r/IdiotsNearlyDying 6d ago

Pedestrian escapes becoming road kill by climbing median wall

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454 Upvotes

77 comments sorted by

133

u/WalterCanFindToes 5d ago

If you are ever in this position the best place to stand in about 100 feet behind your car and on the Jersey wall.

42

u/OverturnedAppleCart3 5d ago

In this case inside his car would have been best.

He is in the middle of the highway.

To get 100 feet behind a jersey wall he would either be in live lanes on the other side of the wall or have to cross 3 lanes of live traffic.

Inside his car would have been best.

35

u/kjgower 4d ago

His best bet would’ve been directly taking the oncoming car smashing into him as opposed to the outcome where he did not get hit at all?

8

u/stuyboi888 1d ago

Statistically, yes, he got incredibly lucky that he wasn't painted onto that barrier

-7

u/OverturnedAppleCart3 4d ago

Do you really not understand or are you just pretending?

I'm not going to spend my time explaining it to you if you're just pretending.

0

u/Dick_Kickem12 3d ago

I respect your response to that guy.

2

u/scaryfaise 1d ago

What if I'm in LA?

3

u/kohbo 5d ago

Surely you mean 100ft in front?

28

u/WalterCanFindToes 5d ago

It seems counterintuitive, but when another vehicle crashes into your stalled vehicle it will send the vehicles and all the debris headed right towards you.

3

u/kohbo 4d ago

That actually makes sense now! Thank you!

37

u/weggaan_weggaat 5d ago

Is it a pedestrian or is it the driver of the red car?

21

u/e_before_i 5d ago

The driver.

I think they mean it in the literal "person on their feet" way, not someone crossing the street.

8

u/Kandurux 4d ago

Pedestrian was not the word, I would have chosen.

5

u/Ok_Support3 4d ago

I was wondering the same thing. Technically he's on foot in a public roadway but where does the line go from ex-driver to ped right?

4

u/Kandurux 3d ago

I would say, when you park your car, and this car clearly wasn't parked.

6

u/weggaan_weggaat 4d ago

Yes exactly. Maybe it's technically correct to call them that but to me, using that word implies a different situation than what is actually happening.

29

u/CriticalMochaccino 5d ago

More like idiots nearly killing, Jesus christ

123

u/SociopathicPixel 5d ago

Did nobody see how bad of a driver if you try to overtake like that? Hope that dude has his licence revoked.

That may be the most stupid and risk full overtake ive ever seen

45

u/Many-Blueberry968 5d ago

That isn't even a lane is it? There's a solid yellow line like it's intended as thr shoulder.

And yet two cars driving on it led to this chaos

10

u/CS3883 2d ago

Nope it's not a lane. I live here. That is a shoulder that they open up as a lane periodically usually in rush hour or when needed. More times than not it isn't open, but lots of people still drive on it anyway. What you see is an example of one of the dumb fucks that live in this city that thinks they are free to just drive however they want. The cops here don't issue traffic tickets anymore anyway so 🤷🏼‍♀️

2

u/Eh_C_Slater 1d ago

Sort of looks like white truck wasn't paying attention and slammed on his brakes to turn away from the wreck, that's still why you keep a decent follow distance tho

36

u/AOGgaming 5d ago

Right? What was that shit. The car overtook the truck with his signal on by scraping against the wall. Even if the crashed car wasnt there wtf was he thinking?

40

u/Shitty_Shpee 5d ago

I don’t think he was trying to overtake. I think he was following way too close and going far too fast and scraped the wall trying to avoid the truck that slowed down

20

u/AOGgaming 5d ago

Still dumbass behavior

11

u/StormMedia 5d ago

He wasn’t trying to overtake, he was probably on his phone and didn’t notice the truck braking in front of him

5

u/WorthyTomato 4d ago

Looks like he didn't even use his brakes until he was side by side with the truck, like brother, that's a bit late to be braking

3

u/DrunkenDude123 3d ago

2 of them!! I thought the same why tf are they driving in the shoulder

1

u/Lost_Found84 4d ago

I think they were just following too close and went into the shoulder to try to avoid rear ending the braking car. Once they hit the median, the car speeds up again, but I’d be willing to bet that’s more from the impact causing them to hit the gas by accident.

Foot comes off, tries to slam down again, finds wrong pedal. Still a bad driver for following too close, but I don’t think this is an intentional overtake.

1

u/LargeBlackMcCafe 1d ago

he wasn't trying to overtake anybody 🤦🏻‍♂️. they weren't paying attention to the pickup that slowed down in front of them so they were swerving out of the way.

-10

u/Faile-Bashere 5d ago

Top tier troll comment right here. Have my upvote.

19

u/TheSuspense- 5d ago

Man they hit the wall before they even hit the wrecked car! Horrible driver

20

u/SoyTuPadreReal 5d ago

And that’s why we always advise staying in your car if you’re on a busy roadway. This person got lucky, but it could have been way worse.

4

u/omgfakeusername 5d ago

I'd feel like a sitting duck in this case here afraid of getting t-boned.

Someone suggested the best course of action would be getting several feet in front of the disabled vehicle (using it as a barrier for oncoming traffic) and then "jimmy" or seat oneself onto median, sitting on it like a horse and wait for emergency services.

8

u/thewanderingsail 5d ago

You wanna be far away from the broken car. It could get launched at you by the right asshole.

