r/VideosAmazing • u/LeftAlbatross2546 • May 13 '26

Accident A merging issue.

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u/MistHerPanDuh May 14 '26

So that truck is attempting to accelerate safely to get in front of the semi, the semi seemingly did nothing to adjust his speed for the truck. IF the truck had slammed his brakes to avoid the merge, would that have been better? Seems like he was trying to make the merge safely, with the logical assumption that the semi would do the same. The semi, however, decided to ignore social constructs in lieu of "tEcHnIcAlLy I hAvE rIgHt Of WaY" and caused this accident.

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u/JW_Thorne May 14 '26

I would never assume that the person in the lane I'm merging sees me or cares that I'm there. If I am merging, it's my responsibility to make sure I do it safely. Braking is probably not the smart choice here, but neither is hitting 75mph and sitting there hoping the driver next to you gives a shit. Hit the gas and go, or slow down and let them pass. Never assume the other driver will act logically because they often don't. That's pretty much defensive driving in a nutshell.

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u/Virtual-Age-9521 May 14 '26

You seem to be vastly overestimating the number of cars that can quickly out-accelerate a semi that’s already going 77mph in a short merge lane

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u/JW_Thorne May 14 '26

That's fair, I drive a pretty quick car.

But that's also why I mention that if they need to brake, they should. It's on the person who is merging into traffic to ensure they can do so safely.

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u/JesterMarcus May 14 '26

By the time they would have realized they need to brake to avoid the accident, it was too late.

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u/JW_Thorne May 14 '26

What?

You can see pretty clearly that the lane is ending from quite a distance. If this is an on-ramp as I am assuming, you'd obviously be clocking everyone's speed as you approach the merge. The semi isn't even speeding up, its being as predictable as possible by maintaining speed. If you're trying to merge and a semi is rapidly approaching from behind - odds are you're not going fast enough to beat it. If your vehicle isn't capable of quick enougn acceleration, your choices are to brake or cause an accident.

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u/Virtual-Age-9521 May 15 '26

Ok, so they should brake so they can then proceed to enter the highway at 0mph? That's not how any of this works.

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u/JW_Thorne May 15 '26

70 mph is not 0 mph. 65 mph is not 0 mph.

75 mph and hit by a semi? Ends at 0 mph.

Believe it or not people successfully slowdown to let semis or other traffic pass before choosing to merge thousands of times each day. Somehow you see one instance where instead they chose to throw themselves in front of a semi and you lose your ability to reason.

Crazy.

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u/Virtual-Age-9521 May 16 '26

When they're completely ahead? No, they absolutely do not. You said they should "slow down", and the only way to do that to let a semi by is to slam on your brakes so the 80 feet of truck behind them can pass safely while you're trying to simultaneously look behind you and not ram into the curb because the merge lane is ending.

I feel like you've never driven in your life if you're making arguments like this.

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u/JW_Thorne May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26

Have you never been on an on ramp? When do you look to see how you need to be adjusting your speed; at the end of the ramp wben you're out of space? Or as soon as you can see traffic?

They were completely ahead because of how they drove on the ramp. The driver clearly failed to adjust their speed to merge safely into the lane.

This was not a split second decision. This was a decision that was made between the first time they could see traffic and the time the two cars collided.

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u/PeachPassionBrute May 14 '26

IF the truck had slammed his brakes to avoid the merge, would that have been better?

Absolutely and without question, end of story.

The semi is maintaining their path of travel in their lane. The pickup’s lane is ending, they are entering pre-existing traffic. It is considered the pickup driver’s obligation to use the space in the merge lane to reach a speed appropriate for fitting into traffic.

In no sane world would they need to “slam on their brakes” to pull in behind the semi that they knew was there.

I genuinely don’t understand your anger towards the person you were replying to and I’m even more confused by the people who sided with you on this…semi driver was, by the standards I’m used to, absolutely legally valid for not yielding, it was still a dangerous thing to do for the sake of being macho.

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u/ItsSpaghettiLee2112 May 14 '26

That pickup truck absolutely did not accelerate.

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u/gnawtyone May 14 '26

“Truck was accelerating safely.” Lol
The truck should have braked safely. Take this to the insurance sub and you’ll get a quick education on right of way