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Wife called 911 while I turned my car around. We gave the footage to the officers on scene while EMS treated the passengers. Both cars had parents and children in them. As far as we could tell no one was seriously injured. Stay safe out there folks.
both those vehicles were moving along pretty good and were not on the lighter side. they both stopped instantly. just dead center head on collision. so crazy. also, that road looks sketchy. pick up driver was either on the phone or 6 beers deep.
Yeah physics is what it is, there’s a limit to what the human body can endure and a head on collision means neither vehicle can borrow space from the other to decelerate. Amazing if they’re ok.
Kids in the car... Depending on the kids ages, I'd believe it.
Early parents have their most stressful job ever, plus a random time and reason siren that takes between 30 minutes and 3 hours to turn off each time.
Or driving while tired, possibly they had a stroke, maybe they sneezed and felt something pop and freaked out, etc....there aren't only 2 possible explanations as to why this happened. While incompetent driving is unfathomably high, it's not the only thing that could have caused it.
If there were kids in the truck, I guarantee Dad was tired of them bickering over the tablet that he's already threatened to toss out the window 6 times over the past 12 miles
Imagine if the truck had hit that car instead of the van though. It's kind of messed up how we need to buy bigger vehicles to keep up with all these crazy huge SUVs and trucks for our protection in the event of something like this.
mass. If my 5,000lb truck (which is a small truck btw) hits a 2,650lb nissan versa head on, my truck isn't actually coming to an immediate dead stop, it's slowing rapidly. Meanwhile the Versa is not only stopping dead, it's being pushed backwards. The G forces experienced by the vehicle as well as the occupants is greatly increased in the lighter vehicle.
That's before we even get into ride height differentials. If a sedan were to t-bone me, i would be at higher risk of a rollover, but the force of the impact wouldn't really be a concern for my safety because the bulk of their car is impacting its force on my truck's frame, not my passenger compartment. Meanwhile were I to t-bone a sedan, that mass is traveling right through the glass, which is famously the least crash resistant part of a car.
I love my truck and have no interest in giving it up, but there is a greater responsibility to driving larger vehicles, and i can guarantee you the average person neither accepts nor acknowledges this extra responsibility.
Never forget Musk famously said about his Cybertruck monstrosity:
>If you’re ever in an argument with another car, you will win
But traffic accidents are zero sum games. In order for you to "win", someone else must lose, and if you're driving around in a "winning" machine, you need to have a higher standard for what constitutes safe driving.
I know I'm MUCH more patient in my truck than I was in previous vehicles knowing that even if it weren't legally, morally, or ethically my fault if someone crashed into me and I "won", my choice of vehicle could still be a contributing reason the losing party potentially lost more than a car. I know a lot of pickup drivers, and most don't think this way. A lot of them you see on the road seem to be more of the "i'll drive however the fuck i want because i know i'll win" mindset.
I was driving next to an SUV on the highway when the road split SUV continued straight into the barrier dead stop. All I could see was the air bags. Even though they drove 60mph into a wall I am pretty sure they made it out ok.
Yeah when people say they don't build them like they used to, I'm always like thank goodness they don't!
Sure a vehicle is quicker to be totaled but I would take that any day over more injuries.
People who say that about car construction are absolute idiots. "I can't believe that small bump caused that much damage. I barely even felt it."
EXACTLY. You barely felt anything because your car is engineered so that when you do smash into something... YOUR CAR DIES, NOT YOU
Well, akshually… I technically had one starting 2003, which had gprs (later renamed to 2G I think), a camera, ability to run custom (java) apps… but yeah, that is *very* much a "technically correct" thing because it was very uncommon, and an extremely far cry from today's smart phones and social media.
People like to crap on modern cars, but there is a reason. When I moved from my 2006 Acura to my 17 Jetta, I quickly learned how much safer it was. The active safety features are huge and probably made me a safer driver. I wouldn't buy a daily without emergency braking.
For every person like you, i'm betting there's a half dozen who think "oh neat, my car drives for me, i don't have to pay as much attention anymore" and definitely don't become a safer driver.
I prefer to go the other way. I buy manuals because i find when I'm driving a manual transmission I'm more focused on the road. Being mindful of the gearbox forces me to do a bit more mental preparation for potential hazards on the road, which leaves my brain less room to drift into thinking about dinner or where i'm taking the kids this weekend or whatever.
People don't understand just how safe modern vehicles are. Honda knows who drives Odysseys and knowing family members who design them, they don't fuck around.
I got t-boned by a cop who ran a red light (no lights on, he was distracted by his laptop) at about 40 mph. My 1 year old 2018 Honda Odyssey was totaled, but I (he hit around my door and the pillar between my door and the sliding door on my side) had nothing worse than a bruise on my butt/hip and my 12 year old in the front passenger seat was shaken, but completely physically unharmed. My door was crumpled in badly enough I had to climb out the passenger side to exit the vehicle. His front end was completely crumpled (he was in a crown vic or whatever equivalent ford sedan) and the glass from my driver's door window shattered and blew out. There were pieces of it where his windshield wipers were.
