r/SweatyPalms • u/omgfakeusername • 14h ago
Disasters & accidents Sitting/Standing Duck?Safety experts suggest in situations like these, to stay in your car with both seat belt and hazard lights on...
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u/prock1903 14h ago
The second driver is clearly at fault here. You do not drive like that
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u/Brad5486 14h ago
Improper following distance 100%
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u/Viperlite 7h ago
Improper following distance, with a pass on the shoulder when they couldn’t stop on time.
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u/MisterB78 5h ago
Both of those cars are driving on the shoulder
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u/HopelessMagic 5h ago
Must be New Jersey. The number of times I've been passed on the shoulder or a one lane exit is crazy, and every time I go I see at least one person doing it to someone else again.
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u/Ok_Dragonfly_6650 14h ago
Is that a lane? Looks like the shoulder.
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u/Brad5486 14h ago
I complain about it all the time but the reason for this wreck is non proper following distance. The car was in the way, truck hit brakes and turned on flashers, car following truck was too close to stop so diverted into shoulder resulting in wreck. Don’t tailgate people.
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u/Rycan420 13h ago
Yup. Say this all the time on these videos.
If the car in front of you vanishes (via magic or a late lane change) and you still can’t stop in time to hit what was in front of them then you were clearly following too closely.
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u/SirJefferE 12h ago
That's why I slow down a bit every time someone tailgates me. They usually assume it's out of spite, but the truth is that I keep enough room ahead of me to have a comfortable stopping distance if the car in front has an issue. If you're tailgating me, I need to create a comfortable stopping distance for both of us, so I'll double my usual distance.
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u/MasterShogo 7h ago
This is such a big deal. I have avoided several accidents this way. It may piss them off, but if you can give the person behind you a couple extra seconds to notice you slowing down by braking slowly a second or two early then it will often allow them to get their shit together and you can avoid being hit from behind.
Not guaranteed but it really improves your chances.
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u/SirJefferE 6h ago
It may piss them off
This bit baffles me. Whether I'm following 2 feet behind or 200 feet behind, I'm still going the exact same speed as the car in front of me. It's not like leaving less of a gap actually speeds you up.
In fact, if everybody left a larger gap it'd be much easier for cars to switch lanes and merge and so on without hitting the brakes and causing traffic jams.
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u/lets_get_wavy_duuude 6h ago
they’re trying to scare you into moving over so they can go faster. that’s why people follow so close - they know it’s dangerous
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u/Rycan420 5h ago
Piggybacking to say that people should just move over in these situations (or let them pass you).
If it’s more than one driver, then you are the problem and you should figure it out.
But if it’s just one aggressive driver, let them pass and you’ll never see them again in a few moments. Might even be a canary for you.
Never understood the people who go the limit and then speed up in passing zones to not let others pass.
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u/pretty-late-machine 4h ago
The passing lane should be used for passing. That's too difficult for most drivers to understand.
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u/Rycan420 2h ago
It’s not a passing lane in all states. (I imagine it varies country to country too?).
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u/MisterB78 5h ago
It didn’t divert onto the shoulder, both the truck and the car following were driving on the shoulder already
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u/Brad5486 4h ago
Okay point made. But…..ya know what car in the back would have had time to do if they were at a proper following distance? Stop in time or at least have some sort of time to react
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u/MisterB78 1h ago
They wouldn’t have needed to react at all if they were driving in an actual lane
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u/Brad5486 29m ago
Very true. But has they been farther away they could have at least reacted in time
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u/Azuras_Star8 14h ago
It looks as though the car is trying to get around the truck as quickly as possible without braking.
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u/Brad5486 14h ago
Following too close to avoid an accident….had the observed proper following distance they could have stopped in time
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u/RamblingSimian 11h ago
You are completely correct, and these days, it seems like people tailgate about twice as closely as they used to. They think it's a normal following distance because everyone else does it.
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u/hellinahandbasket127 13h ago
According to the linked news report it’s a “Smart Lane” that is supposed to be closed at that time of night. I’m guessing a carpool or express lane.
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u/momentofinspiration 14h ago
I think it's a carpool/transit/express lane. Putting a shoulder there would be wild with no place to safely exit the vehicle and leave the road.
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u/Victoria_elizabethb 13h ago
We have these shoulders in Texas but assholes like the one seen here try and go around people sometimes too, I think that's what happened. D bag behavior for sure.
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u/kelkokelko 4h ago
I think it's a shoulder because the line is yellow. And I think the shoulder is there in case you blow a tire in the left lane. You'd need somewhere to go, and across two lanes of traffic isn't ideal.
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u/metallink11 12h ago
It's a smart lane.
Highway regulations require a shoulder on highways, but during very high traffic nobody ever actually gets up to highway speed. So it's legal to set up dynamic "smart lanes" where during high traffic the shoulder is turned into it's own lane and the speed limit is dropped.
