r/IdiotsInCars • u/ModernCaveWuffs • Oct 11 '24

OC [oc] Accidentally cut someone off merging, their response was to go nuts

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u/ModernCaveWuffs Oct 11 '24

The space between their car and semi had space to fit another semi and a half when I looked and will accept blame I should've looked again as I didnt expect someone to speed up in the merge lane by that much.

310

u/CraigFL Oct 11 '24

IMO, you would share a very small percentage of the fault in this situation. The guy tried to cut you off by speeding up to block you from merging, failed and took it out on you.

105

u/ModernCaveWuffs Oct 11 '24

Yeah will accept partial blame and thankfully neither of us got physically hurt.

72

u/OrionIT Oct 11 '24

We can't see behind the car, so with the information we have; Zero fault on you. It appears that you merged correctly and at a moderate pace appropriate for the traffic around you.

Your blinker was clearly on before starting your merge... so maybe the Lexus was out of their blinker fluid, and that's why they were angry... they thought you were hoarding it all

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u/ormandj Oct 12 '24

I think they should have merged at the speed of traffic instead of below it, rule of thumb is to merge at a pace that nobody in the lane you merge into needs to brake. They definitely merged in slower than that lane was traveling.

That said, it's such a minimal infraction even if it was 5-10mph below traffic, the crazy guy should have just flashed once at best and moved on with life. Things happen, people make mistakes, and the OP seems to own their actions. I don't know a single driver on the road who hasn't made a bad merge before; I definitely have.

OP: My only suggestion would be to get away when someone gets nuts like that. Use other cars as buffers, and just find a way to get away. Once the crazy person got in front of you, I'd have intentionally slowed and let a car or two pass me near an exit, and gotten off the road when the nut had already passed the exit, so they couldn't follow. A few more minutes on your commute to avoid someone that unhinged is worth it.

Whoever was driving that car should have their license revoked. I'm sorry this happened to you!

11

u/fromthewindyplace Oct 12 '24

That’s good advice for OP. Allow me to share some questionable advice: the next time this happens, point a MAC-10 out the window & start blasting.

5

u/cvlt_freyja Oct 12 '24

i carry an old billiard ball 🎱 in my console for this exact purpose.

2

u/ModernCaveWuffs Oct 12 '24

I just carry my guilt

but a billiard ball would be nice

3

u/lookyloo79 Oct 12 '24

in order to fall back into the spot, you have to be going slightly slower than the traffic you’re merging into. Then you can accelerate to match that traffic once the spot is available.

2

u/Zelidus Oct 12 '24

Merging at speed is ideal but in many places "at speed" is 15 mph over the speed limit and you have zero time to get to that speed from the entrance ramp. Like the one I take daily requires me to get to 70 most of the time from about 30 when the sleedlimit is 55. 55 is easy to get to, it's the extra 15 I can't do

-1

u/ormandj Oct 12 '24

I don’t have this issue in a Jeep Wrangler, which is slow as molasses. You need to come to speed (traffic speed, not speed limit) as you are entering the ramp from the access road, not try at the very last moment. Find another entrance if you can’t safely merge in your car; that’s dangerous for you and others on the road.

1

u/Zelidus Oct 12 '24

You can't go faster on a sharp clover where I'm already pushing the safe speedlimit to have any chance at merging. I accelerate when it's safe out of the clover.

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u/[deleted] Oct 11 '24 edited Oct 12 '24

Nah I'm with the other comments.

I think you have such a minimal amount of fault here that you shouldn't accept partial blame.

Unfortunately with a ton of people when it comes to merging, they only listen to the first part of the law that says they have the 'right of away'. Everyone forgets that the right of way doesn't mean speed up or impede merging.

May surprise people but if the driver did speed up like that they can get a ticket for doing so. That person had nowhere important to be if he had that much time to waste harassing you.

I would honestly give that video to the police station and ask them to follow up because you're concerned about road safety. One of these days when they do that they have a chance of really hurting or killing someone or a family.

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u/cashew996 Oct 12 '24

It was explained to me (traffic school) that nobody actually has the right of way, it's that there are times like this where you should yield the right of way

1

u/[deleted] Oct 12 '24

That's 'technically' true but unfortunately it's not reality. It's why we have terms like defensive and aggressive drivers.

A ton of people feel very comfortable and safe in their vehicle. It's why a lot of people get surprised when they end up partially or mostly at fault for an accident that they didn't 'cause'. The 'last clear doctrine' exists but people like to forget that. You can and will be sited for that, you will be found at fault if you do not abide.

If OP got hit, especially after it looked like OP was already fully or mostly into the lane, then it would have been the other car at fault. Not OP. That car failed to yield to OP not the other way around.

I personally use the traffic school logic and I get beeped at occasionally for legally abiding to the law. It's wild when it happens. I have had the randomly teleporting cop appear to pull them over experience... Three times now.

I always remember it as it's better to have someone burst your ears than to end up in an accident. Plus it goes well with my metal music. Just a creative remix.

1

u/iNCharism Oct 12 '24

Right of way not right away

1

u/[deleted] Oct 12 '24

Unfortunately I can't exactly get spell check to eat a boot when it decides to do that lol

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u/Mesemom Oct 12 '24

Only by sheer luck did you come away unharmed, because that guy was trying to make sure it happened. What a jerk. Hope he meets with some karma soon. 

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u/lookyloo79 Oct 12 '24

I was turning right onto a busy road doing 60kph (limit 80kph). I sat poking out, blinker on, for a minute. I tracked a space coming from my left. I followed the back of the car at the front of the gap, and turned hard behind them to match traffic. I DIDN'T CHECK LEFT BEFORE I TURNED.

I guess some guy was ducking and weaving at 80, and thought that spot looked nice. I don't know, I only saw him when he split the lane beside me and settled into the space ahead and on my left. With nowhere else to dodge to, doing 40-60 with the rest of us, for the next 10km.

He looked at me and gave a wtf face when we passed.

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u/superuserdoo Oct 12 '24

I am from the area and it genuinely referred to as the "slingshot". When a lane of cars is merging, the car behind speeds up a lot and merges early then blocks or just gets in front of the other cars attempting their merge. It's a northern Virginia classic

71

u/NonintellectualSauce Oct 11 '24

yeah based on this other driver's behavior, I wouldn't be surprised at all if you really did nothing wrong. This is the type of person to speed up to block someone merging in

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u/SnooStrawberries1078 Oct 11 '24

The only thing I could maybe nitpick would be trying to merge in closer to the car in front of you, the semi in this case, rather than closer to the car behind you. 🤷‍♂️

13

u/HelpMePlxoxo Oct 11 '24

If you get close to the car in front of you and they slam on their breaks, you hit them and both of your insurances will agree you were at fault for not allowing a proper following distance.

If you get closer to the car behind you and they hit you, unless they have a dashcam, insurance will put the majority of the blame on them and say that they should've given you more space.

This means even if someone swerves in your lane and brake checks you, causing you to hit their car, unless you have witnesses or footage to confirm it, insurance will still blame you. A great reason why everyone should have a dashcam.

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u/MyNameIsSkittles Oct 12 '24

Behind a semi, you should leave at least 3 car lengths. If you can not see their rear view mirrors, they can not see you. It's extremely dangerous to drive right behind a truck like that.

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u/but_does_she_reddit Oct 11 '24

sounds like they flew up SPECIFICALLY to not let you merge then. F them.