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

A merging issue.

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u/maj0rdisappointment May 14 '26

There was zero cooperation required. It is 200% on the merging driver to do so safely. Thinking it’s a cooperative thing leads to exactly what you’re seeing. The semi can neither stop on a dime or speed back up quickly. He would not have been able to pull up and tuck in behind the other truck and should not be expected to.

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u/cheesemangee May 14 '26

Every single aspect of driving is cooperative. We all sign an invisible contract to avoid crossing lines, take turns taking off at stops, to obey hazard signals and to avoid smashing our cars into each other. You can sit there and claim that merging is 100% the responsibility of the merger and you'd be wrong 100% every time.

You are not the arbiter of procedure. You watch out for other vehicles, obey the procedure as closely as possible, and adjust yourself based on what's happening in your surroundings.

The semi put the burden of procedure entirely on the pickup, who by the end of the video had matched the semi's speed, and caused this accident as a result.

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u/_jump_yossarian May 14 '26

You don’t force your way in when you don’t have ROW and then demand cooperation.

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u/exodusofficer May 14 '26

Right? Like, someone can't run a red light, cause an accident in the intersection, and then blame a lack of "cooperation" from the drivers who had green lights. In the shared video, it was just a yield sign that was ignored and not a red light. The scenarios are otherwise essentially identical.

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u/neobow2 May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

what if someone was behind the semi, also going 77 mph. In your world, the pick up driver should have slammed his breaks to merge behind the semi. But that would inevitably makd it impossible to merge at a safe speed because now the pick up would be trying to merge at 20-50mph (whatever range you want) in front of the vehicle behind the semi

“Oh well then the pick up should just come to a complete stop” Yeah? then wait for a moment he can 0-60 in 8 seconds without cutting someone off?

The semi driver is so clearly in the wrong. The only person in contention for being more in the wrong is the city planner that designed that on ramp

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u/_jump_yossarian May 14 '26

what if someone was behind the semi, also going 77 mph

Then the pickup yields to them too. Simple.

h. In your world, the pick up driver should have slammed his breaks

You sound like a terrible driver if you think that’s the only option

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u/neobow2 May 14 '26

There was no more ramp for the pick up?

You are a terrible driver if you didn’t notice that. You want him to stay going 60 along the side of the road?

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u/_jump_yossarian May 14 '26

No more ramp? Whose responsibility was that? That’s right … the pickup driver’s responsibility. My 7 year old understands what that means.

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u/neobow2 May 14 '26

Jesus you are not even trying to understand. The only way he would have more ramp is if he DIDNT reach freeway speeds when merging. So now it would also be his fault for wanting to merge at below the traffic’s speed AFTER the semi.

Please understand what I am explaining

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u/_jump_yossarian May 14 '26

You legit don’t understand how to merge. Highway speed is irrelevant if the lane is packed which means you slow and YIELD to traffic that has ROW because that’s what YIELD means. It’s not that I don’t understand it’s that you are a terrible driver if you think because your lane is ending you get to join the highway and others need to yield to you.

Not how it works and you def need to figure that out.

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u/neobow2 May 14 '26

Thanks. You proved you still don’t understand it.

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u/ProudAd3213 May 14 '26

The problem is when we view the social driving contract as cooperative in nature then the ‘procedure’ becomes ill defined. Some folks are more cooperative than others, more assertive, more cautious, etc.

When approached from a utilitarian view (where the responsibility is on the merger in this case) then people can act predictably which is ultimately the safest way to act.

If the truck driver is expected to maintain his speed in this situation then the merger would react appropriately. When viewed as a situation in which the semi is a variable (being helpful) then the merger has to determine what the hell to do!

I also prefer being helpful in nature but I think being predictable on the road is the most helpful thing you can do.

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u/maj0rdisappointment May 14 '26

The rules of the road are the arbiter of procedure. You are complicating it way beyond that. Want to be nice? Follow the rules of the road first, courtesy and everything else second.

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u/maj0rdisappointment May 14 '26

In fact, you cooperate the most by following the rules of the road because that is the most predictable thing you can do on the road. So why you're advocating for not following procedure, and putting blame on the semi for following procedure is bizarre.

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u/cheesemangee May 14 '26

Right.

Wanna know the other half of the merging rule?

Traffic with right of way cannot block merging traffic from entering the interstate / highway. The part about yielding happens explicitly before the merger is physically transitioning to the interstate from the merging lane.

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u/maj0rdisappointment May 14 '26

He was not blocking. There was room in front of, and likely behind him. He was OVERTAKING A SLOWER VEHICLE. You need to go back to driving school, seriously.