I know a guy that had this happen to him. He had a solid green and traffic was free-flowing, but an unmarked cop car (truck) driven by an undercover plain-clothes cop ran the red and t-boned him on the driver's side. Cop claims he had his lights and siren on when he ran the red but it turns out that wasn't true, and my friend literally could not see anyone running the red because those lanes were obstructed by the vehicles in the queue for the left turn lane parallel to his straight lane. Not only that, but he had his windows rolled down and no music playing because his radio was busted, so if there was a siren, he absolutely would have heard it.
Car was totalled and he was banged up but mostly okay. Guy battled with the city over who was at fault for months. Obviously the city police didn't want to report themselves as at fault in the accident report so they just didn't. Claimed my buddy was at fault for not yielding to emergency service vehicles that had their lights and sirens on, when, again, they weren't on. I believe they went to court over it, but for some reason the case was dismissed and my friend had to file an at-fault claim which fucked his rates up for years.
cop cars record whenever lights or sirens are on (they actually continuously record, but only hold a certain time frame in temporary memory that is overwritten, unless the lights or sirens come on and that previous timeframe in temporary memory is moved to normal storage). The fact that the cop who claimed he had lights and sirens on had no recording of the accident should have been enough proof to nail him to the wall...
except just like a mcdonald's ice cream machine, those pesky police cameras always seem to be down when they are needed. Funny that dashcams are a 100% sorted out technology in civilian cars, they just seem to have some strange bugs for cops. What a mystery.
I got rear ended at 10 mph about a year ago and sometimes my head still hurts from it. Basically just hit the head rest hard. I'm pretty young too. I don't understand how these people are not getting injured.
I legit thought I saw someone die just now, very pleased to hear they’re safe.
Makes me want to get a bigger vehicle. If being hit head on randomly by another vehicle, I rather be in the heavier one…
I hope the driver of the truck was jailed. We are too lenient on impaired driving. They should be charged the same as if it was intentional, then maybe people would start paying attention...
Doesn't even have to be drunk... the person in the video was obviously focused on something other than driving. They made the choice, to be doing what ever it was they're doing, instead of driving their car. If there was tougher repercussions for this then maybe people would pay attention more.
People didn't stop driving drunk until it just stop being a fine and actually had some jail time thrown in. Yes it still happens but it happens much less now.
Or maybe the just lazily drifting off the road, over corrected, and caused a major accident because of their shear negligence... I think I can even find a video of it. Posted right here even.
Edit - I know you weren't really serious about the bee thing but the window is clearly up...
You are actually insane lol. The fact that you think in a car nothing can ever happen where your eyes go off the road, or a medical emergency. Nope to you they made a choice to go into the ditch for fun. Yeah I am sure they totally did that. You need help if you think you can watch a video and know what is in the persons mind at the time 100%.
If your tires ever fall of the side of the road with a soft shoulder or lip, never steer hard to get back on the road.
Just slow down and ride out the shoulder until you are at a speed that jumping back on the road from the soft shoulder isn't going to slingshot you into the next lane.
I am an instructor for [Street Survival](https://streetsurvival.org/) and I tell my students:
> If you are going off the road, your first reaction should be to *not* react. Ease off the gas until you're going slowly enough to pull on smoothly.
It's funny how safety in vehicles can be counterintuitive. Motorcycle deathwobble? You need to actually accelerate slightly and slowly into it. Car skidding off? Let off the gas and keep the wheel steady so the ESP or whatever auto-stabilisation system the car has handle it.
Overall i think people overreacting and putting in bad inputs is what causes a lot of crashes to happen instead of avoiding them, or be much worse than they could be.
Yep. Had to do that when I got a flat in my front right tire on the interstate. The truck pulled hard to the right but I would have tipped it if I had braked and tried to correct my trajectory too hard.
I flipped an ATV onto my legs once by not knowing that. I slipped off the trail and over corrected. It landed on my legs. I was young and about a mile away from my family, I screamed and was shocked but they found me and helped me back to camp.
One issue with modern lane correction systems though is that the system will correct at the same time you do and cause you to overcorrect. Probably not what happened here but I could see it being a factor
I have driven several vehicles with lane correction and they **never** pull you back into the lane once you've left it.
Once you break that line, it's on you to recover.
She did, a landscaper a couple cars behind me was able to get her out and on the bank pretty quick. Other than being damp and a little muddy, she appeared to be ok by the time I was able to get out of my car. I ended up calling 911 as there were a number of people already helping her before I could even get my seat belt off.
This is the guy who brags that he is good at texting and driving and that nothing bad ever happens. He's good friends with the guy that "drives better when he's drunk".
Look, you all *hic* just have to *hic* do it like I do; the *hic* trick to driving drunk is practice!!!
*nods off* practice. As I was saying. How do you know you're bad at driving drunk if you don't try it? People are bad at it because they do it inconsistently. But practice makes perfect, so... y'know. Just do it more and you'll be fine.
*not real advice. Please don't do this.
