Dash cam big rig crash

Running 2-3 mph below the maximum speed limit won't prevent a rear-end crash if the guy ahead of you is traveling 20 mph below the minimum speed limit and you fail to recognize how quickly you are closing in until it is too late. 2-3 mph in reality wouldn't have made a lick of difference. Speed limit 70, you're running 67-68. Guy running 65 pulls out into the left lane and hits the brakes as you're catching him and start to pull into the left lane yourself. He's pulling a van, obstructing your view up ahead, so you've got 2 choices: 1) Follow him into the left lane and hope he had a legitimate reason for what he did; or 2) stay in the right lane at least long enough to see what is going on.

In this scenario, the W9 wouldn't have seen the other truck pull off of the shoulder at a crawl, so when dashcam hit the left lane and slowed, his reaction may have been "What is this knucklehead doing? He's got 1/2 a mile at least between himself and that truck he just pulled out to pass!" so he stayed right and punched it...only to realize all too late that the truck ahead of him was just crawling along.

Like I said, all 3 drivers could have acted differently to avoid setting the scene...but they didn't, and ultimately there are 2 drivers directly at fault with the other playing an indirect role. The one guy shouldn't have pulled off the shoulder until he was up to speed, and the second guy should have been paying closer attention so as not to run into him. The third guy could have maintained speed when he moved over, put on his 4-ways signaling a situation up ahead, or even reduce his speed in the right lane (since he was going to slow down anyway) to let the truck about to pass him get by before pulling out into the left lane.

It is all "wouldda/couldda/shouldda" at this point, though, and it is easy to Monday morning quarterback these situations. However, by evaluating the big picture without the self-righteous indignation that goes along with the "it can't happen to ME, cuz my $#!+ don't stink" attitude, you might actually see some of the behaviors each of these drivers exhibited in yourself AND CORRECT IT before you find yourself in a similar position...unless your goal is to catch something gnarley on your dash cam so that you can post up another "so-and-so in a hurry" video, in which case you're probably looking at these trying to figure out what you need to do differently in order to set up these sorts of scenarios.

 

I assign the fault 95% to the KW. The rearendee was evidently going slower than the minimum speed which is usually 40 miles per hour so he gets about 5%. Now if he had been hit while parked on the side of the road and it was discovered he had no mechanical problems his share of the fault spikes way up.

Dashcamboy, so long as he was above posted minimum speed gets 0% of the blame here. Plus, he didn't hit anything and no-one hit him.
But even if he was going slower and is liable for some fault, since he didn't hit anything and no-one hit him there really is no proof he did anything wrong. He pulled over presumably to check on these guys, and if he was smart he kept the video evidence to himself and didn't volunteer it to the investigators.

In short it would be very difficult to assign fault to the dashcammer legally. He could just argue he was using the "Move Over" laws and his speed was just a cautionary excercise.

 

@scottied67 since the driver posted this on the web, it is likely that he did not keep it to himself.

 

That's why I put the qualifier in there "if he was smart...."

 

How do you conclude the dashcamtruck slowed down?

He hit the brakes when the accident happend,are you saying he slowed down before?

 

I'm not saying the dashcam truck could be held legally liable for the wreck in any way, shape, manner, or form. All I am saying is that certain behaviors exercised by that driver are conducive to making potentially bad situations worse by encouraging others to make bad decisions.

A defensive driver is aware of the limitations his vehicle places on those around him (such as limiting visibility) and will take actions to protect those around him from themselves. Sure, you may not be "involved" in a wreck, but that doesn't mean there weren't steps you could have taken to reduce the liklihood of it happening.

As for the slow driver, he's much more than 5% at fault. A guy I used to work with received an obstructing traffic cite following a similar incident while getting back up to speed after taking care of a tire that had just blown. He had made it up to 40 mph when he got hit...minimum speed limit was 70. Guy who hit him was in a car, too, not another truck. Point is, if you stop on the shoulder for ANY reason, legitimate emergencies included, it is up to YOU to get back up to speed and merge back into traffic SAFELY.

Again, not trying to say the KW driver didn't screw up big time...he did. He wasn't the only one who set it all up to happen that way. I'm not talking legal liability, but rather the basics of defensive driving. Just because you didn't get tangled up in an incident doesn't mean you didn't play a supporting role in its creation. For example, straddling a gator when you know there is a low-riding sports car riding your tail when you COULD have changed lanes to go around it and allow that car time to see and avoid it. Did you CAUSE them to tailgate you? No. Did you drop it in the road? No. Legally, you didn't do anything wrong...but that doesn't mean you couldn't have prevented the situation by acting differently.

 

Long reply but it doesn't answer the fact that you implied dashcam slowed down and thus had fault in the accident.
So how did you conclude he decreased his speed once he was in the fastlane?

 

KW9 100% at fault. There was no one else in the vicinity that caused that accident. KW totally misread the situation and failed to take action to avoid the accident. The truck he hit had not just joined the highway, you could see him from 1/2 a mile back. Probably distracted driving by the KW9 driver.

 

Dashcammer had to have slowed down considerably to keep the slow truck in his camera angle. He's one of those disgusting drivers who go around looking for crashes and near misses to post up on the toob

 

I'm just glad they were close to a big blue H sign. I'm sure someone needed it. :/