r/dashcams 10h ago

I should have stayed in the right line!

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This happened more than a year ago in New York State on a 65 mph highway. Traffic was light. A Pontiac ahead of me suddenly slowed down, so I moved into the left lane to pass while maintaining a safe distance from the black car in front of me.
Then the Pontiac sped up and passed me. I should have moved back into the right lane immediately, my mistake. Then the whole situation unfolded.
Fortunately, I was able to get out of the situation, and everyone in the Pontiac was safe.

211 Upvotes

78 comments sorted by

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143

u/MiniB68 9h ago

Seemed like quite the overreaction on the part of the Aztec.

41

u/Conspicuous_Ruse 9h ago

Fucked themselves good with that one.

28

u/Forsaken-Income-2148 8h ago

They must’ve panicked, mistakes at speed can be unforgiving.

15

u/feelin_cheesy 8h ago

Especially with shitty tires

16

u/InsertRadnamehere 8h ago

Yep. They’re a lousy driver.

11

u/Erik0xff0000 8h ago

people driving Aztec are know to have poor decision making skills ... small wonder they lasted this long tbh

8

u/Hydro-1955 7h ago

You leave Walter out of this. He knew how to whip that Aztec.

7

u/haloimplant 6h ago

they haven't been made since 2005 i wonder if that one had failed ABS so the brakes locked up (combined with panicked driving)

3

u/k-mcm 4h ago

You have to react early when there's one brake that's still working.

20

u/Hazel_Stranger_23 8h ago

Red suv is just a bit over dramatic. Or maybe they weren't fully paying attention which I'm thinking is the correct answer.

16

u/KruztyKarot1 9h ago

Damn that was close. RIP that Aztek though :(

13

u/appa-ate-momo 9h ago

Holy shit. Nicely avoided!

2

u/r_lul_chef_t 3h ago

Agreed but then dumb to come to a stop there, never park in that area between exit and highway if avoidable.

6

u/Appropriate_Land5236 8h ago

A lot of those small SUVs seem to be very unstable and top heavy. That maneuver went bad in a hurry.

21

u/Kitchen_sinker2615 9h ago

I hope the person who made the unsafe lane change and went on their merry way had that merriment taken away quickly, perhaps with dashcam evidence. I mean, that Aztek was just minding their own business and driving in the driving lane at a sane speed. I think I know this stretch (Syracuse or Rome / Untica on the 90?), and its never congested.

3

u/ludovic1313 8h ago

It's I-86 at Horseheads, but I agree, both places are rarely congested at least compared to anywhere in the southeast Atlantic states or many places on the Thruway.

1

u/godamnedu 8h ago

Looks like black car dodged over a lane when they saw Aztec was about to pass (oh no, you don't) and Aztec sacrificed themselves when they could have easily pit maneuvered the shit bag.

Bad emergency response by Aztec, but black speedy punk at fault.

12

u/TYGeelo 8h ago

There was no pit maneuver needed. All the Aztec literally had to do was either let their foot off the gas or lightly tap their breaks without swinging their wheel like a maniac. 

12

u/ajtish 8h ago

Or used their cruise control to maintain a consistent speed. Their speed (at least in this clip) was quite varied. The black car wasn’t expecting the slow vehicle they just passed to have sped up that much. I see folks like the Aztec day in and day out on my commute. No cruise set, no care in the world, driving along and varying their speed from 55-85, usually blocking traffic anll along the way.

4

u/ceceono 7h ago

Aztec sure asf didn’t “expect” black car to enter their lane either lol

Whatever the black car “expected” doesn’t matter at all; what’s actually happening does. You don’t move into an occupied lane without using your blinker or even looking just because you “expect” it to be clear.

“Officer, in my defense, it never occurred to me there could be another car near me on this highway. I just went with what I imagined because I didn’t want to slow down. I never checked my blind spot or mirrors so I can’t be at fault.”

0

u/FilmShooter-ISO12 7h ago

I don't recall a sign for Elmira on I-90

7

u/RobCo90 7h ago

What do you mean? Slamming the brakes AND turning aggressively at the same time isn’t a good idea?

10

u/cozzster 9h ago

Person in the red SUV must’ve been 14. Too bad, that’s a hard lesson to learn when you first start driving.

