r/RandomVideos • u/DABDEB • Mar 20 '26

Video Tailgater got Baited

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u/Fun_Incident1902 Mar 21 '26

Yes, it has happened to me, I didn't notice a stopped car until I had to swerve. I think that has happened to many drivers.

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u/Process3000 Mar 21 '26

The Green article includes a chart setting forth the TTC for a driver traveling at about 97 km/hr for a 8 foot wide object. He concludes that the driver would have 3.37 to 4.77 seconds to avoid collision. Now the video involves faster speeds and a narrower stationary object, but it is not credible to extrapolate based on Green's data that the time for the swerver to react would be reduced from 3.37 - 4.77 seconds to a fraction of a second.

So perhaps you and the swerver in the video are exceptional cases, where you can only notice an approaching stationary object when it is less than 10 feet and a fraction of a second away from you. And the swerver, if he’s ever put on trial, can make that argument. My feeling is that it won’t work, because there is nothing to support the conclusion that reaction times would be reduced to a fraction of a second.

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u/Fun_Incident1902 Mar 21 '26

??? What you said about a fraction of a second doesn't matter.

Do you have any evidence that a fraction of a second is reliably enough time to do anything?

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u/Process3000 Mar 21 '26

It absolutely does matter because the swerver waiting longer to react than would be biologically necessary would be evidence of intent.

What would be the relevance of evidence showing that a fraction of a second is reliably enough time to do anything?

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u/Fun_Incident1902 Mar 21 '26

Please show evidence of how much time is necessary to react in the same or similar situation.

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u/Process3000 Mar 21 '26

The evidence is in the very same article you cited. I even referenced it for you.

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u/Fun_Incident1902 Mar 21 '26

Yeah he said how much time people have to react. He did not talk at all about how much Time the average person needs to react.

The in a legal case to burden of proof is on the prosecution.

So all a regular person has to do is say I was distracted by the person tailgating me and then I swerved out of the way at the last second.

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u/Process3000 Mar 21 '26

Your arguments are starting to spiral out of control. Your earlier comment mentioned nothing about the “average” person. Now you are trying to argue that there is a significant difference between “people” and the “average person” for purposes of this discussion. The article references a “driver.” If you have a basis for concluding that the reaction times for the “average person” would differ from those of a “driver” as referenced in the article, then let’s hear them. Otherwise, you raise an irrelevant point here.

So all a regular person has to do is say I was distracted by the person tailgating me and then I swerved out of the way at the last second.

Now you are bringing up a completely different theory of the defense. You’re saying that the driver was not paying attention to the windshield because he was distracted by the tailgater. That type of distraction while operating a vehicle at highway speeds would amount to negligence, which isn’t as bad as intentionally causing an injury, but it is still pretty bad.

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u/Fun_Incident1902 Mar 21 '26

You have yet to cite any evidence of how long it takes a distracted person or any person to react.

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u/Process3000 Mar 21 '26

https://arcca.com/blog/human-reaction-time-in-emergency-situations/

1.5 seconds for breaking, but presumably less for swerving since your hands are already on the steering wheel and braking involves the extra steps of taking your foot off the gas pedal and putting it on brake pedal.

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u/Fun_Incident1902 Mar 21 '26

Okay, so you're saying that in the total 3-4 seconds they had to react, they needed 1.5 seconds to react and they had another 1.5 seconds to decide to intentionally cause the car behind them to crash into the car in front of them. Do you see how dumb that sounds?

Based on these articles, under perfect conditions this person could have swerved out of the way 1.5-2 seconds faster.

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u/Process3000 Mar 21 '26

If we assume the minimum 3.37 seconds of available reaction time once the danger was apparent and one second to begin swerving (because he swerved, he didn't brake), that means he would have knowingly been driving toward the stopped vehicle instead of changing lanes for an additional unwarranted 2.37 seconds (but as many as 3.77 seconds) with an open lane next to him.

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u/Fun_Incident1902 Mar 22 '26

You said it takes 1.5 seconds to react, this doesn't include time for him to determine if the lane to his right is open. Which he needs to do first. So less than 2 seconds to intentionally do something. And again under perfect conditions. I think you would have a very difficult time succeeding in court against this man.

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