I, unfortunately, almost caused an accident like this but I was fortunate enough that the car and I had a longer distance so I was able to get back in my Lane. I've never looked at my phone while driving and either way I use the Google Assistant function to get my text or read them if I need them. Now. My biggest fear is that someone else will do that to me while I'm minding my own business.
Other possibility is dozing off, then waking to the rumble of leaving the road and overcorrecting. My brother-in-law managed that one, although luckily just clipped a tree and not another vehicle head on.
Holy Crap!! That poor minivan!! I hope they are ok, but due to that collision, i'm not so sure. I'd imagine red Tundra was looking at their phone or getting sleepy, hopefully they are charged if so. If it was a medical emergency, then hopefully everyone is ok.
if both were traveling at 30-40mph it would have been very strong forces during the collision. I can’t tell if the minivan even applied the brakes. But you can tell both cars jumped when they collided.
I’d be very surprised if occupants walked out of this one.
Edit: it turns out that (assuming same mass) from the point of view of each car, is as if they crashed a standing wall.
Watching it frame by frame, it happens so fast that by the time the minivan hits the brakes, the truck is a car length away, the minivan does turn hard left, so if no one was in the passenger seat, the driver probably walked away. It wasn’t full head on, the minivan took the brunt on the front right of the hood and front quarter.
Yes. To me it seems they were going that speed. I am accounting 30-40 as the impact speed assuming they were both able to step on the brakes for a fraction of a second before impact.
the pickup that caused it def lost some speed but they were more worried with regaining control than braking hard, the minivan doesn't appear to react at all until the very last moment well under a second it was going 50+ easily.
I once hit a patch of ice doing about 20 and hit someone head one. I got knocked out from hitting the steering wheel and totaled my car. Doesn't take much.
I've been in a head-on with a each car going over 30mph, back wheels jumped off the ground on impact. Technically I was pulled out on a stretcher and taken to the hospital by EMS, but I walked out of the hospital after X-rays with no broken bones. I pulled/stained ever muscle in my back/legs from the collision but that was it.
Modern vehicles have amazing crash-safety technology, and I was no doubt fortunate. You never want this to happen, but it's hardly a death sentence or anything.
If they were both going 30-40mph it was like hitting a wall at 30-40mph. The force doesn't double. So I would say survivable..... Especially with crush zones and car engineering.
If the cars are equal mass and speed, it would be the same as an immovable object at that speed. Think about when their bumpers hit. That point stays motionless and both cars crumple into it. Same as if one car hit the wall at that speed.
i’m a collision report specialist at an auction/repo yard. I inspect probably 50+ cars a day and a quarter are cars that have head on collisions
you don’t want to know the shit i see.
Agree, my smother-in-law ™️ is afraid of driving on interstates but feels safe on two lane highways where one driver sneezing can cause a head on collision
I have to drive 15 miles on a winding two lane country highway every day and this kind of accident is my biggest fear. Twice in the past year a pickup truck has crossed over into my lane while they're going like 70 mph.
I think it was more trying to get back on the road since there’s no shoulder. I live in rural Iowa and there are tons of highways without shoulders and steep drop offs on the side. Like if you go off the edge you’re definitely going into the ditch. Definitely an infrastructure flaw though I’m sure the truck was not paying attention to the road.
Maybe. But most walls would have more give than this, or let you go right through. They don’t force your car to stop dead in its tracks. I still think the force is greater.
And more often than not, the ones bad at driving are the ones in big SUVs or trucks. That way when they do inevitably get into an accident they are the ones unharmed and walk away thinking “thank god a had a big car to save me” rather than “I need to be more careful when I drive because my life and the lives of others are on the line”
For the love of god people if you find yourself off the shoulder for *whatever* reason DO NOT yank the wheel back over. Deleting a mailbox is way better than a head on collision
They're on the right side, it's just a mirrored image like the front camera of a cell phone. Some cameras have a setting to flip it, some are just cheap and don't have the option.
Similar sizes in impact so neither continued after impact. Not good for them. Hope everyone wasn’t hurt (other than the guy causing it being butthurt by the ticket and insurance hike coming).
This really hammers home that you or your loved ones could be caught in something like this and in a snap it’s all over. Nobody ever expects to get that knock on their door.d
It’s hard to say what happened here. There isn’t much of a shoulder on the road. It looks like the truck got slightly too far to the left and panicked when it dropped off. He jerks the wheel back, over correcting and sending him to the opposite lane. Scary situation. Growing up, we had a long stretch of a two lane highway in our area and my driver’s ed teacher made a point of telling us to make sure to pull a little more to the left before going back to the right so you don’t hit the pavement drop off with your sidewall.
I don't know if people know it, but when cars hit head-on. You have to at the speed of both vehicles at the collision point. Just say both vehicles are traveling 60 mph each, collision point would be 120 mph.
My understanding is that many of the fatal head on accidents in America are not on the freeway, but on roads like this. Glad they're okay.
That looked like distracted driving to a T - I hope everyone is okay.