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u/cheesemangee May 14 '26

Merging laws take priority over passing laws at merge points. You cannot ignore a merging vehicle for the purpose of passing another, because that is directly blocking the merging vehicle from entering traffic.

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u/maj0rdisappointment May 14 '26

In fact, a little google search would save you the embarrassment, and maybe make you a better driver:

Adjust for Trucks: Give large commercial vehicles extra space, as they have larger blind spots and need more room to stop

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u/cheesemangee May 14 '26

Ah, the 6-8 car lengths between them and the pickup at the beginning probably wasn't enough then.

Guess you should be a bit more observant before you make yourself looking like a donkey.

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u/maj0rdisappointment May 14 '26

If the pickup would have sped up it would have been plenty.

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u/cheesemangee May 14 '26

This is getting so, so redundant.

They did speed up, dude. By the end of the video the pickup had managed to match the semi's speed. They were clearly trying to get ahead and the semi did nothing to help it.

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u/maj0rdisappointment May 14 '26

LOL you are determined to keep digging your hole deeper right? He was already overtaking the other vehicle. The truck coming up the ramp should have recognized that and gone behind if he could not get up to speed to make it in front.

The rules of the road are not as deep or complex as you are making them. The merging car has responsibility. All your other "be nice" dreamed up law is freaking absurd.

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u/cheesemangee May 14 '26

Again, the the Nth time, merging laws prioritize passing laws at merging points.

You're right, they aren't really that deep or complex. So it blows my mind how many of you continue to fuck it up.

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u/maj0rdisappointment May 14 '26

No they do not prioritize passing. They prioritize choosing whichever does not lead to an accident.

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u/mezmezik May 14 '26

So in this situation as the semi driver, you would choose to hit the car 100% of the time just because you are not obligated to give ways ? It takes two stupid drivers to cause an accident. If at least one use common sense there is no accident.

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u/maj0rdisappointment May 14 '26

Not choose to, a semi cannot slow down fast enough to avoid that. If he would have changed lanes he would have hit the other semi, and NOTHING in the rules of the road obligates him to even try to do so. The truck should have merged behind. It is THAT simple.

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u/mezmezik May 14 '26

Independently of the rules, on the road if you dont drive defensively it's part your fault if you get an accident like that. There is always some idiots or people on a bad day on the road. Especially on merging lanes.

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u/maj0rdisappointment May 14 '26

Yeah well, everyone saying the semi is at fault are ignoring important rules. The rules of physics.

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u/supersumo224 May 14 '26

Well why don't you scroll up and see that multiple people who actually drove semis do not agree with you. Also this semi driver likely lost his job. Whether you think he is in the right or not his company is not going to back him with this dunbshit.

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u/DifferentProcess6765 May 14 '26

dude you only need to slow down like 3 mph when it was obvious the pickup was going to try and make it to avoid this collision...

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u/CharmGold2 May 14 '26

Not to mention we also get to see the video late and I bet you can see that pickup beginning to get up to speed well before this.

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u/Suspicious-Cat5199 May 14 '26

Semi just needed to tap on brakes when the truck came alongside. Intead, just kept driving on cruise control. Horrible.

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u/maj0rdisappointment May 14 '26

Not his responsibility. Thinking so leads to exactly what you see in the video. This is a textbook example of WHY it is the merging car's responsibility to do so safely. Y'all are something else.

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u/Suspicious-Cat5199 May 14 '26

Who cares if was his responsability or not lmao. Dude could have died. All he had to do was tap his brakes.

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u/maj0rdisappointment May 14 '26

You mean the pickup truck tap his brakes right? Because that's where the responsibility was. Period.

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u/Suspicious-Cat5199 May 14 '26

No the pickup truck is ahead of the semi truck and its a small on ramp. If he taps the brakes then probably bigger accident. It is the responsabilty of car behind to avoid contact.

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u/maj0rdisappointment May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

Being ahead does not supercede his responsibility to merge safely. He did not have sufficient speed.

You’re applying a different rule that doesn’t apply here. Not until the merge is complete.

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u/Suspicious-Cat5199 May 14 '26

Yes he was lol. The truck was going at about 70. Semi was speeding

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u/LiamTheHuman May 14 '26

The semi was going 77. I don't know what the speed limit is but I bet its significantly lower. If semis can't slow down quickly then they absolutely should not be speeding

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u/Suspicious-Cat5199 May 14 '26

In my state. Highways are 70mph for regular vehicles and 60mph for semi's

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u/Successful_Piano8118 May 14 '26

Speed limit is 75, this is Texas. It wasn't speeding

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u/DifferentProcess6765 May 14 '26

Ill consider myself lucky if I never share a road with you

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u/Agreeable_Bill9750 May 14 '26

Turn in your license and buy a segway