Impatient Driver Gets Himself Killed

looney2ns

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This happened in front of one of my properties last week. Driver of a Honda Odyssey honked and went around another vehicle and got T-Boned. He wasn't wearing his seat belt and cartwheeled out the drivers side window onto the pavement where he got run over by an F-150.



View attachment 46584
Any mention of drugs or alcohol involved?

This is eerie, just last evening, wife and I were leaving a shopping center onto a busy road, just as I came to a complete stop at the red light, it turned green, I always take a look both directions before proceeding. That 3 extra seconds for me to look, irked the late 20's early 30's snowflake driver that was behind us. Horns began honking, arms flailing around, shrugged shoulders, all appeared in my rear mirror.
We turn left, she cam flying up along the passenger side of my vehicle screaming out her window. I continue on. We get stopped at a red light, she's still beside us and we can see she's mouthing off. I think for a brief second, that maybe there was something wrong with the back of my car or something, I roll down the passenger side window just enough to hear what she was saying. Now screaming "Didn't you see the light was green? What the hell were you....." she faded out as I rolled the window back up, I smiled real big and waved to her as we drove off. Geez.
 

TonyR

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She may have been running late for her yoga class OR to met her dealer...who knows!

I get up at 530 AM every morning to take my stepson to work, he has some legal problems and lost his license. It's a 28 mile round trip. We leave the house at 6:30 AM, get to his work about 6:50-6:55 AM, Monday through Friday.

Two-three times a week a white Hyundai Sonata falls in behind me or behind a car that's behind me. We're doing 55-60 on a 2 lane U.S. highway posted for 55 into the morning rising sun in the east and keeping a eye out for stopped school buses, 18-wheelers. mobile homes being toted and deer crossing...your typical hazards in a rural to semi-rural setting..

It's a she and she always leaves late apparently and is either on my bumper or the other guy's like someone's after her with a gun..I mean she is tailgating, pulling out like she's going to pass, trying her best to let me know that she's in a big a$$ hurry ('cause she stayed up too late, can't tell time, I dunno) and it's MY fault for being on the same @#$% road as her.

This is what gets me...she does this every single time she gets behind anyone on that stretch.....and then she makes a left turn into her work place's driveway about 500 yard before I turn left into my stepson's workplace...all that stress, anger and danger-mongering...and she gets to her destination about 5 seconds before we get to ours.

I've been taking him since March and I've seen her drive like this 3 or 4 dozen times...you'd think she'd have sense enough to either leave earlier or be content with being on time......if you're dead, you're gonna be late....VERY late. :screwy:
 

looney2ns

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I see that sort of dumbassery around here all the time. Zipping in and out of traffic, exceeding the speed limit. Guess who pulls up behind or next to them at the next stop light? It's just not kids either.
 

SouthernYankee

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When I move to houston 45 years ago from New York, I wondered why there was no horn honking ? A local explain that if you honk your horn at someone the normal response was gun fire. At the time the local paper reported that 25% of the cars were armed.
 

J Sigmo

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Any mention of drugs or alcohol involved?

This is eerie, just last evening, wife and I were leaving a shopping center onto a busy road, just as I came to a complete stop at the red light, it turned green, I always take a look both directions before proceeding. That 3 extra seconds for me to look, irked the late 20's early 30's snowflake driver that was behind us. Horns began honking, arms flailing around, shrugged shoulders, all appeared in my rear mirror.
We turn left, she cam flying up along the passenger side of my vehicle screaming out her window. I continue on. We get stopped at a red light, she's still beside us and we can see she's mouthing off. I think for a brief second, that maybe there was something wrong with the back of my car or something, I roll down the passenger side window just enough to hear what she was saying. Now screaming "Didn't you see the light was green? What the hell were you....." she faded out as I rolled the window back up, I smiled real big and waved to her as we drove off. Geez.
About 8 years ago, I was driving home late at night from work, and came to a "TEE" intersection. I stopped at the red light, and when it turned green, I looked both ways, as you do, because, as they told us in Driver's Ed, back in the mid '70s, "You're just as dead whether or not you had the right of way." or "He had the right of way." makes a nice epitaph on your tombstone. :)

