I was driving down a suburban street at ~45mph - two lanes (one coming/one going) looking for a street I needed to make a left turn onto. The whole way down this street, a minivan was following me - not riding my ass (i was doing 45 the whole way), but following close enough to express slight impatience.
Well, I finally saw the left turn, and didn’t really slow down as much as immediately 1) flip on my left blinker, 2) tap the breaks, while 3) swerving to the left, turning onto the street.
As I did this, I was vaguely aware of the guy who had been following me locking his breaks with a loud squeal while blaring his horn.
Six months later - why? I still don’t understand what happened. Sure, I made a quick maneuver, but the guy was behind me, so isn’t it immaterial what I did, as it (should) have no effect on him?
When I learned to drive in the UK, we were taught Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre. Thus performing those actions simultaneously would have led to surprise on the part of the people behind you. Swerving is definitely not good driving. You should have been signalling beforehand.
That said, if the guy had to slam on his anchors due to a sudden move by a car in front, then he may have been driving too close. Either that or he might just have been startled by your unexpected manoeuvre, and hit the brakes out of panic.
(1) The guy was being an ass and exaggerated the brake-squeal on purpose. I’ll admit to doing that myself sometimes (but only if the guy in front is being a TRUE idiot.) Honking rarely gets someone’s attention; locking the brakes will more likely be remembered, as in your case.
(2) Your sudden swerve + brake lights made him think you really did SLAM on the brakes, and he overreacted. The horn would be force of habit, I guess.
I’m pretty sure the insurance companies would end up blaming him. Ultimately, it’s his responsibility to ensure he’s got space in front to cover all eventualities (it might have been a dog running into the road, a tree falling, anything). But you were both being inconsiderate drivers
I suggest he’s an ass-munch of the same ilk that will, for no reason, stare at you in a pub until you meet his gaze and then get all up in your face for “looking at him you feckin homo.” Sociopaths LOVE to drive.
About all you could have done is pull over and let him bluster on by you when you noticed 45 wasn’t good enough for him. But only because you knew you were looking for a street and should have anticipated the need for a quick turn.
But not to worry. Someday he’ll pull that crap on my brother, heh–or even my Uncle Scott! Oh! The humanity…
In Australia if you had, for no reason at all, slammed on your brakes in the middle of the road and the the guy behind you had run into your car, he would have received an automatic ticket from the police for “negligent driving”. You are never in any way responsible for the driving actions of people behind you - it is their resposibility to avoid accidents. How can anyone drive in a manner that accomodates the driving actions of the people behind them? What if he chooses to drive 2 feet from your bumper like NASCAR drivers do?
At the driver’s education school I attended here in Ohio (several) years ago we were taught the same thing. About 10 years ago I was in the car with my cousin and this idiot woman turned on her right turn signal then turned **left ** into her driveway. She turned abrubtly, slamming on her brakes. Well, my little cousin who had only been driving for about 9 months hit her. Yep, he got cited.
Granted, she was an imbecile but had he allowed enough distance and not guessed what she was doing, he would not have hit her.
I am a Pennsylvania driver. A few years ago I was being tailgated at night, doing the speed limit (55 mph). I was going through some bad times and I was pissed at being tailgated so I tapped my brakes, intending to scare the guy behind me. He almost hit me.
Turns out the guy behind me was a cop. He put on his lights and siren and I pulled over.
I told him I hit my brakes because I saw a deer on the side of the road. He told me he didn’t see anything. I said, “well how could you when you were so close to my car?”.
The cop was furious, but did not cite me for any violation.
The OP does not say that any “accident” occurred. But it is not an ironclad premise that if a driver hits you in the rear, it is his fault. All of the circumstances must be taken in to account. The scenario in the OP suggests fault on both parties. If there were an accident and if you live in a comparative negligence state, you could recover a portion of the damages assessed. If you live in a state wherein contributory negligence is a complete defense, you technically would be out of luck; however, juries in even those states actually take comparative negligence in to account and award damages accordingly.
Very simple… the guy behind was following too close. Had there been an accident he would got a ticket. True, you made a sudden turn but he shouldn’t been that close.
Well, I submit it’s not that simple. Freejookyviolated at least one motor vehicle law which may have contributed to that accident. True, the other guy should not have been that close, but the accident would probably not have happened if Freejookyhad not violated the law.
One potentially important fact is missing from the OP. What was the legal speed limit? If you admitted or were determined to be exceeding it, you might have been found to be contributorily negligent.
The OP says he did indicate before turning just very late.
A few weeks ago one of the guys I work with had an accident where he ran into the rear of the car in front. The circumstances were that he was in a line of cars doing about 80 kph in the right lane (for Americans think left lane) on a road with 3 lanes each way. Due to roadworks the right lane ended. The 4wd (Americans read SUV) at the front of his group of cars prevented anyone else from seeing that a barrier was up. The driver of the 4wd changed lanes without indicating but the cars behind him, having no idea what was in front of them, had to suddenly slam on their brakes. My friend ploughed into the car in front of him. The police officer who attended the accident, although booking him for “negligent driving”, advised him to write in and be let off the fine because the hazard was insufficiently signposted. The police officer stated that she “had to” charge him but he would definitely get off.
A guy I went to school with was famous for, if being tailgated, popping out the fuse for the brakelights and slamming on his brakes in the middle of the road. I don’t recall that he was ever considered responsible.
