i was almost in a car accident yesterday.

[PlatinumGold]

well yesterday, i was driving out to a friends for a dinner party, it is a 2 lane limited access road, the rightlane was blacked up at the exit, there was a line of my 25 cars i was driving by in the left lane at the speed limit about 55 mph, an idiot driver in the right lane decided to try and pull out from a stand still and pull in front of me and i was only like 6 or 7 car lengths behind him, i laid on the horn and swerved, barely missing him, the moron continued to pull out behind us and we heard a CRASH, i looked in my rear view mirror and the car behind me had hit him. i can't really blame the guy behind me because there just wasn't a lot of room to maneuver, i got lucky, if i had been the guy behind me, i would have hit this moron too.


i'm wondering, was this guy that pulled out drunk (it was only like 4 pm, or was the driver actually that stupid?

 

[Zee]

or possibly impatient.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: Zee
or possibly impatient.

i'm impatient too, but i never ever pull into oncoming traffic that is doing in excess of 50 mph unless i know i can pull into the lane safely.


what that driver did was just plain stupid.

 

[IronWing]

People are stupid. On my daily commute there are two intersections where I count on people pulling out into the 55mph flow. If there is a car at either of those intersections I assume they will pull out in front of me. I am rarely disappointed. A corollary is that once they have risked lives by pulling into traffic, they will proceed to drive 5mph below the speed limit.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: ironwing
People are stupid. On my daily commute there are two intersections where I count on people pulling out into the 55mph flow. If there is a car at either of those intersections I assume they will pull out in front of me. I am rarely disappointed. A corollary is that once they have risked lives by pulling into traffic, they will proceed to drive 5mph below the speed limit.

it's one thing to do it from an on ramp where you have a chance to get some speed going.

it's another to do it from a standstill where you can't even accellerate hard because you have to turn out of the lane first. there is no way you can get to speed in that situation even if you have a very very fast car in less than 7 to 8 seconds.

it is so very very stupid, and i feel bad for the car behind me that hit him, but i don't feel bad at all for the guy that pulled out.

 

[IronWing]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

Originally posted by: ironwing
People are stupid. On my daily commute there are two intersections where I count on people pulling out into the 55mph flow. If there is a car at either of those intersections I assume they will pull out in front of me. I am rarely disappointed. A corollary is that once they have risked lives by pulling into traffic, they will proceed to drive 5mph below the speed limit.

it's one thing to do it from an on ramp where you have a chance to get some speed going.

it's another to do it from a standstill where you can't even accellerate hard because you have to turn out of the lane first. there is no way you can get to speed in that situation even if you have a very very fast car in less than 7 to 8 seconds.

it is so very very stupid, and i feel bad for the car behind me that hit him, but i don't feel bad at all for the guy that pulled out.

Two lane road, intersections, not interchanges, no on ramps, dead stop into traffic.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold


i'm wondering, was this guy that pulled out drunk (it was only like 4 pm, or was the driver actually that stupid?

poll?
i vote stupid

 

[Jahee]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
well yesterday, i was driving out to a friends for a dinner party, it is a 2 lane limited access road, the rightlane was blacked up at the exit, there was a line of my 25 cars i was driving by in the left lane at the speed limit about 55 mph, an idiot driver in the right lane decided to try and pull out from a stand still and pull in front of me and i was only like 6 or 7 car lengths behind him, i laid on the horn and swerved, barely missing him, the moron continued to pull out behind us and we heard a CRASH, i looked in my rear view mirror and the car behind me had hit him. i can't really blame the guy behind me because there just wasn't a lot of room to maneuver, i got lucky, if i had been the guy behind me, i would have hit this moron too.


i'm wondering, was this guy that pulled out drunk (it was only like 4 pm, or was the driver actually that stupid?

Based on my fully informed decision, he was drunk... :roll:

 

[BHeemsoth]

I almost had the same thing happen to me.

Some people just don't think...

 

[altonb1]

OP: why didn't you turn around or at least pull over and go back to the accident scene and offer your contact info to the guy that was behind you? For insurance purposes, it would have been helpful to him since you witnessed it.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: altonb1
OP: why didn't you turn around or at least pull over and go back to the accident scene and offer your contact info to the guy that was behind you? For insurance purposes, it would have been helpful to him since you witnessed it.

thought general motto for modern day society:
"dont get involved if you dont have to"
"whats in it for me?"
"not worth it being nice in today's world"
etc

it's all about me, me,me. if it aint about me, then i'm too busy doing me stuff to care about not me events.

note:
this is in general. not saying this is the OP.

