and forcing oncoming traffic to swerve around them.
Hopefully the person with the dashcam stuck around to give a statement, since the video footage will probably make a difference to the insurance companies.
† Or maybe the driver had prescient knowledge of the day’s events…
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Intersections are where accidents happen, like someone running a red light or making an unsafe left. There is nothing to be gained by being right at the stopping line while waiting for the green. It’s ok to be a few few behind. Same applies to pedestrians waiting to cross. Don’t stand right on the edge! Stay back from it.
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I’m not convinced that’s what happened. The white van appears to be almost up to the dotted line dividing the two lanes of cross-traffic. Obviously it’s prudent to always check for other drivers in unsafe positions, but from a legal-fault perspective, it seems at least as possible the white van is responsible.
ETA: I was in error. Please see my reply to @jan_ciger who politely corrected me.
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Maybe this happens every time “All Star” comes on the radio?
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Don’t see how whatever the van was doing can be relevant - the white car got hit from the side and turned around, i.e. it didn’t yield to the oncoming traffic when turning left (assuming the rules in the US are the same as here in Europe). In that case it is only his or her fault.
Even if the white van caused one of the drivers to swerve it would still have been the white car driver’s fault. However, if you look carefully, the white van is stopped still in front of the while line (there is a white strip visible) - i.e. out of the way of the traffic coming from the left.
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I was thinking maybe it was a form of punishment.
The white van got hit only when the white car turning left got t-boned by another car coming from the left side of the view. That’s a textbook failure to yield to oncoming traffic when making a left turn.
The van was still outside the line, it couldn’t have possibly been a cause because it was not in the way of neither the car coming from the left and even less the one that got hit.
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Yup, you’re right. I turned on my larger desktop monitor (connected to my laptop). There’s a another car that T-bones the white car first, sending it into the van. The fish-eye lens of the dash-cam caused me to mistake the dotted line the van is pulled up to as the dividing line of the cross-traffic lane, but it’s the edge of the cross-walk. Most of those in the states are solid, not dotted, which threw me off.
The van still shouldn’t have been pulled into the crosswalk, and I’m thinking maybe that’s why the driver with the dashcam backed up a bit. But I agree on closer review that it’s clearly the white car’s fault for trying to make the turn with too little time.
If the white car hadn’t braked, they might have made it and needed nothing more than a new pair of pants. The panic instinct to brake in any dangerous road situation can really backfire.
Thanks for pushing back on my read of the video and spurring me to look closer.
Anyway, yup, not the van’s fault; you’re correct, my mistake.
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I’m seeing shared fault here. The car coming from the left of the frame appears to be traveling significantly faster than the rest, even when applying brakes. I’m not sure whet the signal configuration is here but it looks like there are left turn arrows.
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The real mystery here is someone listening to Smash Mouth in 2019.
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it took over 2000 tries but maybe the groundhog finally learned not to drive angry.
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Yep, as this video so aptly demonstrates, you shouldn’t stop right at the line: “…we could all use a little spaaaace”
And, yes, I know it’s a famous “misheard lyric”, but I’m not entirely convinced that they didn’t time it somehow.
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I would guess the driver backed up so he could see to his left past the van or maybe as someone else suggested, he was backing up, planning on changing lanes.
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I hate people who inch forward on a left before they can actually turn. The worst is from a side street with a stop sign and left and right turn lanes. I’m in the right waiting for a gap in the traffic coming from the left. Big SUV or F350 pulls up on the left, needing a gap left and right, blocks my view. Fine, I inch forward enough to see left again, they inch forward. Repeat a few times. (I have a small Fiesta. I’m not blocking anyone’s view.)
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I assumed he was uncomfortably close to the crosswalk or on top of it. I don’t know about there but I think here you can be ticketed for stopping on the crosswalk. Also, it’s just uncomfortable to be that far forward. I’ve stopped at big wide intersections like that and backed up on instinct (there’s one near my home) because I just feel like I’m in the general “danger zone” for that intersection. If the driver is local they may know that is an intersection where accidents happen a lot, and so use lots of caution. It’s amazing timing though…
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I am usually very perceptive of blind spots-- I don’t like people driving in my blind spot, and I don’t like being in another driver’s blind spot for more than a few seconds. That van created a blind spot of sorts, and I probably would have backed up in that situation myself.
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Try teaching that to a self-driving car!
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The van looked like half of it was in the crosswalk. I assume the cross walk begins where the white lane lines stop. When the Dashcam Dude pulls up, he is well behind the crosswalk and then backs up to where there is a full space in front of him, as demonstrated by the blue car that pulls up and appears to be in a pretty normal looking position behind the crosswalk. The white SUV turning right looks like it’s rear bumper is nearly even with the front bumper of the van.
Not that it’s very helpful in this case, but I would like to remind folks for full horrific or comedic effect, you can speed or slow video within the YouTube player by clicking on the little gear/flower icon.