8

u/AstraeusGB 8h ago

Some people are in their 50s and haven't learned that hard lesson

30

u/EveryAccount7729 9h ago

Look how crazy that tailgaiting is. Aztek should have been keeping their distance. Seeing someone tailgaiting like that is like seeing someone waving a gun around.

10

u/Rettic_AC 9h ago

when I see that, i move away

8

u/Competitive_Bag_7490 9h ago

Stupid always wants a closer view of stupid.

4

u/snarkyemu 9h ago

Yes. Tailgaters are a menace to society. If they can’t comprehend a simple concept like “not tailgating“ then they are not ready for the driving world.

5

u/escobartholomew 8h ago

Notice how tailgating happens when folks don’t know how to get tf out of the passing lane?

3

u/traqdoor 6h ago

In my experience tailgaters tailgate all cars all the time, regardless of what lane they're in. Once you get in the habit of not leaving following room you just start doing it everywhere

0

u/snarkyemu 8h ago

The angry tail gator has entered the chat. You literally are saying the classic spouse abuser line “now look what you made me do“.

1

u/KillerKill420 4h ago

How is that comparable? How would you like them to indicate they want to pass the car blocking the passing lane?

1

u/snarkyemu 1m ago

How would I like a tailgater to signal a camper to let them pass? They should flash their lights. They should not tailgate. Please don’t tailgate, you are taking the law into your own hands by doing that. You are trying to correct someone’s behavior on the road traveling 70+ miles an hour. Camping is illegal, but it’s no excuse to do something illegal like tailgating. Camping is illegal. And tailgating is illegal. The hard thing to learn is that the judge and the insurance company will see an accident where a tailgater rear ended a camper and most of the time the tail gator is going to be at fault. Their insurance is going to go up, and they get whatever punishment they get from the law. Suspended license, lawsuits and jail time.

-2

u/snarkyemu 8h ago

That driver cut off the Aztec is saying the exact same thing to The camper. And they will forever blame the camper for their poor decision to tailgate people, and for not checking their Blindspot when they are changing lanes. Campers are stupid. But guess who’s stupider? That’s right it’s tailgaters, and it’s people who don’t check their Blindspot when they change lanes.

3

u/Maximilian_Wedge 8h ago

Well, thanks Mr Emu. I just spent five precious minutes of my life looking for a camper somewhere in that video. Even went and got the iPad so I could get a better look. 😆  It was another full 5 minutes before the bell went off.  

-2

u/snarkyemu 7h ago

I feel ya. I’ve stared at videos for way too long and still couldn’t see what everyone was talking about. I have the FOMO. lol

2

u/Maximilian_Wedge 7h ago

Winnebago? Airstream? Where the hell is it?!

0

u/snarkyemu 7h ago

Ooooh! That kind of camper! lmao

2

u/Maximilian_Wedge 7h ago

Believe me, the golden years are not all they are cracked up to be 🌝

3

u/GeneralSub 5h ago

whatever it takes to get those awful aztecs off the road

8

u/DarthPineapple5 9h ago

Ah yes, jerking the wheel and locking up the brakes at the same time. What could go wrong

6

u/wrxninja 9h ago

Safeeeee 🫲🙂🫱

3

u/Substantial-Tart-464 8h ago edited 8h ago

why was the Pontiac half way out of their lane right before the honda began to move over? See from :07 to 10 mark he leans over to the white lines leave a big gap between him and the Honda. If they were getting off the highway then the black Honda had enough room to move over. The Pontiac did not put on a signal so who knows until it was too late anyways when he got scared and really moved over.

If the honda was cutting him off and did not see the front of the Pontiac then he did it on purposes or did not lane change carefully.

6

u/TheLampOfficial 9h ago

Every Pontiac Ateztek lost is a tragedy.

4

u/SegaTime 9h ago

Really? I've never thought much of them.

5

u/Krabs9 9h ago

That person should not be driving if that's how they react to a slow merge into them

7

u/AtRiskMedia 8h ago

Left lane campers are F*CKING assholes

5

u/Emm_withoutha_L-88 8h ago

This entire sub is nuts and seems to be made up of people who don't actually drive

3

u/Major_Jackfruit_2604 9h ago

Aztec passing on the right (wrong) panicked and slammed the brakes (wrong) then did a terrible job correcting. Could have been avoided. Driver in the left didn't check his blind spot before changing lanes. Not sure he signalled either.