Anyhow, I've never been more glad that I did. Had I pulled out when the light changed, I would have been broadsided on the driver's side by an 18 wheeler going about 50, who blew right through the red light HE had. I seriously doubt that impact would have been survivable. Call me paranoid, but I also look both ways before crossing railroad tracks regardless of the state of the crossing gate. Equipment can fail! People make mistakes.

Again, from that mid '70s driver's ed class: It takes TWO people making mistakes to create an accident. I've prevented many accidents by being alert and "covering for" someone else's mistake. And I've been granted the same grace in return when people have done what was necessary to prevent MY mistake from causing a wreck.

We watched "Death on the Highway", "Red Asphalt", "Mechanized Death" and many other gruesome 16mm "movies" when I was in high school. Lots of them seem to have been made back in the '50s or '60s, but they made the point. I'm sure they're not allowed to show any of those these days! People were passing out and puking on the floor of the classroom. But hey, it was good for us.

We also saw one that showed the entire surgery to remove most of a cancerous lung from a smoker. That one made a few people pass out or make a mad dash for the bathroom, too! I think the part where they used a spreader gadget to crank the guy's split-down-the-middle sternum apart was about the worst part. That, and making the initial incision straight down the middle of the guy's chest. The surgeon made several passes with the scalpel, each one going in a bit deeper down the same line. For whatever reason, that seemed both interesting and shocking to watch.

I haven't smoked, and I wear my seatbelt.

That security camera video is a good one. Not too gruesome, but it shows the effect of being stupid and impatient, and the effect of NOT wearing your seatbelt. The violence of the impact is surprising, and drives home the point.
 

J Sigmo

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When I move to houston 45 years ago from New York, I wondered why there was no horn honking ? A local explain that if you honk your horn at someone the normal response was gun fire. At the time the local paper reported that 25% of the cars were armed.
Reminds me of a common bumper sticker here:

"Welcome to Wyoming. Consider everyone armed!"
 

CCTVCam

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In the UK seat belts have been compulsory for over 20yrs for just this reason. Also over here the driver who appears to be speeding would be jailed if he was speeding for probably between 5-8yrs for death by dangerous driving.
 

fenderman

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In the UK seat belts have been compulsory for over 20yrs for just this reason. Also over here the driver who appears to be speeding would be jailed if he was speeding for probably between 5-8yrs for death by dangerous driving.
In the US seatbelts have been mandatory in some states dating back to the 1980's, well over 20 years. The driver who appears to be speeding (which is impossible to tell from the camera and the angle) should get not get any punishment. The dumbass who pulled out like a moron is 100 percent at fault, but for his negligence the accident would not have happened.
 

J Sigmo

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It looks like everyone on that main road in that video is traveling quite fast. It does seem to me that the guy who pulled around the other car and drove right out into traffic was 100% at fault. I really do think his insurance will end up paying all of the bills and damage arising from this wreck. If the other guy was speeding, and it can be proven, then he may be found to be partially liable. It would be interesting to find out what the outcome eventually is.

Wyoming is sort of a redneck place. But even here, seatbelts are mandatory. However, unless they changed the law recently, they can't stop you just for not wearing your seatbelt. But if you're stopped for something else, or are in an accident, THEN they'll fine you for not wearing them.

As strange as it sounds, up until just a few years ago, drinking while driving was NOT illegal on Wyoming highways! (Most towns had local laws against "open container", but not the state). You weren't allowed to be drunk (a blood alcohol level above some threshold), but you could legally be boozing as you were driving. Driving outside of city limits, you could legally have an open beer in your hand, and be drinking it or some other liquor. That's no longer legal, but it was, just a few years ago. That always amazed me.
 