This is an example of the videos they need to get high schoolers to understand, keeping technology out of your hands and keeping your eyes on the road
classic split-mu situation, when you brake hard with one wheel in slippery ground and another in non-slippery terrain, the slippery wheel will slip but not the non-slippery wheel, which will cause a massive torque imbalance on the side with traction and will cause you to veer into that side.
modern cars with advanced stability control can mitigate this but if you have an older car this is especially something to watch out for.
Had this happen in front of me. Jeep went across the road, spun completely around. Thankfully no one was hurt or hit.
Promptly ordered a dash cam that day.
Distracted driving? Seems like someone dropped something, looked down off the road, over corrected, and then bam... Though, the other driver was at least reactive, the brake lights came on when the truck came into the lane. I guess the ditch was too deep for the van for them to consider. Still a head on collisions sucks.. glad that no one was hurt. I'd say a few folks will have trouble sleeping for a few weeks though... that's literally a butthole puckering moment for the people in the van...
I did the same thing as that truck when I was a ~17 year old driver. Wheels went off the edge, I overcorrected and flew into the other lane. Luckily no one was there in my case but I learned my lesson, don't jerk the wheel when your wheels go off the pavement at speed.
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Wife called 911 while I turned my car around. We gave the footage to the officers on scene while EMS treated the passengers. Both cars had parents and children in them. As far as we could tell no one was seriously injured. Stay safe out there folks.
Thanks for the update, I was legit worried for the people in both vehicles.
Safety technology in modern vehicles is incredible compared to even 20-30 years ago
both those vehicles were moving along pretty good and were not on the lighter side. they both stopped instantly. just dead center head on collision. so crazy. also, that road looks sketchy. pick up driver was either on the phone or 6 beers deep.
Yeah physics is what it is, there’s a limit to what the human body can endure and a head on collision means neither vehicle can borrow space from the other to decelerate. Amazing if they’re ok.
Or falling asleep at the wheel.
Kids in the car... Depending on the kids ages, I'd believe it. Early parents have their most stressful job ever, plus a random time and reason siren that takes between 30 minutes and 3 hours to turn off each time.
But not an excuse
Or driving while tired, possibly they had a stroke, maybe they sneezed and felt something pop and freaked out, etc....there aren't only 2 possible explanations as to why this happened. While incompetent driving is unfathomably high, it's not the only thing that could have caused it.
If there were kids in the truck, I guarantee Dad was tired of them bickering over the tablet that he's already threatened to toss out the window 6 times over the past 12 miles
when the intrusive thoughts take over
It would have been worse had the mini van not braked. Even 5 mph makes a big difference in how the car either survives or crumples.
Imagine if the truck had hit that car instead of the van though. It's kind of messed up how we need to buy bigger vehicles to keep up with all these crazy huge SUVs and trucks for our protection in the event of something like this.
Is there anything that actually shows you're more at risk in a car?
mass. If my 5,000lb truck (which is a small truck btw) hits a 2,650lb nissan versa head on, my truck isn't actually coming to an immediate dead stop, it's slowing rapidly. Meanwhile the Versa is not only stopping dead, it's being pushed backwards. The G forces experienced by the vehicle as well as the occupants is greatly increased in the lighter vehicle. That's before we even get into ride height differentials. If a sedan were to t-bone me, i would be at higher risk of a rollover, but the force of the impact wouldn't really be a concern for my safety because the bulk of their car is impacting its force on my truck's frame, not my passenger compartment. Meanwhile were I to t-bone a sedan, that mass is traveling right through the glass, which is famously the least crash resistant part of a car. I love my truck and have no interest in giving it up, but there is a greater responsibility to driving larger vehicles, and i can guarantee you the average person neither accepts nor acknowledges this extra responsibility. Never forget Musk famously said about his Cybertruck monstrosity: >If you’re ever in an argument with another car, you will win But traffic accidents are zero sum games. In order for you to "win", someone else must lose, and if you're driving around in a "winning" machine, you need to have a higher standard for what constitutes safe driving. I know I'm MUCH more patient in my truck than I was in previous vehicles knowing that even if it weren't legally, morally, or ethically my fault if someone crashed into me and I "won", my choice of vehicle could still be a contributing reason the losing party potentially lost more than a car. I know a lot of pickup drivers, and most don't think this way. A lot of them you see on the road seem to be more of the "i'll drive however the fuck i want because i know i'll win" mindset.
Simple physics, my dude. Big object hit small object, small object is damaged worse.
I was driving next to an SUV on the highway when the road split SUV continued straight into the barrier dead stop. All I could see was the air bags. Even though they drove 60mph into a wall I am pretty sure they made it out ok.
Yeah when people say they don't build them like they used to, I'm always like thank goodness they don't! Sure a vehicle is quicker to be totaled but I would take that any day over more injuries.
People who say that about car construction are absolute idiots. "I can't believe that small bump caused that much damage. I barely even felt it." EXACTLY. You barely felt anything because your car is engineered so that when you do smash into something... YOUR CAR DIES, NOT YOU
[2009 Chevy Malibu vs 1959 Bel Air Crash Test](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPF4fBGNK0U)
You know what we didn't have 20-30 years ago? Smartphones.
