Tell me who's at fault?

Not even going to read all the comments.

Thats what you get for riding someone ass and need to change lanes quickly. Can't tell if other driver was changing lanes also but video doesn't look good.

 

I used to commute in bay area traffic with a stick shift which got old pretty fast. I would leave it in 3rd gear and let my car idle. Sometimes there would be a huge gap in front of me, sometimes I'd have to stop. Didn't care. Was getting home eventually. People behind me hated this though


..........so one time I've got a gap going and this new truck with dealership plates speeds around me using yhe commuter lane which he isn't supposed to be in. At the same time traffic stops. I'm in a lowered eclipse so he can clearly see traffic up in his truck so I don't feel bad when he slams the brakes on and serves to the right with acreaching tires, then he corrects too much left and hits the center divide with his nice, new truck where he comes to a stop.

And I slowly pass trying not to make eye contact. He would then speed past in the commuter lane a couple minutes later.

 

I drive 680, 580 and 101 often in my almost 20 year old manual Corolla. I just leave it in 2nd in crawling traffic and stick to the slightly slower lane such that no one ever cuts in front of me. With this very rarely do I slow down enough to have to clutch in and shift to neutral for a complete stop. I found out that the car can go down to basically .5 mph and not stall as long as it is rolling

My clutch is basically brand new last time I had it inspected by our family mechanic.

The car is a hoot on 17 on my way to the parents' property outside Freedom.

 

I agree, I am not going to pretend that I don't tailgate. But I do hover my foot over the brake if I'm less than 3-4 car lengths behind the driver in front of me just in case.

 

That is exactly what I do. I keep my foot on the brake, but don't apply any pressure. I did that today while driving home. Traffic was very light because of the holiday, so I had the cruise set @ 66MPH, but I had my foot hovering over the brake the entire time..........JUST in case.

 

Hey fellow Bay Area dweller!!!!!!

hahah yeah man I would tell this story and people wouldn't believe I could cruise about 5mph maybe less in 3rd gear, but you can! Awesome you do that too

At the time I was doing 101 south to 87. Getting to 86 south would speed up for a sec but I wouldn't so this dude really wanted to get around me and hit the center divide on 87

 

probably because i commuted on a motorcycle splitting lanes for 7 years that driving in traffic in a 4runner gives me anxiety because i cant escape by splitting lanes if i "need" to and because 4runners are 4runners I give a fuck ton of space for ample room to stop, and ample room to stop slowly so the guy behind me who might not have any reaction time and probably cant see through me can stop.

no anxiety on a motorcycle because i always have room to go somewhere

 

Lol at everyone chastising you like they have never gotten to close to another car before.

It seems like the guy who you contacted with was going crazy fast and didn't use his single. You both were impatient it seems. IMO you both should be at fault. Shit happens at least everyone was okay!

 

I wore my sunglaases instead on my yellow laser night vision glasses. Almost took out a deer and a racoon!

 

I don't know how you could watch that video and conclude anything other than you being at fault. Not only were you absolutely tailgating the car in front, you switched lanes abruptly and right into the car on your left.

Play stupid games win stupid prizes

 

I was on the interstate today thinking about this thread. Traffic moving along at 65-70mph and it was STACKED UP many cars deep with just a couple car lengths between vehicles. Had just one car hit their brakes for any reason whatsoever, there woulda been a 20 car pile-up. Maybe more. Everyone's fault.

And this is normal everyday traffic. All it takes is one aberration. Thankfully those are mostly rare. OP initiated the aberration (he coulda just slowed down and not changed lanes- changing lanes wasn't to avoid an accident, it was to avoid being inconvenienced). That the other guy changed lanes at the same time was unfortunate.

"Fault" is a separate conversation I won't weigh in on because i don't have a clue. OP had the right to do what he did. And that other car was coming up on him fast.

 

In the Austin metro area, it's useless to use a gas pedal. Lol. I now see how much of a stupid douchebag i was in sports cars racing to every stop light and tailgating for no reason. So I'm definitely not a saint either.

