I turned, he didn't. Boom.

[Nigel]

thanks error7, you've summed it up nicely. when i honked...

Clearly he shouldn't have driven into the side of you and the accident is his fault, but something I don't understand is that you appeared to know that he wanted to change lane and there was a good chance that he wanted to change lane in order to go straight on. At the time he started to change lane he was in front of you and could have done so without an accident if you had lifted the throttle a little, but instead you used your horn and appeared to floor the throttle presumably to prevent him doing what he wanted to do, then knowing that he likely wanted to go straight on you accelerated around him blocking his path.

Why did you not just let him change lane in front of you instead of using your horn and accelerating to block him?

 

[Sunny]

Clearly he shouldn't have driven into the side of you and the accident is his fault, but something I don't understand is that you appeared to know that he wanted to change lane and there was a good chance that he wanted to change lane in order to go straight on. At the time he started to change lane he was in front of you and could have done so without an accident if you had lifted the throttle a little, but instead you used your horn and appeared to floor the throttle presumably to prevent him doing what he wanted to do, then knowing that he likely wanted to go straight on you accelerated around him blocking his path.

Why did you not just let him change lane in front of you instead of using your horn and accelerating to block him?

The Tundra should have made left turn and another left turn and another left turn and another left turn... to go straight, not from 'left only' lane.

 

[roadbug]

No where did the truck indicate he was going to change lanes, no indicators were flashing at any time on the truck. The camera car can be seen to have its left turn signal on from the beginning of the video, it is reflected on the back of the vehicle in front of the camera car. Camera car was in a straight/ left turn/right turn lane; truck was in the left turn only lane as marked on the road. The truck started to drift out of its lane, only conclusion you can draw since he did not signal a lane change, and was honked at by camera car to draw his attention to said lane drift. At that point if the truck driver had been paying attention, and I do not think he was, he would have seen the turn signal on the car to his right and the fact that he was in a left turn only lane. As for speeding up I would have done that too, if for no other reason to let the truck driver see my car.

 

[Gibson99]

Clearly he shouldn't have driven into the side of you and the accident is his fault, but something I don't understand is that you appeared to know that he wanted to change lane and there was a good chance that he wanted to change lane in order to go straight on. At the time he started to change lane he was in front of you and could have done so without an accident if you had lifted the throttle a little, but instead you used your horn and appeared to floor the throttle presumably to prevent him doing what he wanted to do, then knowing that he likely wanted to go straight on you accelerated around him blocking his path.

Why did you not just let him change lane in front of you instead of using your horn and accelerating to block him?

I don't know if you can see it in the video, but there is a large concrete barrier on the left side of the road, and i think some orange construction barrels, too. Even though the lane is wide enough for even a big-rig/lorry to easily drive through without crossing the centerline, many drivers seem to think that their car is a thousand feet wide, so they go WAY around things like barrels/cones/etc. I figured that's what he was doing, so I honked to let him know I was there. I am quite used to driving small cars - my other car is a miata, which is basically invisible to big vehicles like that tundra. honking, speeding up, moving further way to get out of blind spots - that all comes as second nature to me no matter what i'm driving.

I did not accelerate - he slowed down. I think you can even see his brakes come on when I honked. Then, to make myself more visible, and to give him space, I moved to the right, up against a barrier on my side - you can hear me running over the reflectors with my right tires.

Since I am not a Betazoid or any other telepathic life form, I had no way of knowing whether he would turn or go straight. Plenty of people, myself included, don't use their signal when in a turn-only lane. It's not really necessary, especially in an intersection like this where there are at least 2 different signs (one visible center frame at beginning of video, another visible hanging between the traffic lights, easily seen in the video as we approach the intersection and when we stop after the crash) plus the large arrow and the word ONLY painted directly on the road to indicate left turn only. plus there's no oncoming traffic that you need to inform of your intentions.

Also, if I had tried to stop to let him change lanes, there's still a good chance he'd have clipped my front corner, or at the very least, I would have then been holding up traffic behind me, potentially then being rear-ended. Houston drivers aren't always the most patient. Seen plenty of them pass school buses that have their red lights flashing and the little stop signs extended on the side. Sometimes they surprise me by being patient and polite - letting you merge or change lanes for example - but that's a very rare thing.

 

[Nigel]

Ahh, if that was him braking rather than you accelerating then it looks very different, and somewhat excessive braking given that there were vehicles behind him not expecting it - these videos can be very hard to interpret correctly...

In that case I would probably have floored the throttle to get well out of his way ASAP!

 

[Scruit]

This whole discussion reminds me of something I've always thought about dashcam crash videos...

"Even if I'm lying in bed and a car comes crashing through my window... SOMEONE out there will argue my bed was too close to the wall."

 

[Scruit]

I interpreted the truck's initial move right as being absent-minded or giving a wide berth to something on his left - I didn't see that as a lane change attempt.

I call this accident 100% truck's fault, 0% Camry's fault.

 

[Gibson99]

I call this accident 100% truck's fault, 0% Camry's fault.

And thankfully, that's exactly what the reporting offer said, too. and perhaps most importantly, the other driver didn't argue about it, and his insurance company is being very cooperative.