Ah, back when you could remember enough phone numbers to generate the most secure password in the universe lol
Well, akshually… I technically had one starting 2003, which had gprs (later renamed to 2G I think), a camera, ability to run custom (java) apps… but yeah, that is *very* much a "technically correct" thing because it was very uncommon, and an extremely far cry from today's smart phones and social media.
Are you confused? Do you know where you are and who you are talking to?
The comment was about road safety. I don't know you.
People like to crap on modern cars, but there is a reason. When I moved from my 2006 Acura to my 17 Jetta, I quickly learned how much safer it was. The active safety features are huge and probably made me a safer driver. I wouldn't buy a daily without emergency braking.
For every person like you, i'm betting there's a half dozen who think "oh neat, my car drives for me, i don't have to pay as much attention anymore" and definitely don't become a safer driver. I prefer to go the other way. I buy manuals because i find when I'm driving a manual transmission I'm more focused on the road. Being mindful of the gearbox forces me to do a bit more mental preparation for potential hazards on the road, which leaves my brain less room to drift into thinking about dinner or where i'm taking the kids this weekend or whatever.
I was worried for the people in the mini-van. not worried for the people in the pick-up.
Christ that's lucky. Did the truck offer an explanation why he ran off the road, ya know, besides cell phone?
I think that you, just like all the airbags in both cars, really nailed it on the head.
Thanks for this update. I was hoping whatever family was in the caravan was OK from being hit by a much larger truck so glad to hear no fatalities.
The wonders of airbags and seatbelts... and parents who ensure everybody is wearing them.
Not only airbags and seatbelts, but also the design of the cars with the crumple zones.
People don't understand just how safe modern vehicles are. Honda knows who drives Odysseys and knowing family members who design them, they don't fuck around.
I got t-boned by a cop who ran a red light (no lights on, he was distracted by his laptop) at about 40 mph. My 1 year old 2018 Honda Odyssey was totaled, but I (he hit around my door and the pillar between my door and the sliding door on my side) had nothing worse than a bruise on my butt/hip and my 12 year old in the front passenger seat was shaken, but completely physically unharmed. My door was crumpled in badly enough I had to climb out the passenger side to exit the vehicle. His front end was completely crumpled (he was in a crown vic or whatever equivalent ford sedan) and the glass from my driver's door window shattered and blew out. There were pieces of it where his windshield wipers were.
How many tickets did he give you?
I know a guy that had this happen to him. He had a solid green and traffic was free-flowing, but an unmarked cop car (truck) driven by an undercover plain-clothes cop ran the red and t-boned him on the driver's side. Cop claims he had his lights and siren on when he ran the red but it turns out that wasn't true, and my friend literally could not see anyone running the red because those lanes were obstructed by the vehicles in the queue for the left turn lane parallel to his straight lane. Not only that, but he had his windows rolled down and no music playing because his radio was busted, so if there was a siren, he absolutely would have heard it. Car was totalled and he was banged up but mostly okay. Guy battled with the city over who was at fault for months. Obviously the city police didn't want to report themselves as at fault in the accident report so they just didn't. Claimed my buddy was at fault for not yielding to emergency service vehicles that had their lights and sirens on, when, again, they weren't on. I believe they went to court over it, but for some reason the case was dismissed and my friend had to file an at-fault claim which fucked his rates up for years.
cop cars record whenever lights or sirens are on (they actually continuously record, but only hold a certain time frame in temporary memory that is overwritten, unless the lights or sirens come on and that previous timeframe in temporary memory is moved to normal storage). The fact that the cop who claimed he had lights and sirens on had no recording of the accident should have been enough proof to nail him to the wall... except just like a mcdonald's ice cream machine, those pesky police cameras always seem to be down when they are needed. Funny that dashcams are a 100% sorted out technology in civilian cars, they just seem to have some strange bugs for cops. What a mystery.
ACAB
I got rear ended at 10 mph about a year ago and sometimes my head still hurts from it. Basically just hit the head rest hard. I'm pretty young too. I don't understand how these people are not getting injured.
Damn, I'm glad there was a happy ending. Head on collisions are terrifying
I legit thought I saw someone die just now, very pleased to hear they’re safe. Makes me want to get a bigger vehicle. If being hit head on randomly by another vehicle, I rather be in the heavier one…
Wow, that's amazing. Cars get safer all of the time.
Thank you!! I was hoping for an update. I'm really glad they were all ok. That was good of you to turn around.
I hope the driver of the truck was jailed. We are too lenient on impaired driving. They should be charged the same as if it was intentional, then maybe people would start paying attention...
You just psychically know this person was drunk?
Doesn't even have to be drunk... the person in the video was obviously focused on something other than driving. They made the choice, to be doing what ever it was they're doing, instead of driving their car. If there was tougher repercussions for this then maybe people would pay attention more. People didn't stop driving drunk until it just stop being a fine and actually had some jail time thrown in. Yes it still happens but it happens much less now.
