Looks like red truck hit and run. You have his tag.

A1, was there any damage to your vehicle? If so, like Mars said, that's a hit and run. I can't stand hit and run drivers!!

quote:

A1, was there any damage to your vehicle?

Several people say the way they see the camera and red truck move there had to be contact. I couldn't find anything indicating we touched.

This truck has a 16,000 pound winch in a carrier on the front. If she hit it I may not be able to tell, but am confident she would have gotten the worst end of that deal.

Red truck never even had the courtesy of having the left turn signal on....

The only question I have for a1abdj is this. Was there room to merge right behind you? The woman driving the truck also reminded me of the guy who speeds up to get around you, then causes you to brake because they turn at the next corner or take the next exit.

Here’s my take: the red truck was wrong for not cutting in correctly, not because he cut in. The evidence that I see is he hesitated, there’s a big gap between him and the car he was trying to follow. He should have sped up and merge in to minimize the space and declaratively claim his spot. He was late in merging due to his hesitation.

I don’t mind people cutting in front of me in similar situations as long as they minimize their impact on me. I imagine the OP “stutter stepped” his forward motion and that small delay gets passed on and magnified to the cars behind. Usually, I’m the one cutting in but I do it with minimal impact. This is because usually people merge too early leaving an open unused stretch in the merging lane.

quote:

Originally posted by Phantom229:


Damn, beat me to it but I have the DOT version:
DOT Zipper Merge

This is why the red vehicle had the right of way.

I have ben told this by a CHP Commercial Enforcement Officer investigating an accident involving one of our company's 18 wheeler. Foremost vehicle has the right of way and a lane closure is the same as two lanes coming together to form one. Sane for an on ramp ending. Unless there is a posted yield sign.

Our truck was entering the slow lane at the end of the on ramp. He had his front of the truck already in part of the lane and the car did not want to let the truck in and struck truck at the rear.

The car was cited as failure to yield and our truck driver was not charged with the accident.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:

I suppose everybody could have given two car lengths between them and the person in front of them. But then the 5 mile back up would have been 10 miles.

When I'm in slow moving traffic I'll leave a car length in front of me. When we stop, maybe 5 feet. As traffic goes faster, I increase that distance.

I believe law requires one car length for ever ten miles per hour.

In video it appears traffic traveling faster the that by some degree.

If a person only leaves one car length gap between them and the vehicle in front of them in what they deem as slower traffic, then there is never any room for someone to change lanes safely.

Everything would have been fine if the red truck had just sped up and joined traffic instead of enjoying a bit of indecision; speed up and join the pack!

Red truck would get the ticket, hands down. Red truck is the vehicle changing lanes, A1 is going straight ahead. Even without the video, the vehicle changing lanes has to make sure he can do it safely. Didn't even put on his blinker?

And the whole "zipper" concept reeks like a bright idea some jackass making half a million dollars who doesn't actually have to drive in traffic thinks up on his computer program.

quote:

This is why the red vehicle had the right of way.

Not exactly. You may notice that the form of merging mentioned is recommended by the department of transportation. It is not traffic law.

It also doesn't work the way they claim it does.

quote:

I believe law requires one car length for ever ten miles per hour.

Which car? Smart car? Stretch limousine? Car you're driving? Car in front of you?

If you scroll that video back to the start you will see that there was plenty of space between me and the SUV in front of me that began to decrease when they (and I) began to slow.

quote:

If a person only leaves one car length gap between them and the vehicle in front of them in what they deem as slower traffic, then there is never any room for someone to change lanes safely.

And there is the crux of the matter. When you start the video how it is linked, it appears that there is a vehicle pacing me to my right that I'm "not letting in".

When you move the video back a few seconds you'll notice that's not the case. The red truck was going faster in the lane that ends than traffic was in both moving lanes, then just started coming over when he was halfway past me.

quote:

Was there room to merge right behind you?

Traffic was stop and go, and had been backed up for several miles. Roughly 1/4 mile or so where you could see that the right lane was closed. No previous warnings or instructions, but everybody else that had been in that lane was merging.

I can not see behind this truck so I don't know how close the vehicle behind me was. Far enough that they didn't hit me when I stopped.

quote:

Everything would have been fine if the red truck had just sped up and joined traffic

I think speed was their problem. Instead of matching the speed of traffic and getting into a hole they were doing a version of what Mars had posted earlier. Driving faster than traffic was moving to get around everybody else, failed to get to an opening, and ran out of lane.

quote:

He had his front of the truck already in part of the lane and the car did not want to let the truck in and struck truck at the rear.

As opposed to the truck in your story not being in the lane yet, hitting the front of the car with his passenger door, and then blaming the car for already occupying the lane he was entitled to?