 

[FoBoT]

how would there be any question of fault?
i don't think the guy needed a witness for law enforcement to figure out the moran pulled out in front of him

unless someone has a video we can review

 

[BoomerD]

A couple of years ago, my wife and I were driving up the freeway one evening, (6 lane divided highway with oleander bushes in the center divide) when all of a sudden, a car came crashing through the oleanders just in front of us, smashed through the chain-link fence beside the highway and smashed into a building next to the freeway. We stopped and called 9-1-1 and reported it, then backed up to help the victims out of the car. When the CHP showed up, they told us that these guys had caused an accident on the other side of the freeway that caused their car to go careening across the roadway. The driver was arrested for DUI and the others were arrested as well. Their car missed us by about 50 feet. At freeway speeds, that's less than 1/2 second.

 

[Playmaker]

Originally posted by: altonb1
OP: why didn't you turn around or at least pull over and go back to the accident scene and offer your contact info to the guy that was behind you? For insurance purposes, it would have been helpful to him since you witnessed it.

Agreed.

It can be a bitch to prove you were at no fault when you rear-end someone, even if it was obviously not your fault as in this situation.

 

[XZeroII]

The other car (the one that was behind you that hit the moron) was at fault too. He was following you too closely and didn't have time to react. He will no doubt be in a bad situation as well.

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: XZeroII
The other car (the one that was behind you that hit the moron) was at fault too. He was following you too closely and didn't have time to react. He will no doubt be in a bad situation as well.

Because you were there and saw it all!

:roll:

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: OdiN

Originally posted by: XZeroII
The other car (the one that was behind you that hit the moron) was at fault too. He was following you too closely and didn't have time to react. He will no doubt be in a bad situation as well.

Because you were there and saw it all!

:roll:

Yes, because we all know the police can never make good judgements about accident scenes.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: XZeroII
The other car (the one that was behind you that hit the moron) was at fault too. He was following you too closely and didn't have time to react. He will no doubt be in a bad situation as well.

Following whom too closely? The OP? That might be relevant if the guy hit the OP. But he didn't. He hit someone who pulled out in front of him. Someone he wasn't following. The guy behind the OP was not at fault.

 

[XZeroII]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: XZeroII
The other car (the one that was behind you that hit the moron) was at fault too. He was following you too closely and didn't have time to react. He will no doubt be in a bad situation as well.

Following whom too closely? The OP? That might be relevant if the guy hit the OP. But he didn't. He hit someone who pulled out in front of him. Someone he wasn't following. The guy behind the OP was not at fault.

No, the guy pulled out in front of the OP. If the OP had enough time to get out of the way, then the guy behind him should have had enough time to get out of the way...that is if he had allowed enough distance between him and the OP. Remember, following too close is YOUR fault. It's dangerous driving just like pulling out in front of someone. Hence, they are both at fault. In fact, it's probably more the guy behind the OP's fault than the guy who pulled out in front of them. It was either following too close, or inattentive driving. Take your pick depending on the situation.

 

[rh71]

You: 55mph
Them: 0mph
Difference: a loud bang

Perhaps you should've been going a lot slower... you can't trust other people, period.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: Playmaker

Originally posted by: altonb1
OP: why didn't you turn around or at least pull over and go back to the accident scene and offer your contact info to the guy that was behind you? For insurance purposes, it would have been helpful to him since you witnessed it.

Agreed.

It can be a bitch to prove you were at no fault when you rear-end someone, even if it was obviously not your fault as in this situation.

bah, screw that... the other 10 people already at 0mph could prove it for him. You suggest I should turn around on a highway-type road to do the same?

 

[Whisper]

The regularity with which I witness people doing mind bogglingly-idiotic things while driving has caused it to become fairly commonplace in my mind. For many years now, I've simply assumed that at any given instant, every driver around me is capable of great feats of stupidity.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: XZeroII

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: XZeroII
The other car (the one that was behind you that hit the moron) was at fault too. He was following you too closely and didn't have time to react. He will no doubt be in a bad situation as well.

Following whom too closely? The OP? That might be relevant if the guy hit the OP. But he didn't. He hit someone who pulled out in front of him. Someone he wasn't following. The guy behind the OP was not at fault.

No, the guy pulled out in front of the OP. If the OP had enough time to get out of the way, then the guy behind him should have had enough time to get out of the way...that is if he had allowed enough distance between him and the OP. Remember, following too close is YOUR fault. It's dangerous driving just like pulling out in front of someone. Hence, they are both at fault. In fact, it's probably more the guy behind the OP's fault than the guy who pulled out in front of them. It was either following too close, or inattentive driving. Take your pick depending on the situation.