 

[sludgeguts]

Again with the people watching a video and saying how we all saw it coming.
Of course we all saw it coming - it's in the title of the video!
Also bear in mind that the 10 seconds of video we watch seems like a long time but when you are in that situation, 10 seconds flashes past.
Maybe next time someone puts up a random video clip, 20 minutes either side of an event with no clues in the title THEN see how many tell us they saw it coming!
A lot of what we do behind the wheel is based on a set rules and assumptions - we drive to the rule book and assume others will do the same - we all get to our destinations safely.
In this case, the rules say lane 1 is left turn only (clearly signed at the 10s mark) and lane 2 is left turn/ahead. The assumption is that the other guy will follow the rules.
Just because he wandered doesn't necessarily mean he wants lane 2, a load of drivers out there struggle to stay in lane (speed up a motorway video & I guarantee the car in front will appear to be zigzagging in the lane - some are far worse than others and will cross the line)

 

[Gibson99]

Maybe next time someone puts up a random video clip, 20 minutes either side of an event with no clues in the title THEN see how many tell us they saw it coming!

i could have been lazy and uploaded the complete 3 minute clip, which starts about a mile before, up on the mainlanes of the freeway, and then sits in that traffic at the red light for about a minute before we start moving. i think i only trimmed a few seconds off the end of it just to save a little space and time uploading. that was my first time to use registrator viewer. not a bad piece of software, but the UI seems pretty goofy when your camera doesn't record GPS or accelerometer data.

 

[sludgeguts]

He probably has the most expensive damage which is amazing given the size of the vehicle!

These days, the smallest cars are just as strong as the largest lorries - everything seems to be made out of tinfoil stuck to a subframe made from old drinks cans!
One of my colleagues was reversing his bus & 'just' caught a wooden post hidden just inside a bush. This post caught a plastic vent (it only protrudes by 1cm) & before he knew it, the vent was 60cm further along the side of the bus than it should be. It had split the body open without making a sound - the plastic vent was undamaged, the bodywork looked like it had been had by an old-fashioned tin opener!

 

[rudolf diesel]

Whole lot of "armchair quarterbacking" and "accident lawyering" going on in here.

Tundra was in the wrong and caused the accident.

End of story.

 

[sludgeguts]

i could have been lazy and uploaded the complete 3 minute clip, which starts about a mile before, up on the mainlanes of the freeway, and then sits in that traffic at the red light for about a minute before we start moving. i think i only trimmed a few seconds off the end of it just to save a little space and time uploading. that was my first time to use registrator viewer. not a bad piece of software, but the UI seems pretty goofy when your camera doesn't record GPS or accelerometer data.

Yeah, but nobody really wants to sit & watch a tediously long clip, that's why almost everyone uploads just the relevant bit to YT.
I think the only time anyone wants all the footage is in a case where someone gets brake-checked, to see if there was something that happened earlier. Or, in the case of the SUV guy that got swarmed by the loony bikers, the additional footage showed the bikers being idiots...

 

[rudolf diesel]

Nope, different scenario all together....

 

[Scruit]

Different situation. In the OP the truck departed its lane behind the driver as opposed to this clip where there truck departed its lane in front of you. Not even close.

 

[Scruit]

Oh and yes his insurance is paying. I'm at body shop getting estimate right now. Not totaled as long as we get a door from a junkyard car, which is fine by me.

3rd party insurance, right?

Don't feel like you have to accept lesser quality repairs just so his insurance won't total it. Also, don't feel liek you have to go out of your way to make it easy on them. You have a right to be made whole - don't offer to be made 75% whole.

Get the quote for the proper repair (new door and paint if needed), and if that means the repairs are too expensive and they just give you the car's value then so be it. Take the money and repair your car as you see fit. Just understand the different between settlement and repair cost that you pocket is offset by the lowered value of your car from the lower quality repair, so it's not free money.

 

[M---]

I had a case where a large truck went into my lane. I could have held my ground because its my lane after all, it would have been his fault 100%.

@flank: in my jurisdiction, you have a responsibility to take evasive action, be it braking or trying to get out of the way. In this case of the large truck merging in front of you, had you not taken evasive action, you would likely have been found 25-50% liable. You did well for yourself by getting out of its way!

@Gibson99: my first take on watching your video (before reading the detailed description or the comments) fits with your description-- lazy driver drifted out of his lane, you honked, he hit his brakes and pulled back in, now he's out of your field of vision. Entering the turn, you follow the lane markings, he doesn't. Crunch. I don't see any game of chicken-- just one driver not paying attention-- no aggression from either driver.

 

[Scruit]

You have a duty to make a reasonable attempt to avoid a collision. As we have seen from the countless Russian dashcam videos, though, making too great an attempt to avoid hitting the bad car usually results in you hitting an innocent car (while the bad car drives away). Legally, many would argue it's better to hit the bad car than hit an innocent car. Depending on circumstances, you make you own call from a safety perspective:

- If I have to chose between sideswiping an innocent car or going head-on into a truck that has crossed the median then I'll sideswipe the car.
- If I have to choose between hitting a car that ran a stop sign or swerving and going into a ditch then I'm hitting the car.

 

[Gibson99]

3rd party insurance, right?

Don't feel like you have to accept lesser quality repairs just so his insurance won't total it. Also, don't feel liek you have to go out of your way to make it easy on them.

i have no issues with junkyard parts. there are already some on all 3 of my cars and if i didnt tell you which ones they were, even though they are in plain sight, you wouldn't be able to tell which parts they were. for example, one is the convertible soft top on my miata. i put on the top from a wrecked 2003 to get a glass back window. that top replaced the original 1997 top which had a browned plastic back window (completely opaque) and was looking pretty ragged. yet it looks and works like oem. better, actually since the 97 miata was never available with a glass back window.

my car also has several mods (limited slip diff, carbon kevlar clutch, fidanza flywheel, more) which i would not get my money back out of if they totaled it.

plus, i dont think i could get another car as reliable as this one for what its current value is.

on top of that, this car has been paid off for a while. i can't afford to suddenly have a car note right now either.

 

[Scruit]

In Ohio if a 3rd party insurer "totals" your car they pay you the value of the car (possibly minus scrap value) and you get to keep the car - they don't take it away.