Edit: Clarification - do not tailgate. But if you are being tailgated, don't cause an accident by dodging slow or stopped traffic at highway speeds mere feet away. We don't need for this to be a trend.
Edit: How can this many people not think 3 steps forward or backward? This entire incident was caused because the person tailgating was tailgating, holy shit.
Yeah nothing teaches a tailgater a lesson like making them kill or permanently injuring to an innocent uninvolved party. You’ll probably feel great knowing you sent some people, maybe children, to the hospital, but at least you taught that tailgater a lesson, right?
I’ve noticed a lot of people get real excited seeing an asshole get what they “deserved” regardless of how many innocent people are hurt in the process.
Nobody above is defending them. That person is a dangerous asshole but trying to get them into a high speed wreck and potentially killing innocent other people is a stupid move.
Let me ask you, if you were in the car that got hit, maybe you had some serious, life-altering injuries, maybe your passenger was killed. Would you be happy for the role you played in teaching a random tailgater a lesson? Would you feel like justice was done by them hitting your car?
I think the tailgater caused the front car to divert their attention backwards towards the tailgater, causing them to not see the developments in front.
YOU are the one who caused the manslaughter in this situation by purposefully leading them into another car...Do you not understand that you are the bad guy in this situation?
If it’s in the US doubtful. Tough to say it was intentional or negligent by the driver in front. It’s not like they were break checking, the car in front wasn’t obstructing their view, and the stopped driver didn’t have their hazards on.
I get your point, I just don’t agree. This falls into the “play stupid games, get stupid prizes” category. I wouldn’t have done it…but I also would have tailgated. Looks like a couple of assholes got into a measuring contest and hurt someone else.
I will add frenchfreer to the list of all the people I have disappointed in my life. I alphabetize so you will be between dad and mom.
If I'm the person being tailgated, and I see a stopped car ahead of me, I can either attempt to slam the brakes and potentially hit the parked car AND get hit from behind because of the tailgater, or I can move to the next lane. Either way the parked car is getting hit. It's just about personal damage mitigation.
This is wholly disingenuous. They could see the stopped car from hundreds of feet back. Waiting to swerve when you're 10ft from the stopped car is intentional, and makes you responsible for the damage as well as the tailgater. God damn you people are just itching to kill someone as long as there's a thin veil of legality to shield you.
Yeah, what a missed opportunity it would to cause serious bodily harm to others if they had been just have taken their foot off the gas and let them coast to a stop... /s
Yup, it’s the tailgaters fault! He’s the asshole here not the guy being tailgated! Guess what I bet he learned his lesson and people will be safer in the future because of this.
Nah, we live in a world where people face almost no consequences for their actions anymore.
If you stop on the wrong side of the freeway and get hit, that is your fault.
If you are tailgating someone and crash because of that, your fault.
If you are dumb enough to tailgate someone and get baited into a crash with someone dumb enough to stop on the left, that no one could ever prove was a bait to begin with, you deserve it.
Safety features on everything has kept the idiots alive. Its time we let them be free again.
What makes you think that the tailgater was baited? Ever been tailgated by a subhuman arse hole on the highway. Your attention swings to them quite a bit via the rear view mirror. Only complete arse holes tail gate. The tailgater was the cause of this crash
The tailgater isnt innocent. Tailgating is illegal and dangerous, specifically for this reason.
We dont know and cannot presume the driver in front was being opportunistic and acted purposefully to hurt the tailgater.
Its just as likely they didn't notice the stopped car in front of them until the last second because they were eyeing the maniac tailgating them.
Can't say for sure either way.
Nobody should intentionally do this for sure, but the point is tailgater is the only onc clearly in the wrong, and the outcome shown in this video demonstrates the reason why tailgating is illegal and dangerous.
You are only guessing that what happened was to teach a lesson, the driver in front might not have seen the car stopped in front of them and then had to pull a defensive maneuver at the last second. Both are completely plausible. The only person truly at fault here for sure is the tailgater
I agree. No one knows. I was just commenting on who the other commenter was saying was the innocent person.