In the 4R., i am in no hurry and understand it takes more to stop and it's not as fast and no one else pays for my gas but me so i make every mpg count and that does sometimes include drafting on the highway worth maybe a prius length behind a semi. Lol. Hey "car length" is subjective

 

You make a great point. I should have slowed down and yes, I was acting like I was inconvenienced. AKA: I was acting like an entitled jerk. Lesson learned. The insurance companies are still determining fault, so I won't get into that. I'm no saint either. Some days I do great in traffic, others...not so much. I wasn't even speeding. I know the video makes it look like it. The speed limit on that road is 70MPH. I was doing 66MPH, then I slowed down even more because of the car in front of me.

If anything, I hope this thread and my actions serve as a cautionary tale to all. If you're doing this, watch out or it may happen to you!

 

If that happens where Im from (Detroit suburbs), half the time we don't even stop. Neither of us want a ticket or to deal with insurance. I'd just bring it to a trusted family owned local bump shop and get it fixed with cash so it stays off carfax, who cares about whos fault it was. Someones getting screwed after this either way, and I am no gambling man! lol

 

Oh, you're in Michigan. That's a no fault state. Texas isn't like that, and I'm glad we aren't. I don't want to pay for someone else's mistake.

 

I am up here too in Michigan. We pay through the nose for insurance for this no fault stuff. It’s crazy. You should see the idiots with pieces of shizzo who buy insurance for a day to get license plates then cancel it only to hit us and we pay for it all. I love the Great Lakes and my family here but there are a lot of trade offs

 

Your framing is still wrong.

speed limit doesn’t matter.

flow of traffic is the #1 determining factor.

 

We've ALL done stupid driving shit. Just be thankful you didn't do more serious damage to your 4Runner and no lives were impacted (other than inconvenienced) by this oopsie.

Let this be a lesson to all of us out there on the roads to be mindful and vigilant not only with our own driving but anticipating other stupid shit drivers around us might do.

 

Actual insurance broker here lol. it appears that both of you may have changed lanes into each other. If you have a rear facing camera that can back this up, the best case scenario is 50/50. Based off of the dash cam footage, you would be held 100% at fault (At least in my jurisdiction). Shit happens, and I am glad everyone is okay.

 

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so let it be written so let it be done lyrics <<--- click

 

The term 'No Fault' is a misnomer. It simply means your insurance carrier pays out your damage regardless of the fault, opposed to subrogating from the at fault parties carrier. The idea is claims will be settled quicker, in turn saving money. My province switched to this system a couple years ago, and as a broker I am very skeptical this will be the case. The at fault party will still see their rates effected due to their claim.

 

Metallica has entered the chat, Awesome for a Friday. Never thought I could check that off of my Yearly Bingo.. Thumbs up!

 

What can't be determined from the OP's dash cam is whether or not the other driver was already occupying the lane to the left and might have been swerving in attempt to avoid the lane incursion. We also don't know whether or not the other drive may have had limited options for getting out of the OP's way and was trying to avoid another driver in the next lane over.

Unless the insurers have additional camera views I would guess it will settle 50/50 and just good nobody got hurt.

 

Listen the OP has been harassing me to get aggressive A/T tires since roughly Oct 2023. I say, send him right to the electric chair!

 

Obviously, Crazy Drunk is at fault. Por pendejo.

 

Great point!

There was a thread a few years ago with dash cam video, in which the other driver was clearly at fault. However, the other driver was acting like a dipshit well before the collision, and the accident could have easily been avoided by the camera car.

I've been in situations where I've avoided accidents that would have been the other driver's fault. And, I've also had another attentive driver save my ass when I made a stupid move.

 

Following a couple dash cam groups, I have come to the conclusion that many drivers with cameras either seem to bait people into accidents, or completely avoid any sort of defensive maneuvers.

 

I saw that same car today weaving in and out of cars. I can see how this might happen they get super close.