Driving in traffic is not standing in the cafeteria line waiting for lunch. Everyone is manipulating upwards of two tons of moving steel, and all drivers do not have the same experience level or skills, so "cutting the line" is not an expression I would use driving a car. The merging driver appeared to be inexperienced and attempting to maintain control of his/her vehicle - continuing to move forward while the driver clearly had the intention (and need) to merge, regardless of "right," when there was ample opportunity to avoid the near-miss or actual collision by simply applying the brakes on either car, was perhaps not the best survival strategy. Ongoing traffic has the right of way; merging traffic should yield. It didn't. If you want to see the results of "I'm the only car on the road" driving, right or wrong, justified or not, watch some of the Russian dashcam videos. Drivers are not faceless automobiles, but real people - sometimes safety requires yielding to jerks: you don't know what's going on in someone's head, or what they're thinking (or not) while driving. Or....a video I've always thought should be mandatory for any healthcare provider, or any person for that matter. Twice.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Doc H.,

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:

Not exactly. You may notice that the form of merging mentioned is recommended by the department of transportation. It is not traffic law.

It also doesn't work the way they claim it does.

quote:

I believe law requires one car length for ever ten miles per hour.

Which car? Smart car? Stretch limousine? Car you're driving? Car in front of you?

quote:

If a person only leaves one car length gap between them and the vehicle in front of them in what they deem as slower traffic, then there is never any room for someone to change lanes safely.

At this time I am not debating who would be at fault. I am only answering a question you have asked about what car length.

Actually to really get to the correct recommended following distance. It is recommended to have a minimum one second of traveled space per every ten feet of your vehicle length. Therefor a smart car would have less needed space then a crew cab pickup truck. As the roadway speed increases so does your following space due to distance traveled in that time. If the weather is bad as in rain or if traffic is heavy as in a construction area or commute traffic it is recommended to add at least a second into your following distance.

Most vehicles on the road are over ten feet in length. My Yukon XL is just over 18 feet. The Crew Cab GMC Shop Truck with an 8 foot bed is just over 19 feet. Thus I would use the two second rule.

In heavy traffic it is really hard to count the seconds of following distance so the older rule of following distance come into play more easily. One vehicle length for every ten MPH.

Tractor Trailer rigs that are 60 to 65 feet long require 6 to 7 second of following distance when the roads are clear and dry. Automobiles would require the two seconds of following distance

The second following distance is taught by many professional driving programs.

This may help to understand following distance.

https://www.drive-safely.net/safe-following-distance/

Unnecessary Risk

According to Smith System training materials, “With 2 seconds or less, drivers can ill afford to take their eyes off the vehicle directly in front to identify risks further ahead, to the sides, or behind.” The limited information gleaned from driving in this way can lead to late, hasty reactions that expose drivers to unnecessary risk.

Proper Following Distance

What’s the proper following distance, according to Smith System? It’s at least 4 seconds, and drivers should measure it like this:

When the vehicle in front passes a fixed object (telephone pole, overpass, etc.), count “one thousand one, one thousand two…” You should get to “one thousand four” before passing the same fixed point.

The distance should be increased in poor road or weather conditions or when driving heavier equipment.

Some drivers voice concern that maintaining such a large following distance allows other drivers to constantly cut in. All that cutting in will force a driver applying the 4-second to keep dropping back, losing time and falling behind schedule.

Smith System says the roots of that concern are more emotional than logical. In fact, when such cutting in occurs, someone else usually is leaving the lane farther ahead. The net impact of a couple of seconds lost rarely has a negative impact on arrival time.

they both share fault. I hate they guy who runs all the way to the very end of the merge lane, but once he's there I see no reason why the guy couldn't just let him in...

quote:

by simply applying the brakes on either car

quote:

but once he's there I see no reason why the guy couldn't just let him in...

Because I was already slowing down, then braking, then standing on the brakes......and there still wasn't enough room between the second I saw them and the 7th second they were merging into me. If you rewind the video from the point it starts at the link you can see her come around me. She wasn't next to me....she passed me.

I wasn't in one of my sports cars. I was in one of my work trucks loaded with safes. That truck is 13,500 pound empty, so I was probably pushing 16,000 to 17,000, on wet pavement.

Apparently it varies state by state so I have been stating how California Vehicle Code sees it.

I apologize for any miss direction I may have caused. I was only stating the information I have been dealing with thru my almost 30 years as lead mechanic with a large trucking company and involved extensively in almost all of our collisions.

This explains California Law on it pretty well.

https://www.pe.com/2011/01/03/...erging-onto-freeway/

Great Video Doc H


Thanks

Roy

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
The guy in the red truck was obligated to yield. Forcing his way in was aggressive and selfish. When I was younger I would aggressively protect my right of way. Over time this resulted in a fender bender, bad feelings, many road rage moments and high stress. I was in the right, but at what cost? Eventually I could see these were pyrrhic victories.

In my personal journey with the concept of selflessness I learned that the only way to win the game is not to play. I have tried to accommodate others far more. The true test of selflessness is can I be so in the face of selfishness? That has been a hard one, but I'm getting better at it.

Imagine what would happen if the driver in the right of way had just allowed the red truck in. What harm could have come from that? Okay, a selfish driver gets ahead. Karma has a way of dealing with those people. But the other driver has peace.

This is the exact reason this type of behavior persists. It's like turning the other cheek after getting spit on. No real harm done, right?

quote:

It's like turning the other cheek after getting spit on

Personally I'd have a hard time equating the two