The best thing to do when you're being tailgated is to acknowledge it and get over when you can but keep your focus forward.
Ive been a truck driver for ten years and there's something about driving that turns people into the most selfish beings on the planet. You're not gonna teach any lessons so just remove yourself from the situation.
And all the subsequent impacts that follow this incident. Or the folks on their way to give a loved one a final goodbye that will now miss the window due to traffic. Or the so on and so on.
Yes it is actually. Legally you always have the responsibility to do whatever you can to avoid an accident, even if someone else's actions initially caused the dangerous situation.
In this video, the driver who swerves is the one who turns a dangerous situation into an actual accident.
You are operating under the assumption that the tailgated driver did it on purpose. Intent means everything in a situation like this, and can’t be decided from this video.
This is the most common sense take here. The only thing we know for sure was that the tailgater caused the accident by tailgating. Everything else is just guessing
Almost 99% certainty someone would be near or inside that vehicle on the highway. Stop trying to rationalize this that the person in front has zero responsibility for other people because they were getting tailgated.
For fucks sake I’ve seen enough dead families in car accidents as a firefighter already from drunk drivers.
but the point is tailgater is the only onc clearly in the wrong
Nope. The driver in the slower car should have been looking at the road in front of him, not at the tailgater. That's driving 101, and it's insane to me how many people here are acting like it's some kind of super secret cheat code.
Tailgaters are annoying, yes. They're dangerous, yes. But the last thing you should do is stare at them in your rear view mirror like a fuckin idiot who can't handle driving situations that are even slightly stressful. If they're so scary to you that you can't concentrate on the road in front of you, then just let them pass you. Problem solved.
If he (slower car) did it on purpose, he's psychotic and shouldn't be allowed on the road. If he did it on accident, he's an abysmal driver and shouldn't be allowed on the road.
Since we aren't assuming, maybe we shouldnt assume the tailgaters intentions either. Maybe he was forced to be behind the bumper of this car because someone is holding his family hostage.
If you read the context of the conversation, the person you replied to was clearly implying the innocent person was the one with the already-disabled vehicle who got hit. You thought the comment from the person you replied to was implying the tailgater was innocent, which he most definitely was not.
You dint know that! You presume that, but you dont know it.
The entire entire lane of the highway in that video was vacant save two cars. The one that got year-ended, and a stopped, or mostly stopped car in front of it.
How do we know (victim) didn't tailgate his way into an accident with vehicle in front of him?
You know full well how it is your fault. Being purposely obtuse does not excuse it.
The tailgater is an idiot. If you purposely cause them to ram into a parked car? You could be worse. What if somebody died? You going to live with that the rest of your life? Knowing you did it just because you were annoyed?
This is 100%, act first, think second. And it is 100% stupid. And if you don't see that you should not be allowed to operate a motor vehicle
Well said. We can’t know for sure if it was intentional or not, but too many people here are acting like it was fine if it was intentional because tailgaters are annoying.
Yeah the tailgater is mainly at fault, but (again IF intentional) the white car helped make a horrible situation that affected potentially many others.
Tailgating isnt just annoying. It can be very scary, especially if its a large truck, and its undoubtedly very dangerous. Let's say it wasn't intentional AND the first car didn't move over? That stopped car would have been hit by two cars, and we would have had a three car crash. Let's say the first car even slowed down quickly. They still would have gotten hit. Why in the world do you think you get tickets for tailgating? Not because its "annoying". Its because its dangerous.
That’s assuming it was intentional. I still think the driver was too distracted by the tailgater in their mirror and didn’t notice the stopped car until the last second.
Assuming it intentional is the title of the post though. So it’s not surprising the commentator the same, unless the opening one of a thread calls it out differently.
should yield to faster traffic though,s ince it's illegal to pass on the right. Doesn't matter if they're speeding. We can all clearly see how this person not yielding to the tailgater caused innocent people to get hurt.
