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reflection

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To me the annoying part is that the SUV driver honked his horn for 5 seconds longer than he had to. The white car had already stopped. This is a residential street so no need to disturb the neighbors more.
I think that SUV driver did the right thing; it could have been close call for a collision. Some drivers are simply not alert enough. Just because you have driveway, doesn't mean you have the right of way, the driver on the driveway pulled out prematurely without considering the consequences.
Yes, the SUV driver should have honked. Once the white car stopped, there was no need to keep honking. That's obnoxious.
 

Xeddog

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Plenty of blame to go around for both of them. The driver of the white car starts backing out, and even when the car enters the street the SUV is still not in frame. The white car driver's view of it coming may have been blocked by the other car parked on the street. But, the SUV was doing at least 40mph and maybe more. If the A-hole had been doing the speed limit, there would not have been a problem. But that horn honk elevated the A-hole up to a level 1 A-hole. I wouldn't be surprised if he was also blabbing a stream of curse words.
 

Arjun

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The reason behind the prolonged honking was likely due to the driver having a panic attack supplemented by a sudden surge in adrenaline. At least nobody got hurt.

Yes, the SUV driver should have honked. Once the white car stopped, there was no need to keep honking. That's obnoxious.
Obviously the entitled douche the in SUV was speeding. And I agree, the car parked at the curb, blocked the white cars view. SUV running the speed limit, there'd been no problem.
I'm going to guess the white car was driven by an elderly person.
 

sebastiantombs

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The most likely reason for the long horn blowing is probably the entitled attitude of that driver who, undoubtedly, would NEVER do anything wrong while driving being such a perfect individual.
 

reflection

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The most likely reason for the long horn blowing is probably the entitled attitude of that driver who, undoubtedly, would NEVER do anything wrong while driving being such a perfect individual.
or he's just a prick. LOL.
 

J Sigmo

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There's no doubt in my mind that the silver car was speeding, and when they saw the white car backing out, they laid on the horn and braked to avoid a collision. And then they kept on the horn, probably annoyed that they had to slow down, and that the white car didn't change direction and pull back into the driveway out of the way.

The white car's vision was likely obscured by both the tree and at least one parked car, And they'd especially have a hard time seeing the speeding silver car because it was traveling at least 45 MPH in what is likely a 20 to 30 MPH zone, so if the white car had checked for traffic, they still may not have seen the speeding silver vehicle because it entered the "danger zone" after they checked, but moved towards them at an unanticipated speed. We can't really know if they looked, looked well enough, etc.

So we have an impatient speeding jerk and someone who clearly didn't really check well enough before entering the traffic lane.

But this is a residential street. People have to be able to get in and out of their driveways. So the proper and safe thing to do is to drive at a prudent speed, and watch for cars, kids, pets, etc., that might come out from the side into your lane, and then be courteous and slow or stop to let them in or out, or whatever. For traffic to work smoothly and safely, people have to follow the golden rule as they drive and not be so selfish.

As my old drivers' ed teacher said, back in '74 or so when I took that class, it takes TWO mistakes to cause a collision. He also said there's no such thing as an "accident". Someone, usually two people, must screw up. So call it what it is: A wreck, or a collision, but never call it an "accident".

Both drivers are almost always at least partially at fault. One guy makes a mistake, and the other guy isn't looking, is driving too fast, etc., and is unable to avoid the other guy. This is why they teach "defensive driving". The idea is to be watching for and anticipating the kinds of things that are likely to unfold ahead of you. And thus, you should be driving in such a manner that you can avoid the typical things that might happen. None of this should come as a surprise to you. Wouldn't a reasonable person expect that someone might back out of their driveway, and perhaps not be able to see very well when doing so? You don't have to be a brain surgeon to expect such things.

The speeding jerk could have hit a dog, cat, child, etc., that darted out from between the parked cars. He may have had the right of way, but he would still be at least partially at fault, and likely could have prevented the tragedy by driving at a reasonable speed and looking for (and expecting) the typical events for a residential area. The video from this camera capture would have hung him in court because his speed could be easily calculated by distance traveled per number of frames, knowing the frame rate. If cited for speeding contributing to an accident, he or his insurance would have had to cough up at least part of the damages had there been a collision.

So, yeah. You shouldn't back out into traffic if you can't see that it's safe to do so. But you should also not drive so fast, and be such a jerk about it if someone (heaven forbid) actually wants to exit their driveway. I live on a far-too-narrow, far-too-busy residential street that has, unfortunately, become a major thoroughfare as the town has grown. People often speed through the area, and when I'm driving, I fully understand their side of things. But when I'm trying to park or get out of my driveway, then I fully understand the side of the residents. :)
 

Arjun

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Oh maybe there wasn't a speed limit sign posted on that road :p

But yes, upon reviewing the footage again, it appears the SUV was accelerating a bit too fast in contrast to the surrounding area :) Of course this was noticeable after I drank a cup of coffee :rofl:

There's no doubt in my mind that the silver car was speeding, and when they saw the white car backing out, they laid on the horn and braked to avoid a collision. And then they kept on the horn, probably annoyed that they had to slow down, and that the white car didn't change direction and pull back into the driveway out of the way.