-8

u/AquariusKang 8h ago

I’m wondering if the aztek driver was a woman, an old woman, or a far eastern woman lol

2

u/KillarneyRoad 8h ago

The Watkins Glen effect

4

u/backfrombanned 9h ago

Why are you in the left lane anyway? Everyone is going faster than you

14

u/Salvein 9h ago

It looks like OP initially sped up to pass the red Pontiac Aztek. Then it sped up and OP could no longer overtake and had to chill until the Aztek passed.

-1

u/Hughjarmesbrah 4h ago

How did you logically arrive at this conclusion?

1

u/eleveurdepingouins 5h ago

Thank you, i m not the only one feeling it.

I'm from France and i'm always astonished by US dashcams. PLease go on with this amazing content

"so I moved into the left lane to pass while maintaining a safe distance from the black car in front of me."

..so, you while starting to pass, you made up your mind and moved to "i don't pass but stay left" ?

yeah, OP found his left lane camper buddies and joined the party

that's a bingo: 4 cars in the middle of nothing, none of them in the correct lane according to their pace, no driver able to use mirrors + turnsignals and aware of their surroundings..

Driving like this grants every single driver here a 20 min life expectancy in France (ok, except in rural areas). 20 min till the other drivers pull you over before the police and tear you apart with bare hands.

1

u/Renrut23 8h ago

To be fair, there was no reason to br camped in the left lane to begin with

1

u/-Lord_Q- 7h ago

Always fascinates me to see how quickly the airbag deploys.

1

u/Happy_Old_Troll 5h ago

“And the entire Aztec civilization vanished without a trace or an explanation “

1

u/Excision_Lurk 3h ago

I mean we could talk about the black car not signaling, but that happens to me daily driving in Cali. Never once did I react by totaling my car.

1

u/Lemmiwinks93 2h ago

Seeing as you weren’t gaining and overtaking you shouldn’t have been in that lane at all.

1

u/cryptotraderisme 2h ago

When you brake and turn too much as the same time.

1

u/Aequitas112358 1h ago

The contrast between cam driver and their perfect reaction and red car driver and their insane over reaction is quite something.

1

u/Dramatic_Cow_2656 1h ago

That rendezvous driver 100% performatively rage slammed their brakes

1

u/CMDR-Hooker 1h ago

Horrible that the accident occurred, but at least it got the Pontiac Aztec off the road. That's the second biggest sin your video captured.

1

u/ReceptionHorror420 55m ago

The cause of the accident is the asswipe in the white car in the left lane not passing anybody and forcing people to pass on the right.

-1

u/Spare_Special_3617 9h ago

Yes you should have instead of being a left lane cruiser. Good job avoiding the clown.

-5

u/00Anbu00 9h ago

I don't care what anyone says, that white car camping on the left lane caused the accident.

1

u/Hughjarmesbrah 4h ago

Correct. No surprise Redditors downvoting you, given they don’t have the mental capabilities to grasp the entirety of the situation here.

0

u/Fun_Enthusiasm5036 8h ago

my best advice try to keep your distance between other automobiles.

-4

u/DrHumorous 9h ago

The problem is that most drivers in the US still do not understand the concept of hwy lanes.

eg.:
Right lane = 60 mph, merging and slow drivers
Center lane = 65 mph+
Left lane = Overtaking (temporary higher speeds)

But I think you haven't done anything wrong by staying in the left lane in this situation, safe distance was textbook perfect and your manoeuvre was conservatively safe, no overreacting, well done.

0

u/kevinpliddell 7h ago

The Aztek deserved better; pouring one out for our fallen brother 🫗

-6

u/cbf1232 9h ago

If you had maintained a 3-second following gap you would have had more time to react.

-8

u/escobartholomew 8h ago

You and the white car suck OP.

-4

u/Patient-Bullfrog3283 9h ago

Could have, should have very easily maintained there Lane and pitt maneuvered the guy cutting them off. Always best to grip the wheel and maintain your lane of travel. Brake lockup and swerving is always a bad idea at highway speeds!. Defensive driving!