TonyR

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It looks like everyone on that main road in that video is traveling quite fast. It does seem to me that the guy who pulled around the other car and drove right out into traffic was 100% at fault. I really do think his insurance will end up paying all of the bills and damage arising from this wreck. If the other guy was speeding, and it can be proven, then he may be found to be partially liable.
Funny how laws differ and how guilt/liability can be assigned variably among the 50 states. I've heard that CA is the most litigious state of all, and I can't argue that after living there over 29 years and worked on the traffic signals there. Had lots of street light and traffic signal poles and cabinets damaged by vehicles, read lots of police reports, gave many depositions and was called as an expert witness on a couple of occasions.

Two notable incidents comes to mind.

The first involved a light rail vehicle (LRV) and its signalized crossing. The LRV ran down the center of a 8 lane (4 each way) road with 40 MPH speed limit posted. It crossed a 10 lane expressway with a 55 MPH posted speed limit. Over 40,000 vehicles a day passed through those signals and it was pandemonium if if/when the signals malfunctioned or were out due to a power outage.
This was about 1988 so some details are fuzzy but here goes....it was about 3:00 AM, the signals were completely dark due to a local power outage (this was '88 before we had LEDs in the signal heads and UPS's in the cabinet to keep it all running). When the LRV attempted to cross the dark, 10 lane expwy, he came to a stop, looked both ways in the pitch black and started across. A late 70's Chevy pickup with NO HEADLIGHTS ran intro the side of the LRV, ended up underneath it and the driver wound up losing both of his legs. He was highly intoxicated. The municipal agency and the operator of the LRV were found liable because they failed to follow protocol at the dark traffic signal (they were supposed to call in and wait until 2 safety officers arrived with flares, flags, flashlights, etc. to stop traffic and guide them across the expwy). Amazing.....the guy had no headlights and was over the legal limit...but he was found not at fault. BTW, it's not that he failed to switch his headlights on, it's because there were none installed!

Another involved a bridge over a small river in the county jurisdiction. The county had posted signs to discourage young folk from jumping into the water from the bridge during the summer months. IIRC, the signs read "NO DIVING". A teen jumped in, hit a shallow spot and broke his spine or neck. The family sued and was awarded a huge sum because the sign did not also read "NO JUMPING".....jeez.

Wyoming is sort of a redneck place. But even here, seatbelts are mandatory. However, unless they changed the law recently, they can't stop you just for not wearing your seatbelt.
AL just made it mandatory as of Sept. 1, 2019 that adults in ALL seats also must have their seatbelts fastened, before it was required only in the FRONT....go figure the logic why prior to 2019 someone in the back seat was not considered in danger if unrestrained.

You CAN be stopped here if LEO sees a seatbelt infraction.
 
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CCTVCam

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Funny how laws differ and how guilt/liability can be assigned variably among the 50 states.
Yeah that's the difference over here. Over here, they would say the speeding motorist was equally to blame as if he'd been travelling slower, he'd have had time to brake or take evasive action. The relatives over here and a lot of the public are baying for justice (read revenge) if anyone is killed or injured in any crash. As indicated previously, he would likely be interviewed and arrested in hospital as soon as he was well enough and would most likely face 5-8 yrs for death by dangerous driving. Whether to not, you agree with that course of action, is another matter. I have mixed feelings here although there are many incidents in the UK I don't agree with. eg Gary Hart where he allegedly fell asleep behind the wheel - an innocent mistake but one that got him 5yrs prison: Great Heck rail crash - Wikipedia

This one I do agree with, the guy here got 10 yrs for killing other motorists by using his cell phone behind the wheel (includes video footage of accident): Family wants you to see this how a driver killed four while distracted by phone | Metro News
 
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There are several places around here that I have more often than not decided rather than turning left across traffic, I turn right and go passed then next stop light and go right, right, right and then left arrow left.
 

Xeddog

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Maybe the delivery services have it right. No left turns.
 
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