The white car's vision was likely obscured by both the tree and at least one parked car, And they'd especially have a hard time seeing the speeding silver car because it was traveling at least 45 MPH in what is likely a 20 to 30 MPH zone, so if the white car had checked for traffic, they still may not have seen the speeding silver vehicle because it entered the "danger zone" after they checked, but moved towards them at an unanticipated speed. We can't really know if they looked, looked well enough, etc.

So we have an impatient speeding jerk and someone who clearly didn't really check well enough before entering the traffic lane.

But this is a residential street. People have to be able to get in and out of their driveways. So the proper and safe thing to do is to drive at a prudent speed, and watch for cars, kids, pets, etc., that might come out from the side into your lane, and then be courteous and slow or stop to let them in or out, or whatever. For traffic to work smoothly and safely, people have to follow the golden rule as they drive and not be so selfish.

As my old drivers' ed teacher said, back in '74 or so when I took that class, it takes TWO mistakes to cause a collision. He also said there's no such thing as an "accident". Someone, usually two people, must screw up. So call it what it is: A wreck, or a collision, but never call it an "accident".

Both drivers are almost always at least partially at fault. One guy makes a mistake, and the other guy isn't looking, is driving too fast, etc., and is unable to avoid the other guy. This is why they teach "defensive driving". The idea is to be watching for and anticipating the kinds of things that are likely to unfold ahead of you. And thus, you should be driving in such a manner that you can avoid the typical things that might happen. None of this should come as a surprise to you. Wouldn't a reasonable person expect that someone might back out of their driveway, and perhaps not be able to see very well when doing so? You don't have to be a brain surgeon to expect such things.

The speeding jerk could have hit a dog, cat, child, etc., that darted out from between the parked cars. He may have had the right of way, but he would still be at least partially at fault, and likely could have prevented the tragedy by driving at a reasonable speed and looking for (and expecting) the typical events for a residential area. The video from this camera capture would have hung him in court because his speed could be easily calculated by distance traveled per number of frames, knowing the frame rate. If cited for speeding contributing to an accident, he or his insurance would have had to cough up at least part of the damages had there been a collision.

So, yeah. You shouldn't back out into traffic if you can't see that it's safe to do so. But you should also not drive so fast, and be such a jerk about it if someone (heaven forbid) actually wants to exit their driveway. I live on a far-too-narrow, far-too-busy residential street that has, unfortunately, become a major thoroughfare as the town has grown. People often speed through the area, and when I'm driving, I fully understand their side of things. But when I'm trying to park or get out of my driveway, then I fully understand the side of the residents. :)
 
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There's no doubt in my mind that the silver car was speeding, and when they saw the white car backing out, they laid on the horn and braked to avoid a collision. And then they kept on the horn, probably annoyed that they had to slow down, and that the white car didn't change direction and pull back into the driveway out of the way.

The white car's vision was likely obscured by both the tree and at least one parked car, And they'd especially have a hard time seeing the speeding silver car because it was traveling at least 45 MPH in what is likely a 20 to 30 MPH zone, so if the white car had checked for traffic, they still may not have seen the speeding silver vehicle because it entered the "danger zone" after they checked, but moved towards them at an unanticipated speed. We can't really know if they looked, looked well enough, etc.

So we have an impatient speeding jerk and someone who clearly didn't really check well enough before entering the traffic lane.

But this is a residential street. People have to be able to get in and out of their driveways. So the proper and safe thing to do is to drive at a prudent speed, and watch for cars, kids, pets, etc., that might come out from the side into your lane, and then be courteous and slow or stop to let them in or out, or whatever. For traffic to work smoothly and safely, people have to follow the golden rule as they drive and not be so selfish.

As my old drivers' ed teacher said, back in '74 or so when I took that class, it takes TWO mistakes to cause a collision. He also said there's no such thing as an "accident". Someone, usually two people, must screw up. So call it what it is: A wreck, or a collision, but never call it an "accident".

Both drivers are almost always at least partially at fault. One guy makes a mistake, and the other guy isn't looking, is driving too fast, etc., and is unable to avoid the other guy. This is why they teach "defensive driving". The idea is to be watching for and anticipating the kinds of things that are likely to unfold ahead of you. And thus, you should be driving in such a manner that you can avoid the typical things that might happen. None of this should come as a surprise to you. Wouldn't a reasonable person expect that someone might back out of their driveway, and perhaps not be able to see very well when doing so? You don't have to be a brain surgeon to expect such things.