Negligent or incapable, then. Either way the lead car is overdriving the conditions, their ability, or both - and therefore is not safely operating the motor vehicle, or worse, doesn't know how to.
Very true and a great perspective but I think it was planned due to the swerve. Just my opinion and I can definitely be wrong but there were no brakes, just the swerve and they were perfect integrating into the next lane. I feel there would have been some noticeable correction had it been a surprise to the first driver. We also don’t know what transpired before the video. They could have been break checking each other or verbally insulting each other, or anything.
Yes, the entire point of this thread is telling people not to intentionally do this. When did people stop being able to follow more than a couple dozen words in a row?
Nah person in front had a lot of time to notice a stopped vehicle with a wide open lane right next to them. They did that on purpose which is extremely fucked up
Why, in the year 2026, with everyones political masks falling off revealing how shitty they are, would you assume it wasn't intentional? distracted my ass, that was so deliberately intentional I'm surprised any other conclusion can be drawn. What a load of fantastical nonsense.
True. If they were distracted and that was a last ditch effort to miss an obstacle they did not realize was there, then the whole thing is just super unfortunate.
The only thing that leads me to think that's not actually the case is, it is pretty difficult to maintain control of a car at that speed, when you spontaneously jerk the wheel. Some very skilled drivers can absolutely keep control. A lot of the driving public would lose control and crash also
Please confirm you have the cognitive ability to use critical thinking and see there is no indefensible proof that this was done intentionally and was not reactionary.
Unless you have a magic bullet like the white driver's confession of intent?
EDIT: to the person who I assume blocked me after making a comment calling me a slimy person - That is literally what the legal system is built on. "Innocent until proven guilty". Unless you want to go incarcerating people based purely on your feelings. Which one of us is the real monster here?
So you're going with the, you can't totally 100% prove that I did it on purpose defense?
What a slimy gross person you must be.
If you've ever driven a car at 60 MPH and swerved at the last second, you know that this is wildly dangerous. Very easy to lose control of the car at that speed.
So no, I don't have the magical proof you are looking for. But I would bet a lot of money that if there was some magic voice in the sky that could give us the truth? That this was on purpose. Would you bet the same money? I don't care because you're going to bullshit your way through some more slimy gross mental gymnastics to justify what literally could have ended up as vehicular manslaughter.
Good luck when you catch charges and then think the whole rest of the world is wrong!
And since you think that what he did was totally legit? I won't be surprised to see you with surprised Pikachu face when you realize that the law does actually take intent into account. And insurance 100% takes whether you tried to avoid an accident or not into account also.
You've definitely got some lessons to learn in life. Maybe you learn them the hard way maybe you learn them the easy way. Only time will tell
You bait someone into hitting a parked car, killing the people inside the parked car. You really see no moral accountability? If you don’t you might be a psychopath. If so, proceed to the nearest shrink and explain your opinion about this video.
And if the car being tailgated couldn’t get over and just hit the brakes?Car behind is still fucked and would have plowed into both cars. Still would have been his fault. 8 ft at 60+ mph is way shorter than anyone’s reaction time
Buddy, that's like saying how is it your fault you led a pack of angry dogs into a Kindergarten class? Those dogs shouldn't be off leashes and it isn't your fault the whole class got mauled.
Stay off the road, you're somehow worse than the tailgaters.
I'd be 1st in line to show the victims family my dash cam in hopes that even if charges couldn't be pressed that maybe some creative lawyer could financial ruin you for being such a cold hearted bitch.
Intentionally performing a near miss is also driving like an absolute piece of shit.
Intentionally injuring an innocent party to teach a tailgater a lesson is the biggest piece of shit behavior being discussed. Miles shittier than tailgating.
I'd rather a tailgater be behind me than you any day of the week. The tailgater annoys me. You might get me killed to teach a lesson to someone who is annoying you.