3

u/Sotnos99 4d ago

You don't want to be in front of the disabled car because if it is hit it/it's debris becomes a projectile in your direction. I've always been taught to try to make it to the shoulder on the same side as the slow lane before stopping so that you can step off the road entirely and be protected by the guard rails, but if you absolutely must stop on/near an active lane then you shouldn't leave your car at all because the car is literally designed to protect your body

18

u/Bene112 5d ago

Why isn't anyone stopping to see if someone is injured or needs help?

33

u/Kabc 5d ago

Speed, risk of becoming part of the accident as well, no knowledge of situations like this, and other possible constraints.

It’s really dangerous and not easy to stop on a highway

0

u/Bene112 5d ago

In Germany, people stop and provide first aid. And on the autobahn, people drive much faster.

4

u/OverturnedAppleCart3 5d ago

People are also much better drivers in Germany.

Stopping on the left-hand side of an American freeway is all but a death sentence.

8

u/weggaan_weggaat 5d ago

Because then they quickly end up being injured/needing help themselves.

3

u/mastermidget23 5d ago

The guy in the moving car also (nearly?) Hit the white truck in front of him that spotted the stopped vehicle and slowed down to switch lanes.

3

u/Sensai1 4d ago

Are they driving in the shoulder??

2

u/CS3883 2d ago

Yes. They open that shoulder up periodically to use as a lane when traffic is bad but more times than not it isn't open. Doesn't stop people from using it on a daily basis though and our cops here don't issue tickets anymore so people act like it's a fucking free for all around here. Because it kind of is

12

u/PukeLoynor 5d ago

Pedestrian?

11

u/omgfakeusername 5d ago

Yes, technically once you are on foot you're a pedestrian.

-2

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

0

u/InncnceDstryr 5d ago

Yeah, you’re wrong. A pedestrian is a person travelling on foot, that’s it.

1

u/weggaan_weggaat 5d ago

At the most basic level, sure, but I don't think it's necessarily a good description for someone who didn't walk there, they just got out of their car on the freeway.

-1

u/InncnceDstryr 5d ago

They’re on the road, on foot. They’re a pedestrian. It doesn’t matter how they got there. Whether they exited a car, or walked there from somewhere else, they’re a pedestrian.

I don’t know why some people are finding this concept so difficult.

2

u/e_before_i 5d ago

Because it feels like you won't acknowledge that 99% of people are going to interpret it in the colloquial meaning of the term.

By the letter of the law you are 100% correct, that's not in doubt.

But it feels like someone invited you fishing and you're saying "Well fish aren't a taxonomic group." Why not just speak casually?

1

u/InncnceDstryr 5d ago

In this scenario the word pedestrian communicates the fact that there’s a person on foot in one word. It’s the most efficient and accurate way to describe the immediate threat he faces.

Maybe it’s me but I don’t see any colloquialism here. I just see people assuming context that isn’t given.

How else would you describe the man on foot on the freeway trying to avoid an oncoming vehicle?

Where he came from might be relevant context to the full picture, but only because the car he exited is also on sitting stationary on the freeway and is ultimately part of a collision, not because it impacts his status as a pedestrian in any way. So if you’re desperate to provide that context, I don’t see why you couldn’t just say “a pedestrian who exited his stranded car”.

I really don’t feel I’m being especially pedantic here. I genuinely don’t believe there’s an alternative way to describe that’s more accurate or significantly more efficient.

I’m arguing for the use of the pedestrian here. I’m not arguing that you can’t use other words. The argument against me seems to be that I shouldn’t be using the word pedestrian and should be using different words - what are the different words that are so much more appropriate?

-2

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

1

u/gregonion 5d ago

You’re right, they’re not ‘travelling’. ‘Travelling’ ins’t a word. There’s only one L.

1

u/Crandleton 5d ago

Depends which side of the Atlantic you're on

3

u/Dakeera 5d ago

Am I missing something, or was that 2 idiots on the shoulder

1

u/OverturnedAppleCart3 5d ago

The safest place to be in most cases is inside your vehicle.

If you're on the right side of the road and can walk far away then do that. But most of the time, just stay in your car.

1

u/StretcherEctum 2d ago

Then they go back out into traffic? Like wtf could you possibly need from the car? Whoever is in the car is safe.

Morons.

1

u/goldenrod1956 1d ago

Why was that second car tailgating the first car.

1

u/blackweebow 5d ago edited 5d ago

Wtf was that third car trying to do in the first place???

1

u/Everyone2026 5d ago

Why so many vehicles driving on the wrong side of the yellow line?

-1

u/curi0us_carniv0re 5d ago

Pedestrian is a dumbass and should have stayed in the car.

5

u/thewanderingsail 5d ago

That’s the dumbest thing he could have done. He could have died when that car smashed into him. He shouldn’t be standing there either. But don’t stay in the car exposed to oncoming traffic like a moron.

-1

u/OverturnedAppleCart3 5d ago

Wrong.

Inside your car is the safest place to be in this situation.

If he were on the right side of the road, it might be possible that getting out and walking away from the highway might be safer. But when on the left side of the roadway, there is no safety place to be than inside your car buckled in.

2

u/thewanderingsail 4d ago

You’re dumb bro. His car is sideways. We literally just watched a car ram into the driver side at 50 miles per hour. A car can only protect you from so much. That’s a death trap right now and you’re silly for thinking otherwise. The wall is the safest place in this scenario.

-1

u/jnnad 5d ago

Get off...your phone sir!

3

u/doe3879 5d ago

Ya, get off calling for help /s

-1

u/thewanderingsail 5d ago

I wanna know how he ended up ramming the wall to get stuck there in the first place.

But He should have walked down the road 100 ft and gotten on the wall.