>choice Or maybe a bee flew in the window or they had a stroke or mechanical malfunction or...
Or maybe the just lazily drifting off the road, over corrected, and caused a major accident because of their shear negligence... I think I can even find a video of it. Posted right here even. Edit - I know you weren't really serious about the bee thing but the window is clearly up...
You are actually insane lol. The fact that you think in a car nothing can ever happen where your eyes go off the road, or a medical emergency. Nope to you they made a choice to go into the ditch for fun. Yeah I am sure they totally did that. You need help if you think you can watch a video and know what is in the persons mind at the time 100%.
If your tires ever fall of the side of the road with a soft shoulder or lip, never steer hard to get back on the road. Just slow down and ride out the shoulder until you are at a speed that jumping back on the road from the soft shoulder isn't going to slingshot you into the next lane.
I can confirm this, happened to me and let off the gas slowly encroached back in the lane
Can you share how you ended going off the road?
Just dose off for second
It happens frequently on backroads
I am an instructor for [Street Survival](https://streetsurvival.org/) and I tell my students: > If you are going off the road, your first reaction should be to *not* react. Ease off the gas until you're going slowly enough to pull on smoothly.
It's funny how safety in vehicles can be counterintuitive. Motorcycle deathwobble? You need to actually accelerate slightly and slowly into it. Car skidding off? Let off the gas and keep the wheel steady so the ESP or whatever auto-stabilisation system the car has handle it. Overall i think people overreacting and putting in bad inputs is what causes a lot of crashes to happen instead of avoiding them, or be much worse than they could be.
My driving instructor was great. She taught us the same, and even took us to a road to practice and experience it.
It'd be great to have a large enough facility to practice this in a safe manner.
My dad had me skid out in the highschool parking lot on a weekend.
and for the love of god do not apply the brakes. i think the truck did, which caused it to rapidly veer off like that
Yep. Had to do that when I got a flat in my front right tire on the interstate. The truck pulled hard to the right but I would have tipped it if I had braked and tried to correct my trajectory too hard.
would be cool if this was taught before getting your license in all states!!!
I flipped an ATV onto my legs once by not knowing that. I slipped off the trail and over corrected. It landed on my legs. I was young and about a mile away from my family, I screamed and was shocked but they found me and helped me back to camp.
Thank you for this!!
If your tyres fall off the side of road unprompted while driving on a straight road, maybe you shouldn't have been driving in the first place.
One issue with modern lane correction systems though is that the system will correct at the same time you do and cause you to overcorrect. Probably not what happened here but I could see it being a factor
No, not really. So far I've owned 4 cars from 4 different manufacturers with lane-keep assist and lane centering and none of them do that.
I have driven several vehicles with lane correction and they **never** pull you back into the lane once you've left it. Once you break that line, it's on you to recover.
What are the odds that this all started when that driver took his eyes off the road to take a look at his phone?
Saw a wreck last summer where someone did that, only the ended up rolling over into a small river that wasn’t too deep at the time.
Did they survive?
She did, a landscaper a couple cars behind me was able to get her out and on the bank pretty quick. Other than being damp and a little muddy, she appeared to be ok by the time I was able to get out of my car. I ended up calling 911 as there were a number of people already helping her before I could even get my seat belt off.
No, but he did get that last text out before dying, at least.
💀
That’s what the guy said
This is the guy who brags that he is good at texting and driving and that nothing bad ever happens. He's good friends with the guy that "drives better when he's drunk".
Look, you all *hic* just have to *hic* do it like I do; the *hic* trick to driving drunk is practice!!! *nods off* practice. As I was saying. How do you know you're bad at driving drunk if you don't try it? People are bad at it because they do it inconsistently. But practice makes perfect, so... y'know. Just do it more and you'll be fine. *not real advice. Please don't do this.
I think I know his cousin! Instead of drunk, it's stoned.
I, unfortunately, almost caused an accident like this but I was fortunate enough that the car and I had a longer distance so I was able to get back in my Lane. I've never looked at my phone while driving and either way I use the Google Assistant function to get my text or read them if I need them. Now. My biggest fear is that someone else will do that to me while I'm minding my own business.
1
100%. That’s what I came here to say
Very good odds I’d say.
Given that 40% of drivers are doing it I would say next to zero chance
Other possibility is dozing off, then waking to the rumble of leaving the road and overcorrecting. My brother-in-law managed that one, although luckily just clipped a tree and not another vehicle head on.
Holy Crap!! That poor minivan!! I hope they are ok, but due to that collision, i'm not so sure. I'd imagine red Tundra was looking at their phone or getting sleepy, hopefully they are charged if so. If it was a medical emergency, then hopefully everyone is ok.
if both were traveling at 30-40mph it would have been very strong forces during the collision. I can’t tell if the minivan even applied the brakes. But you can tell both cars jumped when they collided. I’d be very surprised if occupants walked out of this one. Edit: it turns out that (assuming same mass) from the point of view of each car, is as if they crashed a standing wall.