The speeding jerk could have hit a dog, cat, child, etc., that darted out from between the parked cars. He may have had the right of way, but he would still be at least partially at fault, and likely could have prevented the tragedy by driving at a reasonable speed and looking for (and expecting) the typical events for a residential area. The video from this camera capture would have hung him in court because his speed could be easily calculated by distance traveled per number of frames, knowing the frame rate. If cited for speeding contributing to an accident, he or his insurance would have had to cough up at least part of the damages had there been a collision.

So, yeah. You shouldn't back out into traffic if you can't see that it's safe to do so. But you should also not drive so fast, and be such a jerk about it if someone (heaven forbid) actually wants to exit their driveway. I live on a far-too-narrow, far-too-busy residential street that has, unfortunately, become a major thoroughfare as the town has grown. People often speed through the area, and when I'm driving, I fully understand their side of things. But when I'm trying to park or get out of my driveway, then I fully understand the side of the residents. :)
I agree, DEFENSIVE driving all the time no matter what. I trained my sons and other family member teens to drive defensively. I told them in a residential area do not go above 20 no matter what. Because anything could come from between the cars. The SUV jerk was driving to fast and not anticipating anything. The car backing up was hindered by the cars and possibly the tree. They may have looked and by the time they reached the street the idiot came speeding up. I tell people to look twice both ways and then look again for this very reason. I also back into my driveway so that when i leave i get a better view of the street as i am leaving my driveway. Many of my neighbors have started doing the same thing. I also say that when you see someone backing out of the driveway, just assume they do not see you and slow down and let them out or proceed with caution. People are so impatient every where now, it's absolutely annoying. :angry:
 

sebastiantombs

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The only problem with backing into a driveway is that backing up seems to be a lost art. People will do anything to avoid backing up anywhere, even, in or into, their own driveway and, when they do, it's pretty much potluck if they can even maintain a straight line, let alone look around before entering the street.
 
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The only problem with backing into a driveway is that backing up seems to be a lost art. People will do anything to avoid backing up anywhere, even, in or into, their own driveway and, when they do, it's pretty much potluck if they can even maintain a straight line, let alone look around before entering the street.
Yeah they have lost the art. I see them trying to use the cameras that are on some cars and i can't believe how the do not look over their shoulders or use the mirrors. They do a worse job backing up, than if they had not used the camera. I have a back up camera but i use my mirrors and looking over my shoulder. I use the camera to see how close i am to an object and to make sure there is nothing below my bumper that i did not see when i got in the car.
 

eeeeesh

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The driver in the silver SUV had right of way. The driver in the reversing white car should have stopped before entering the roadway. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to go back to driver's ed school. Period.
Also, the title of the video "Impatient Driver Honking Horn For No Reason" is wrong; if he had not quickly stopped, there would have been a collision. I think that after adverting certain disaster is a perfect time to sound the horn. If you listen closely, you can hear his tires slip briefly he braked so hard. Definintely not "no reason". I think someone has been watching too much CNN recently and getting brainwashed to the point that right is wrong and wrong is right and what happened didn't happen!
(didn't real all the posts)

No offense, but I think your the one who needs to go to traffic school or at least familiarize yourself with California Law

21904a CVC
(a) The driver of any vehicle about to enter or cross a highway from any public or private property, or from an alley, shall yield the right-of-way to all traffic, as defined in Section 620, approaching on the highway close enough to constitute an immediate hazard, and shall continue to yield the right-of-way to that traffic until he or she can proceed with reasonable safety.

It looks to me when the white car started backing onto the street, which would be considered the point where they 'entered a highway', the other car isn't even in view. When it does come into view, it appears that it is at least 5 car lengths back. Average car length is about 20', so the SUV was over 100' back when the white car 'entered the highway', definitely not close enough to constitute an immediate hazard.

Speed limit in a residential zone is 25 mph or ~36 feet per second. Average perception reaction time is 1.5 second, so the SUV going 25 mph would have traveled approx 54 feet before they realized there was a problem, leaving about another 50 feet to come to a full stop. At 25 mph, a car should be able to come to a complete stop in about 30'. Instead, the driver decided to lay on the horn like an asshole. (would they do the same thing for a kid on a bicycle?)

SUV is definitely not driving 25 mph. Had they cars collided, I would say the primary collision factor would be 'unsafe speed for the conditions' and throw in:
27001 CVC
(a) The driver of a motor vehicle when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation shall give audible warning with his horn

It's a residential zone for crying out loud
 

Arjun

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An SUV of that size is likely 1 ton heavier than the sedan that was backing out of the driveway. Had there been a collision, it would have been an ugly scene. I wouldn't be surprised if that SUV driver had a radar detector on the windshield; you can get away from speeding tickets, but you can't get away from lack of common sense which in turn can get you in more serious trouble than simply a fine.
 
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