Perhaps the OP can elaborate, but the way his post reads, it sounds like the guy just STARTED to pull out before the OP passed him and he continued to pull out as the OP swerved and after the OP passed. So the OP had 6-7 car lengths to react to a guy who was just starting to pull out and barely missed him. If the guy behind him left proper following distance, he had 6 car lengths to react to a car that had by that time pulled out farther. Not surprising that there was an accident.

Proper following distance doesn't allow you to see through the car in front of you. Especially if the OP was in an SUV.

 

[XZeroII]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: XZeroII

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: XZeroII
The other car (the one that was behind you that hit the moron) was at fault too. He was following you too closely and didn't have time to react. He will no doubt be in a bad situation as well.

Following whom too closely? The OP? That might be relevant if the guy hit the OP. But he didn't. He hit someone who pulled out in front of him. Someone he wasn't following. The guy behind the OP was not at fault.

No, the guy pulled out in front of the OP. If the OP had enough time to get out of the way, then the guy behind him should have had enough time to get out of the way...that is if he had allowed enough distance between him and the OP. Remember, following too close is YOUR fault. It's dangerous driving just like pulling out in front of someone. Hence, they are both at fault. In fact, it's probably more the guy behind the OP's fault than the guy who pulled out in front of them. It was either following too close, or inattentive driving. Take your pick depending on the situation.

Perhaps the OP can elaborate, but the way his post reads, it sounds like the guy just STARTED to pull out before the OP passed him and he continued to pull out as the OP swerved and after the OP passed. So the OP had 6-7 car lengths to react to a guy who was just starting to pull out and barely missed him. If the guy behind him left proper following distance, he had 6 car lengths to react to a car that had by that time pulled out farther. Not surprising that there was an accident.

Proper following distance doesn't allow you to see through the car in front of you. Especially if the OP was in an SUV.

It is your responsibility to leave enough room between you and the car in front of you so that you can react to anything. Even if the OP was in a huge SUV, the car behind should have left some extra room so that he could react. I'm sure that there is a term for this, but the basic premise is that anytime you are driving, you should be going only as fast as is safe. If it is foggy and you can't see more than 10 feet in front of you, you need to slow down so that you have enough time to stop if anything appears 10 feet in front of you. If it is snowing, you need to leave enough distance and go only so fast so that you can stop if anything is in the road that you need to avoid. Basically, the circumstances are irrelevant. You always must leave enough room or ajust your speed so that you can avoid anything.

In this case, there was already a warning (the OP blew his horn and swerved) that something was not right ahead. There should have been plenty of time for the guy behind him to avoid the car pulling out. The buy behind the OP was definitely at fault for at least 50% of the accident.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: XZeroII

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: XZeroII
The other car (the one that was behind you that hit the moron) was at fault too. He was following you too closely and didn't have time to react. He will no doubt be in a bad situation as well.

Following whom too closely? The OP? That might be relevant if the guy hit the OP. But he didn't. He hit someone who pulled out in front of him. Someone he wasn't following. The guy behind the OP was not at fault.

No, the guy pulled out in front of the OP. If the OP had enough time to get out of the way, then the guy behind him should have had enough time to get out of the way...that is if he had allowed enough distance between him and the OP. Remember, following too close is YOUR fault. It's dangerous driving just like pulling out in front of someone. Hence, they are both at fault. In fact, it's probably more the guy behind the OP's fault than the guy who pulled out in front of them. It was either following too close, or inattentive driving. Take your pick depending on the situation.

Perhaps the OP can elaborate, but the way his post reads, it sounds like the guy just STARTED to pull out before the OP passed him and he continued to pull out as the OP swerved and after the OP passed. So the OP had 6-7 car lengths to react to a guy who was just starting to pull out and barely missed him. If the guy behind him left proper following distance, he had 6 car lengths to react to a car that had by that time pulled out farther. Not surprising that there was an accident.

Proper following distance doesn't allow you to see through the car in front of you. Especially if the OP was in an SUV.

yes, he started to pull out, frankly, after i got by him, i thought he would go back into the lane, then i heard the crash behind me, i saw the left headlight get major damage to the SUV that was trying to pull out, i didn't see the car that hit him, as it was just a glance in the rear view mirror. even had i stopped i wouldn't not have been able to testify conclusively for the guy behind me as i didn't see the accident.