Watching it frame by frame, it happens so fast that by the time the minivan hits the brakes, the truck is a car length away, the minivan does turn hard left, so if no one was in the passenger seat, the driver probably walked away. It wasn’t full head on, the minivan took the brunt on the front right of the hood and front quarter.
Interesting. Reminds me of those small overlap crash tests.
Maybe those engineers are onto something!
this type of rural road and based off what is see both vehicles were likely doing more like 50-60 mph.
Yes. To me it seems they were going that speed. I am accounting 30-40 as the impact speed assuming they were both able to step on the brakes for a fraction of a second before impact.
the pickup that caused it def lost some speed but they were more worried with regaining control than braking hard, the minivan doesn't appear to react at all until the very last moment well under a second it was going 50+ easily.
I once hit a patch of ice doing about 20 and hit someone head one. I got knocked out from hitting the steering wheel and totaled my car. Doesn't take much.
Yeah. And This was definitely faster than 20.
I've been in a head-on with a each car going over 30mph, back wheels jumped off the ground on impact. Technically I was pulled out on a stretcher and taken to the hospital by EMS, but I walked out of the hospital after X-rays with no broken bones. I pulled/stained ever muscle in my back/legs from the collision but that was it. Modern vehicles have amazing crash-safety technology, and I was no doubt fortunate. You never want this to happen, but it's hardly a death sentence or anything.
You brought out alot of armchair engineers on this one lmao
If they were both going 30-40mph it was like hitting a wall at 30-40mph. The force doesn't double. So I would say survivable..... Especially with crush zones and car engineering.
Why not double?
If the cars are equal mass and speed, it would be the same as an immovable object at that speed. Think about when their bumpers hit. That point stays motionless and both cars crumple into it. Same as if one car hit the wall at that speed.
Mythbusters did an episode on this. It was very illuminating and proved the point.
Because their mass are similar, if one had a huge difference in mass it could change the outcome, but forces don't multiply in that way.
>there masses Where masses?
Looks spelled correctly to me. But it has been decades since physics. Lol you got me, then I over corrected. Lol
I think it's funny that you are getting down votes but the person who mentioned the same thing in a comment gets up votes. Reddit is something else.
Them "but I went to high school and I know if I have one orange and cut it in half I now have 2 oranges"
Your life can change or end just that fast. Scary as shit. We put our lives in the hands of others and some.of them are not worthy of trust.
lucky for us OP posted a comment detailing the OK-ness of everyone
i’m a collision report specialist at an auction/repo yard. I inspect probably 50+ cars a day and a quarter are cars that have head on collisions you don’t want to know the shit i see.
Wow, I hope the minivan occupants are ok. That was really ugly.
OP posted an update saying everyone involved survived.
Thanks for letting me know
Ergh. The poor occupants of that van, makes me sick.
Agree, my smother-in-law ™️ is afraid of driving on interstates but feels safe on two lane highways where one driver sneezing can cause a head on collision
Roads with one lane in each direction have the highest fatality rate.
Head-ons are worse than they look. And that one looked bad.
I have to drive 15 miles on a winding two lane country highway every day and this kind of accident is my biggest fear. Twice in the past year a pickup truck has crossed over into my lane while they're going like 70 mph.
They had to have been messing with their phone by the way they jerked back onto the road before taking out a mailbox
I think it was more trying to get back on the road since there’s no shoulder. I live in rural Iowa and there are tons of highways without shoulders and steep drop offs on the side. Like if you go off the edge you’re definitely going into the ditch. Definitely an infrastructure flaw though I’m sure the truck was not paying attention to the road.
I remember thinking head-on collisions were both speeds added up. Then I saw mythbusters and it explained it was more like hitting a wall.
If the masses are similar, then yes. However if a vw bug head ons a semi, no.
vw bug would be like any bug vs a semi.
Like Toecutter hitting the truck in Mad Max. https://youtu.be/tADwK698IQA?si=nsbrzTFUh-7T2hlz
Maybe. But most walls would have more give than this, or let you go right through. They don’t force your car to stop dead in its tracks. I still think the force is greater.
It’s like hitting a wall coming at you at 60mph
yea that truck was 1000% on their phone/ distracted what the hell..
On a narrow road, kids in the car, with pretty dense traffic both ways.....what a dangerous lunatic.
Seeing those two hop in the crash really sets in how hard they hit each other
So many drivers are so fucking bad at driving it's legitimately terrifying.
And more often than not, the ones bad at driving are the ones in big SUVs or trucks. That way when they do inevitably get into an accident they are the ones unharmed and walk away thinking “thank god a had a big car to save me” rather than “I need to be more careful when I drive because my life and the lives of others are on the line”
For the love of god people if you find yourself off the shoulder for *whatever* reason DO NOT yank the wheel back over. Deleting a mailbox is way better than a head on collision
I really hope that van wasn’t full of kids
> Both cars had parents and children in them. As far as we could tell no one was seriously injured. Stay safe out there folks. -OP commented
I like those updates 👍🏻
Everybody is somebody's kid.