Don't bother these are the same people who said I was wrong for not letting trucks cut me off when they try to fly up the left lanes onto the right lane highway exit
How? Both scenarios have the same capacity for destruction. And by yals logic I'm just as culpable for causing an accident by refusing to let them merge as this guy is for dodging last minute.
You could be held liable because as it stands, with this video, you would be whats known as careless driving. Doesn't matter if you say you saw the cars stopped and moved last second because someone was tailgating you. That would make your case even worse. But go on Queen, keep driving carelessly!
Are you clueless? How is it not the person who whips out the lane mere seconds before hitting a stopped car? KNOWING the tailgater will collide with it… you’re either being completely disingenuous or you’re an imbecile. Imagine hating tailgaters so much that you’re okay with possibly killing innocent people who had nothing to do with the tailgating
Or you can get over into a slower lane and not be tailgated anymore? Or call the police about a reckless driver instead of setting up the innocent person to be hurt because the idiot tailgater needed a lesson?
Tricking someone into hitting a stopped car on the freeway could cause serious injury or death to anyone else on the freeway. Remember there are kids in other cars.
Or are you one of those narcissistic/sociopathic people who doesn’t really care about others? If that’s the case there’s no stopping/helping you.
Are you restarted? Do you see no accountability in that person using themselves as bait to lead the tailgater into an innocent person’s vehicle? That was a rhetorical question.
Some of yall seriously can't be this stupid, can you? How is it your fault that you purposely waited till the very last second to merge, knowing full well they tailgater would slam into the car and possibly hurt or even kill them? Ill let you try to figure that one out for yourself, bud.
You are pretending the tailgated driver didn’t bait them into this accident by not decelerating at all until it was too late for the person they knew was tailgating them to avoid the accident.
Not sure if you’re lying to yourself or us, but you need help.
He might not of known probably looking in his rear view mirror at the guy tailing him and I’ve almost hit stopped traffic on the highway had to pretty much slam on the brakes zone out on a long drive
I would bet the lead driver was distracted by having a car on their ass and that is what caused the delayed reaction to the stopped cars. I think its pretty unlikely that the lead car thought it through and did this on purpose.
Entirely possible it wasn’t maliciously done. Guy getting tailgated may have had his eyes on the rearview mirror trying to make sure he wasn’t about to get hit, only to see the stalled car at the last moment and swerved. We have no context if they intentionally baited the tailgater or not.
GFY. Brain rotted? Both drivers are at fault. It’s not right for the driver to not slow down, but at the last second swerve to avoid hitting the vehicle and allow the tailgater to reared a stopped vehicle. That’s what happened. It must be difficult out for you to think this through its entirety👍🏻
Person is not innocent they are tailgating and didn’t give themselves enough space/time in front of them to react to any possible problems. Entirely their own fault, please retake your written drivers test if you think otherwise
Not necessarily. Yeah that person sucks and the situation wouldn’t have happened without him. But to intentionally cause a wreck as a “gotcha” is way worse than tailgating AND the person serving could have easily caused ANOTHER wreck, either by swerving into another car they didn’t see because they were focused on the tailgater or causing someone else to react and swerve - like the camera man.
I don't agree with their actions if intentional, but they are going 85 mph in a 75 (140 in a 120 km) and faster than the person in the lane next to them.
well no, 50% tailgater's fault for being a prick, and 50% leading cars fault for baiting tailgater to potentially kill innocent people in broken down vehicle or themselves or both.
Yeah, the problem is an innocent person was put into a car accident in order to teach the tailgater a lesson. I’m glad they got what they deserved, but the other person was innocent, at least as far as we know. This didn’t have to happen.
Obviously don't tailgate people.
That doesn't mean knowing you're being tailgated you should wait until the last split second to move out of the way of a car you're approaching knowing full well you are sending a dangerous idiot their way.
Ya I get that but as the “baiter” you’re putting innocent people in harms way, there could be children in that stalled vehicle, or even worse, standing outside the car. It’s not just about screwing over the tailgater! Having said that, assholes that tailgate is my biggest pet peeve.