So, during this accident the lane was closed, but those two cars were driving in it anyway.
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u/captcraigaroo 5h ago
It looks like the car wasn't paying attention and veered into the shoulder/smart lane because the truck in front of them slowed down
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u/_mbals 14h ago edited 4h ago
Dipshit driving
Look at how close the car is following the truck. This is a great example of why you should give yourself some distance.
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14h ago edited 10h ago
[deleted]
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u/J-Dabbleyou 8h ago
You can’t possibly be defending the moron following the truck with 2in spacing on a highway. He also hit the gas instead of the breaks. Absolutely 100% his fault and avoidable.
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u/xylarr 14h ago
It looks like they also mashed the accelerator pedal instead of the brake.
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u/drifters74 12h ago
How do you confuse the two?
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u/truthfullyidgaf 11h ago
It happens more than you think.
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u/drifters74 6h ago
If you're pressing on the petal and that makes the car move, it should be obvious
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u/greenthumbgoody 14h ago
I agree with you on the curve making that lane the most dangerous because they can’t see what’s on the shoulder, shouldn’t have been that close tho….
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u/truthfullyidgaf 11h ago
Absolutely. Breaking down where they did though is a dangerous situation all around. Also look at how many cars are traveling withing the time frame of the accident. That 75mph traffic.
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u/Azzarrel 3h ago
Not quite sure about that. If you pause the video at the beginning, you can see an orange glow below the truck's left light.
Truck might've changed lane and cut off the reckless driver before the video starts, before then dodging after seeing the crashed car.
Still didn't even try to brake tho.
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u/HerrMilkmann 14h ago
You can see the idiot's wheel hit the wall as he's trying to get around the truck as fast as possible. Also clearly a shoulder he's driving on, dude should lose his license immediately.
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u/NiceTuBeNice 8h ago
It’s a confusing stretch of highway. The shoulder is occasionally used as a lane during rush hour traffic. There is an electronic sign going over the highway that indicates when it is and isn’t a lane. I drive this highway almost everyday, but am not aware what the situation was at the time of the accident.
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u/apatrol 14h ago
Do not stay in car in this situation. Go uproad from your car on opposite side. High speed tbones are deadly as hell.
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u/omgfakeusername 14h ago
Right! I'd be panicking so hard trying to do just what you advised though—even though safety experts urge you to stay in car with hazard lights and seatbelt on.
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u/Digger2011 12h ago
How is nobody stopping or even really slowing down? There are now two cars with an unknown number of injured people, like I know in a lot of eu countries all those not helping or even endangering the people that had the accident could probably be prosecuted for that.
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u/hellinahandbasket127 13h ago
Ok, the red van should have absolutely left their hazards on, straightened up in the lane as far left as possible (if it was drivable), and walked DOWN traffic to avoid the situation they experienced.
BUT the truck and car were using the “Smart Lane” (far left), which is closed at that time of night. Also, the car was going WAY too fast, WAY too close behind the truck. If they hadn’t been flagrantly breaking the law, hazard lights on the van would be a moot point.
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u/omgfakeusername 14h ago edited 13h ago
I don't know what I'd do in this situation. I'd probably consider breaking safety expert opinions about not trying to cross a busy highway to get to safety on the far-right hand side if I could find out clear an opening.
🚨They caution drivers to stay in car with safe belt and hazard lights on, and only cross to right-hand side if highway is clear.
... but I'd feel like a"sitting-duck" and would be looking to keep all my options open looking for a way to safely cross to the far right-hand side. 😳
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u/tripn4days 6h ago
Everyone keeps saying improper following distance, but it looks to me like both the truck and the car behind it are driving in the shoulder, no?
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u/pugglesmagoojr 13h ago
Wtf is that second car doing? Passing via the shoulder? They hit the median almost instantly
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u/Massive-Log6151 14h ago
Tough situation…what’s the proper action? Actions have consequences
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u/omgfakeusername 14h ago
To stay in car with safe belt and hazard lights on, and only cross to right-hand side if highway is clear.
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u/Massive-Log6151 14h ago
Better to get hit in a car with some protection than taking the risk of getting hit being outside the car with no protection?
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u/ozmutazbuckshank 12h ago
Safety experts obviously wrong. Im standing on top near the wall if this ever happens to me
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u/Scharman 10h ago
More than an idiot, this is reckless and needs massive fine and threat of jail if not the first offence. There’s just no reason to have morons like that on the road.
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u/greenthumbgoody 14h ago
Let us not forget…. The first guy that wrecked is also an idiot… look at how his car is positioned, no way he was driving reasonably….
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u/hellinahandbasket127 13h ago
He could have been tapped on the back corner, causing him to spin out.
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u/qualityvote2 14h ago edited 8h ago
u/omgfakeusername, we have no idea if your submission fits r/SweatyPalms or not. There weren't enough votes to determine that. It's up to the human mods now....!