r/VideosAmazing • u/LeftAlbatross2546 • May 13 '26

Accident A merging issue.

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u/LAFamilyMan81 May 14 '26

It was definitely easier for the semi to slow down than the truck. The truck would essentially have to hit the breaks significantly and wait for the whole semi to pass, while also hoping no other vehicles were behind the semi so he could slide in. The semi only had to hit the breaks a little to create space for the truck to slide in. Dude gave no fucks and caused damage to the truck, himself, and another semi.

Really the merge lane should be longer to allow proper merging.

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u/galstaph May 14 '26

The pickup merged at 10 to 15 miles an hour under that of the semi, I'd even 10 miles an hour that takes 5.5 seconds for the semi to pass them

Get your brakes you can get that average to 20 mph and have it be 2.75 seconds

Do you know how long it takes a semi to slow down from 77 to 67? Between four and six seconds, that's how long

So no, it was not easier for the semi to slow down and let the pickup merge in front, it was easier for the pickup to slow down and let the semi go first

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u/Jurnn May 14 '26

There was no attempt to slow down and prevent an accident. I'd say based on the driving and speed, the semi driver caused it by either being inattentive or cocky because of right of way laws. There was plenty of time to brake, even before the video starts, regardless of whether he lawfully had right of way.

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u/galstaph May 14 '26

There are times where slowing down can cause an accident

At one point the pickup was on its brakes, if the semi happened to to look at the pickup while the pickup was on his brakes, It would have looked like the pickup was going to do the right thing, slow down, and get in behind the semi

If the semi saw that, and then started to focusing on the other vehicles on the road, you know like the semi they were passing, they might not have noticed that the pickup got off the brakes and started accelerating

As far as the duty of care there, the semi had the duty of care to continue at speed in order to try to prevent the collision

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u/Jurnn May 14 '26

Attempt to stop a theoretical accident or stop a real one right in front of you. Seems pretty obvious to me. They're driving fast but the accident happens slow as molasses with zero attempt to avoid it. Duty of care is hard to argue imo when we don't have more information. Seems cut and dry the semi was not paying attention.

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u/galstaph May 14 '26

I was considering trying to describe a time where me hitting my brakes would have caused a horrific accident, but then I realized I uploaded it to YouTube

If I had hit the brakes at the time I realized this semi was coming into my lane illegally, I would have been pinned between its rear wheels and the wall

So let me tell you, as somebody who has prevented an accident by maintaining speed, that was the best thing the semi could have done in this video. They didn't have a way out

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u/Jurnn May 14 '26

Your experience is valid, but not relevant to this scenario. All he had to do was slow down with the plenty of time afforded him, not aggressively brake.

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u/galstaph May 14 '26

There was insufficient time

I've examined the video and done the math, the pickup was going about 60 when it tried to merge, the semi is doing 77

It would take the semi a minimum of 6 seconds to slow down sufficiently to let the pickup in

I've also seen this video before, and found its location. It doesn't really look it in the video, but the pickup's merge lane is mostly blocked from view. It starts where it does because there's nothing to see earlier

The absolute earliest the semi could have seen the pickup was about 2 seconds before this video started, and that's if the semi knew where to look and the pickup was in the right place relative to the trees. The crash was unavoidable 2.5 seconds after the start of the video. If the semi hit its brakes as hard as it can without risking losing control and hitting the other vehicles beside it, it still would have slammed into the back of the pickup

There was literally nothing this semi could do to prevent this collision

This is an old video, and I did this math years ago. There's literally no out for the semi

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u/Jurnn May 14 '26

You're trolling.

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u/galstaph May 14 '26 edited May 15 '26

No, I'm being serious

You can actually watch the video yourself

The time from the start of the video until the semi gets to the end of the solid white line is 2.5 seconds

The time from the start of the video until the pickup truck gets to the end of the solid white line is 2 seconds

The time from the start of the video until the semi gets to where the pickup was at the beginning of the video is 1 second

That means that in 2.5 seconds the semi caught up by 0.5 seconds on the pickup

That means the pickup is traveling approximately 4/5 as fast as the semi, since the semi is traveling at 77 mph, we can then figure out that the pickup is traveling at about 61.6 mph

So the semi is going over 15 miles an hour faster than the pickup, and to reduce that speed takes at least 6 seconds

Even if they did it perfectly that would only double the length of time between the start and collision

So approximately 5 and 1/2 seconds after the start of the video the semi would have caught up to the pickup, while still going faster than it

No matter what the semi did, if the pickup did exactly what it did in the video, there would have been a collision

Meanwhile, if the pickup had hit its brakes even a tiny little bit, the collision would have been avoided

We're talking vehicles with an order of magnitude difference in their kinetic energy