Should I have been better prepared for this?

You cant discount the possibility of stupid, strange, unusual, uncommon, things happening so why limit anticipating the possibilities? Anticipate things like that all the time.
Everything worked out and no contact was made so dont worry about all the grief you are getting here, just live and learn

 

had there been an accident, i can assure you that he would have been found at fault, one reason would be when asked, "did you see that car dong that lane change"..??

if he answers YES, then it will be said, "he could have avoided it"..

if he answers NO, then they will say"he wasn't paying attention".

either way, he would be screwed.

Not really an opinion, but from past experiences from others and my own personal experiences, i can indeed come close to a fact.

sometimes, you just gotta say, "######, i give up"..lol

Yes, merging traffic is always a nightmare, when people want to be "number 1" and get to the front of the line. many red flags popped up, and were not responded to fast enough. as you say, get off the accelerator, or move over (if you can)

what i underlined/bolded.
Yes, by discounting, you "nearly had" a major problem that could have seen you getting charged with an accident, civil lawsuit, maybe getting fired, etc.etc. this time, you got "lucky", but there may not be another "next time.

as for when do you limit anticipating..??

NEVER, as long as you are behind the wheel, as a professional driver, you are on high alert all that time. when you are driving your own personal vehicle, you are on alert as well, because any accident you have in your own vehicle STILL GOES on your driving record.

Yes, typical rookie mistake, but this time, he lucked out. we have all made maybe this very same mistake at one time or another, question arises though, does one learn from it..??

Yes, a little pride got tarnished, a little ego got deflated, but in the end, the o/p survived, and hopefully will be MORE AWARE of traffic patterns on the busy highways, which i am sure he has learned.....(am i correct o/p..???)

being safe out there is a constant "job" we must do.

It is VERY EASY for any driver to be hit with a "preventable" especially when the safety dept KNOWS how to grill a driver every which way.

 

I was taught that when I was 15 in drivers training in high school. THAT is GENERAL knowledge that any driver should have.

 

Smart to have video rolling while you are.
Very smart.
That could save you in court one day.

 

two words, smith system. It works. i wont even read the posts as I can already tell the i never speed, always GOAL, always pre trip crowd is in here.

 

You've never seen this then I take it....

 

What's the story on those cameras? I gotta use my iphone lol.

I'd like a setup like that.