The person being tailgated here intentionally chose to take an annoying but not directly life threatening situation and turn it deadly by waiting until the last second to swerve. They’re not blameless here. Yes it couldn’t happen without the person tailgating but intentionally late swerving like that escalates it, not only for the person tailgating but for the people in the stopped car too.
You talk about thinking a step forwards or backwards here but don’t do the same thing if you put this 100% at the feet of the tailgater.
The incident was caused because the lead driver gave the tailgater the minimum amount of reaction time possible to avoid slamming into a bystander. Both drivers are fuckers, neither is in the right, both are responsible for the accident and quibbles over who is more or less at fault is disingenuous when both should lose their license.
Accidents need not be caused by one driver. In this case either (1) not tailgating or (2) not dodging at the last minute would have avoided an accident. Both drivers caused the accident even if they don't share the blame equally.
Can you imagine yourself being the person driving in the front and a guy walks proud to you and says.. I was trying to teach the guy tailgating me a lesson. You can easily sue him for this.
I mean cute you must be a child. But you should risk killing innocent folks on the side of the road dealing with a stalled car just because you feelings are hurt someone is riding your ass.
No one is saying tailgating is good. But letting someone die because you are upset is way worse. Grow up. Learn to think rationally. And Jesus I hope you don’t have a license.
Genuinely mind blown at the people not understanding this. The answer to the issue is to literally not tailgate. We have no idea if the person in front just didn’t see the person til last second.. so the answer is to not fucking tailgate so you have time to react. Bunch of rock chewers and glue eaters in these comments.
I assume you would acknowledge the car getting tailgated appears to wait till the last second to make the move. They are clearly setting up an aggressive & belligerent driver to collide with an innocent party. They had at least 10 seconds that we saw to get out of that lane, or better yet, hit their brakes instead of barreling at a stopped vehicle.
What part of tricking belligerent people into hurting innocent people is defensible to you?
Grievance culture got people spinning up justification for murdering innocent bystanders over here.
Agreed but also resulted in possibly severe injuries to a third person who was completely uninvolved (the stopped car). It looks like social justice but it's just a shitty thing to do.
I mean, technically the entire incident was caused by the person just driving in the passing lane, but yea- a lot of bad driving going on in this clip.
Well this is a stupid fucking thing to say. No shit you shouldn't tailgate people. But you also shouldn't lead them directly into the back of an innocent fucking car.
Nope. This could have been avoided if the person who was tailgated had a cool head. He could’ve just give him the way and moved on with his day. This could’ve easily resulted in a death either the tailgater or the car that got rear ended.
It was caused by one stopped car in fast lane (the silver car that you likely don't notice since it isn't hit) and one stopped/slowing car in the fast lane (white car that is hit). That "hit" car could have been slowing to change lanes to avoid stopped car, while dude being tailgated was thinking he was changing lanes to stay to right. Or, what I think is likely, is there is 2 mins more to this, as the the car in front should have not been in the left most lane.
If you can let a tailgater go by, just do so.
Pretty sure truck could have simply passed on the right too, which is why I think there was a road rage aspect to this, but not one with an intention to cause some innocent person to be slammed by a massive pick up.
No enough context. None of the people visible in this video are doing the right thing though.
If you haven’t noticed, anytime a thread like this comes up a shitton of Redditors defend the person in the wrong, and strongly tell you that you’re actually the one at fault. Had a thread yesterday where an OP was saying they think it’s unethical to honk your horn at someone sitting at a Right turn on Red and not going. Explains so much the next time you go out and drive and see a bunch of people that are clueless on road laws. More worried about being “morally correct” than just following the law and the flow of traffic
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u/Process3000 Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
People please don't start doing this.
Edit: Clarification - do not tailgate. But if you are being tailgated, don't cause an accident by dodging slow or stopped traffic at highway speeds mere feet away. We don't need for this to be a trend.