I’m not sure why people even mention whether or not the brake-checker should have gotten over (e.g. car merging from on-ramp, etc.). It is not as if a car driving slowly in the fast lane makes it appropriate or legal to drive unsafely close to that car. If you are talking legal fault, then it’s between lawyers and insurance companies and who knows what the result will be for this specific case until it’s agreed on. Although the rear vehicle usually defaults to having more fault.
If you’re talking moral fault, then it’s not zero sum. Assuming the guy in front did intentionally brake check (which seems extremely likely), they are both at fault. They both intentionally drove in a dangerous manner. Personally, I would say the tailgater is more at fault. Karma seemed to have felt even more strongly about it.
edit: Damn, brake != break. (but I’m totally up for starting a meme, just to hide my poor spelling )
I agree that slower drivers should get out of the left lane, and brake checking is “a dick move”. All of that aside, following so close that you can’t safely avoid an accident without running off the road is never okay. Full fault on the tailgater, despite what we may think of the other driver’s behavior.
Is misspelling “brake” as “break” some kind of meme?
Also, don’t even know why this is an interesting question. Tail-gating is illegal and brake-checking is dangerous on more than one level–it can cause and accident as well as lead to road rage.
Large trucks–what I presume filmed this–are often put at a lower speed limit than the rest of traffic by 5-10mph. It’s absurd to intentionally create turbulence in the flow that way, but I guess the logic is that trucks at higher speeds cause greater wear on the roads and are more dangerous.
The slow driver did not have to brake check. That was a choice he made and was the actual cause of the subsequent accident. Had he not brake checked, there would have been no crash.
The tailgater is clearly at fault and just generally a lousy driver.
And yet that still doesn’t mean brake-checking was a smart or appropriate response.
When I encounter a tailgater, I assume it’s someone with anger and/or maturity issues. Or maybe they’re legitimately in a yuuuge hurry for some reason. Being in the right does me no good if I’m dead, so if somebody starts tailgating me I’ll speed up, then change lanes as soon as it’s safe. I let them have their way.
Yes, it’s positive reinforcement for shitty behaviour, but there’s no chance that digging in my heels will reform the asshole, so my best option is to get out of the situation as quickly and safely as possible.
So, to sum up: the tailgater is fully responsible for the accident. The brake-checker was in the right, but stupid and took an unnecessary risk.
They’re both wrong and/or assholes. Definitely shouldn’t be driving slow in the fast / passing lane (I wish cops would pull people over more regularly for that), but tailgating is reckless all on it’s own. I’m just glad nobody else got caught in the crossfire.
The tailgater was driving extremely aggressively and dangerously. The brake checker willfully made a dangerous situation even worse by their actions. The brake checker could have just as easily changed lanes to let the tailgater pass.
Note that the wreck that occurred could have not only killed the tailgater and the brake checker but the swerving could have easily killed or seriously injured people in nearby vehicles. Think of that. It was all completely avoidable and unnecessary.
Both parties were wrong. Both people were assholes. Both were incredibly dangerous. The world is a worse place because of their collective actions.
When I was a young driver I had road rage problems until I eventually learned it’s just not worth it. Choose your battles wisely. Vigilante justice against perceived slights from other asshole drivers isn’t worth the risk.
Without watching it again, I thought it looked like there was plenty of open road in front of him, no reason to brake. There was however traffic, including cars merging from an on-ramp, in the right lane. So he had room to speed up or at least not brake, but no room at that moment to change lanes.
It’s “Slower traffic keep right,” not “Left lane driver is pace car.”
Imagine the tailgater saying “Excuse me” and the brakechecker reacting the same way. Is rudeness sufficient reason to cause a potentially deadly crash?
Change the situation though and say the car in front had a sudden blowout. It doesn’t matter why he slowed down, the fact the car behind couldn’t safely avoid him is the following drivers fault.
Yes, you are legally allowed to slow down. Its not uncommon to have debris or something on the road. It is also Wisconsin, an area of the country where deer often just run out into the road.
That said, any rear-ending accident is generally considered the follower’s fault, unless the car that got hit was stopped in a traffic lane or something similar. The tailgater definitely shouldn’t have been so close and so aggressive, but the brake-checker shouldn’t have been trying to enforce the speed limit and should have just moved over to let faster cars pass.
Did we watch the same video? The brakechecker was passing someone, then it was unsafe to move to the right due to another vehicle merging from an on ramp, and then they were passing someone else. As soon as there is an open spot, the driver signals and moves to the right lane.
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