this post was submitted on 02 May 2025
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Tbf a stopped car in the middle of the road on a sunny fucking day also shouldn't cause a collision, either. Guy in the grey van fucked up worse than anyone but they'll be blaming the stopped car instead of their own inattentive driving
The red car is still the cause here.
The gray van is a consequence of that cause. It would happen regardless. Even if the person in the gray van was paying attention, someone else would not be paying enough attention and still wreck.
You're confusing proximate cause and root cause. The van is a mechanism of failure, the red car is the cause of failure.
This is still the red car's fault, entirely. The van of course is holding my ability for being the proximate cause, but at the end of the day blaming the van for not paying attention doesn't actually prevent situations like these from occurring.
There's a minimum speed on highways because it is dangerous to slow below that limit, the stopping distance for 70mph is around 240 feet and 2.5 sec for perception & reaction.
Yeah, but cars do break down. I once had all the transmission fluid in my car drain out while doing 65 or so on a highway. A mechanic failed to replace the drain plug properly, and suddenly the car started shaking violently. I was lucky to coast off to the breakdown lane before coming to a stop.
And I’ve seen things like improperly secured ladders and chairs fall onto the highway as well. Nothing like having cars suddenly swerving in front of you to avoid those sorts of hazards.
While true, cars that breakdown don't come to a complete stop, generally. You should put your hazards and roll to the shoulder. That's not always possible, of course. But if a vehicle is clearly disabled, you wouldn't stop behind it waiting for it to move out of the way, which is what happened here as well.
Guy in the gray van was blocked in on at least one side, possibly both.
No. The moron in the first car fucked up the worst; NONE of that would've happened without that dork stopping.
Guy in the gray van could've seen the cars in front of him stopped and then also stop. It's still also his fault.
Right, zoning out for a second is definitely way worse than selfishly illegally stopping like that /s
One is illegal and the other isn't, for good reason. Willful mistake versus moment of distraction
They might’ve stopped for a legal, non-selfish reason too. A health emergency can happen anytime. It’s the drivers responsibility to not zone out and look ahead.
This would legally be the fault of the stopper. But yeah maybe. Just seems doubtful the way they clearly seem intent on turning
Psst, there's a third possibility if you think critically.
No shit?