Tell me who's at fault?

It appears you're almost entirely in the lane when he hits you. 60/40, other driver at fault. He pays 40% of your damages and he pays 100% of his own. Shut the thread down, that's your answer. You're welcome and I hope that helps indeedy.

 

Good grief. Christmas Eve no less.
A few of you need to quit blocking the halls and get your third period classroom.

 

And the ambelance wants $300.00 just to get checked out. They only take cash!

 

It would've been avoidable if you were a little more patient. But sometimes accidents just happen because wrong place wrong time. Glad you're ok OP.
You were tailgating that Rav4: before the Rav4 hit their brakes, you were already within one lane marking of them (timestamp: 0:08). According to Texas DOT, those lane markings are only 10 feet. And a stock 4R at 70mph takes 183ft to come to a stop. By the time the Rav4 braked, you broke and shaved off some speed compared to adjacent lanes, and I can't really tell if you merged without checking your mirror and blindspot. At those speed differentials, it's better to be safe with merging or just stay in your lane for a bit longer
Overall, some patience and distance IMO would've stopped this from happening. Yes, the driver behind was pretty fast, but that doesn't give you the right to just merge into another lane w/o properly checking. OP, just keep some distance; if the Rav4 actually slammed on their brakes while you were checking a blindspot/mirror, that split second would be enough for you to rear-end them and you'd be dealing with a lot more than just a fender bender.

 

I rewatched the video again several times, slowed it down and froze it to try and determine if he had the blinker on, while yes viewing the back of the Camry it's hard to say if he did or didn't have the blinker on or not at the time of impact....BUT I also don't think he had time to turn it on the instant after impact and the time I see the blinker being on...so I froze the video the instant his vehicle comes into view and you can see the side of the front turn signal for a moment so I watched again as slow as I could get the video to play and the front signal is flashing at impact and before the screen shot you show above.

 

You know, I agree with everything you said. Very well said. I was impatient. I admit that, and own it. I could have done better.

 

@Borracho Loco the thing to keep in mind is that it doesn’t matter what we think. Now that you’ve reported it, it doesn’t even matter what you think. The insurance companies will duke it out and the resolution is out of your hands. I hope you put it behind you and don’t let it ruin your holiday. Start in early on the eggnog!

 

But, But, Butttttttt, the opinions of strangers on the internet mean EVERYTHING! I rise and fall by the approval on this website. Okay, we all know that was some serious sarcasm. I know it's up to the insurance company and nothing said in this thread matters.

I will say this: If they side with me and say I'm not at fault, I will be confused. If they side against me and say I am at fault, I will be confused. I'm still lost on who is at fault.

The real bummer is, I was bragging to a co-worker last week that I hadn't had an at-fault accident in 10 yrs. And then..... boom! I jinxed myself.

 

You placed an order with ARB yet?

 

My neighbors burn trash, thats my excuse.

 

And they put a huge pot grow right next to my front door! lol Big shed and greenhouse! lol God only knows if they have guns?
Smoke up?

 

Gotta agree with this. Can’t say with certainty who’s at fault but tailgating that close, not even a cars length? at that speed is a sure way to get into accidents.

 

The tailgating had nothing to do with it, the lane change is where things went wrong.

 

The mofo in front of you should have never slowed down. The cars on the right are not in a merge lane. Look at the sign and the lane markings.

 

Be honest... what was your thought process as you closed the distance on the Rav4 in front of you?

 

Glad both of you walked away without injury!

 

Side question does the 40th anniversary have that lane departure assist like a 2024? I would think that technology could have helped prevent this

 

It looks like you were about 3/4 in the lane when he was going faster than you and hit your LF.
I say he was at fault....just sayin.

 

It does, and I had it turned on. But not the audible alerts, only the visual (It doesn't beep at me, but the outside mirrors light up). To be honest, I only glanced at it for a brief second before changing lanes.

You're right, it would have prevented it if I had paid more attention and been more patient.

Don't worry though, I just bought the winning lotto ticket for the 1Billion dollar lotto tonight! Now I can buy a 4runner for each day of the week. But don't worry, I won't put raptor lights on ANY of them; because I have too much respect for myself to do that.

 

Gotcha I need to read more about mine on my 2024. It freaked me out on the test drive and I had never driven a car with it before. Mine is parked for winter so I have lots of time to read up on it. I thought it was just a light but apparently some beeping also.

I am sure we will see more than 4Runners if you the lotto tonight

 

It's dumbass facts like this that annoy me when people talk about how much space you need to keep between you and the car in front of you when on the interstate. Yes, the 4runner may take 183ft to stop at 70mph but that only matters if the car in front of you can magically stop on a dime, such as a head on collision with another vehicle. Otherwise, you are subject to their stopping distance, which granted, is probably shorter than a 4runner, unless you start to take variables into account such as their reaction time, tire quality, brake quality, suspension quality, and other general maintenance items.

Everyone talking about tailgating does understand that if every vehicle kept 183ft between vehicles (or whatever their particular vehicle stopping distance may be), then traffic would be backed up for dozens of miles with tons of space between vehicles? It's just not feasible.

Mistakes happen and that's all this was. Two people changing lanes at the same time when practically beside each other. Could have happened at 10mph with 700ft of space between them and the car in front

 

This

 

I think the fact you're asking is comical. If you wouldn't have been on that dudes ass and able to stop you wouldn't have had to swerve into a lane before making sure it was clear. I also think it's comical that you've "shrugged it off." You got lucky, that could of been a gnarly accident.

 

This

I would be livid if I were the other driver

Initially I thought he was going to rear end that car and wonder who's fault it was

 

Ahhhhhhhhhh if you were both switching lanes he was more in your blind spot and he could very clearly see you and decided to drive through you.

It's both your fault but more his.

 

https://youtu.be/TqG1CZTLq70?si=IQaxGJhahGhcPc94

 

I woulda been pissed

 

Don’t beat a man when he is down is my philosophy.

 

Gross. Nobody is putting that bumper on their 4Runner on purpose.