It’s pretty likely there was a mother or father in the drivers seat, even if there weren’t kids.
Hopefully OP stopped to share the video with the victims in the minivan and with police
I know that cracked road
Is it in the US? Why are they driving on the left side
They're on the right side, it's just a mirrored image like the front camera of a cell phone. Some cameras have a setting to flip it, some are just cheap and don't have the option.
This is near Austin. It's a back road connecting two towns.
100% The driver of the truck was on their phone. The slow drift to the shoulder and the immediate over reaction are all you need to know it.
OP said there were kids in the car, so there are multiple possible distractions that could have caused this. Thankfully everyone was ok.
You gave this to the cops, i hope. The people in that minivan got fucked up.
Similar sizes in impact so neither continued after impact. Not good for them. Hope everyone wasn’t hurt (other than the guy causing it being butthurt by the ticket and insurance hike coming).
Fell asleep or phone?
I’m guessing phone. Everyone is on their god damned phones and it pisses me the fuck off!
That guy dropped his phone while yanking his crank
Someone playing on phone, ran off road, over corrected and cause a head on crash.
These things remind me that all it takes is five seconds for some stupid, braindead fuck to ruin your entire life
Accident aside, I really like how your windshield dot pattern makes this look like a comic book 💚
I always get a little paranoid on these long roads in Illinois like this.
This really hammers home that you or your loved ones could be caught in something like this and in a snap it’s all over. Nobody ever expects to get that knock on their door.d
Wow, awful. I hope OP gave this video to the police.
Absolute worst case scenario...
Just had to check that text message, didn't ya???.
This is scary. I need to get rid of my Fiesta ST.
Life comes at you fast
It’s hard to say what happened here. There isn’t much of a shoulder on the road. It looks like the truck got slightly too far to the left and panicked when it dropped off. He jerks the wheel back, over correcting and sending him to the opposite lane. Scary situation. Growing up, we had a long stretch of a two lane highway in our area and my driver’s ed teacher made a point of telling us to make sure to pull a little more to the left before going back to the right so you don’t hit the pavement drop off with your sidewall.
Looks like the driver fell asleep.
I'll take 'Distracted Driver' for 300 please!
"Hey look! I got 3 likes on my last post! Oops! What the....???"
I don't know if people know it, but when cars hit head-on. You have to at the speed of both vehicles at the collision point. Just say both vehicles are traveling 60 mph each, collision point would be 120 mph.
Can we find any sort of an update on this? The minivan has me really worried
Holy crap... i hope whatever's on that phone was worth this.
Looked like truck was on their phone. Geez getting that text out or browsing whatever I’d not worth dying or killing someone over.
My understanding is that many of the fatal head on accidents in America are not on the freeway, but on roads like this. Glad they're okay. 
They are, I avoid these types of roads
I wonder what kind of dumb shit that driver got up to to cause this
Poor buggas. No one needs that on a fine, sunny morning.
I wonder what they were doing. Drunk? On their phone? High?
Jesus Christ did I just watch someone die?
No, op said all survived.
God the road is a scary fucking place since the smartphone age.
That looked like distracted driving to a T - I hope everyone is okay. This is an example of the videos they need to get high schoolers to understand, keeping technology out of your hands and keeping your eyes on the road
Gawd dayummmmm
classic split-mu situation, when you brake hard with one wheel in slippery ground and another in non-slippery terrain, the slippery wheel will slip but not the non-slippery wheel, which will cause a massive torque imbalance on the side with traction and will cause you to veer into that side. modern cars with advanced stability control can mitigate this but if you have an older car this is especially something to watch out for.
These long stretchy farm roads give me anxiety thanks to this sub.
Looks like a Toyota tundra vs Honda odyssey? Point for both cars on safety rating!
This is why drunk driving and texting don't mix.
that's tough to watch hopefully everyone ok
Had this happen in front of me. Jeep went across the road, spun completely around. Thankfully no one was hurt or hit. Promptly ordered a dash cam that day.
Distracted driving? Seems like someone dropped something, looked down off the road, over corrected, and then bam... Though, the other driver was at least reactive, the brake lights came on when the truck came into the lane. I guess the ditch was too deep for the van for them to consider. Still a head on collisions sucks.. glad that no one was hurt. I'd say a few folks will have trouble sleeping for a few weeks though... that's literally a butthole puckering moment for the people in the van...
I hope the text was read properly before the crash.
This is why I dont like driving on 2 lane roads like this, and where I live there a lot of semi trucks on them doing 50 MPH
was someone on their phone? because if so, people needs their license revoked. it's ridiculous
I did the same thing as that truck when I was a ~17 year old driver. Wheels went off the edge, I overcorrected and flew into the other lane. Luckily no one was there in my case but I learned my lesson, don't jerk the wheel when your wheels go off the pavement at speed.
Was almost off the edge, over-corrected and bam!
:(
Was this in Texas?
At least they did a full frontal head on, instead of a small overlap collision. Probably minimized some injuries.