Who Is at Fault? Car Accident

T-J on 01/11/2024 - 23:50
Last edited 02/11/2024 - 11:17

Who do you think is at fault in this car accident based on dashcam footage?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr0TQVne6Pg

Just submitted the insurance claim.
Let’s see if the forum agrees with the insurance decision—I'll update on the outcome soon!

Update: footage at the ramp light added.
https://youtu.be/b3RKvXEDOg0?si=ZB83YDuLlmdkE7iH

It was simply one of those unlucky moments. I’m grateful it was only a minor incident, and thankfully, no one was hurt. Remember to stay safe on the road, everyone.

Poll Options

  • 132
    Driver at fault
  • 1
    Red vehicle at fault
Automotive

Comments

  • boomramada on 01/11/2024 - 23:59
    +23

    Person with the dash cam

      • ihfree on 02/11/2024 - 12:56
        +6

        You can scroll to the BOTTOM of the page to leave a comment. You don't need to hit the first reply button you see.

        • smartazz104 on 02/11/2024 - 13:51

          He really needs to change his username.

  • Jaduqimon on 02/11/2024 - 00:07
    +6

    unless someone was behind you and hit your arse which made you hit their arse, its your fault.

    • Gervais fanboy on 02/11/2024 - 00:12
      -2

      unless someone was behind you

      Regardless, it seems like the dashcam driver was trying to switch multiple lanes in one swift go. He’d be somewhat liable anyhow.

  • angywoo on 02/11/2024 - 00:28
    -6

    Do you want us to include the fact you went through on a red light?

    It is really rather foolish to then upload your footage here asking the question….

    The whole point of the lights is to make merging onto the freeway easier and safer.

    • Gervais fanboy on 02/11/2024 - 00:32
      +1

      Watch it again, no one ran a red there.

      The light turned green and two cars(one car from each lane) were permitted to pass.

      • angywoo on 02/11/2024 - 00:48
        +2

        nah mate check again…

        It is green at 0:00 and then at 0:01 it is clearly red with plenty of time to stop.

        • Gervais fanboy on 02/11/2024 - 00:55
          +12

          Ahh, I understand where you are coming from. This must be a state thing I guess.
          In Victoria, this is how our traffic lights operate on an on-ramp, they turn green only for a second. Both drivers followed the correct protocol with this one.

          • angywoo on 02/11/2024 - 00:59
            +2

            @Gervais fanboy: Just came back from VIC and driving over there is absolutely crazy! Nothing like Perth.

            We have these lights here in Perth and I always thought that if it is red you can't go. Are you really sure that is the case in VIC? You can go through even if it is red and you didn't make it across in time? Just doesn't sound safe.

            • Gervais fanboy on 02/11/2024 - 01:03

              @angywoo:

              I always thought that if it is red you can't go

              And you are right ofcos. We only have this strange rule/understanding with when it comes to our on-ramp traffic lights.

              You can go through even if it is red and you didn't make it across in time?

              Yes, that’s just how we do it over here and as I said already the lights only turn green for a second so it’s just not possible to avoid the red.

          • apsilon on 02/11/2024 - 06:06
            +1

            @Gervais fanboy: Same in NSW, those traffic metering lights basically only blink green. It's impossible to make it through on the green.

        • thetrain on 02/11/2024 - 00:55
          +1

          the light only stays green for a second or two, and yellow is 0.2s. if you stop again on the red you'll never pass go

          • angywoo on 02/11/2024 - 01:00

            @thetrain: I thought this is why cars have sports mode.

      • Gervais fanboy on 02/11/2024 - 00:58
        -3

        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/15873154/redir

        It’s not like @Benoffie ever needs a reason to neg me anyways.
        He/she has a problem with me merely existing lol.

      • HeWhoKnows on 02/11/2024 - 08:59

        Im not from VIC so to me its very confusing indeed.
        The lights changed so quickly.
        If anyone stopped so quickly they would cause a multi-car pile up,
        There is no stop line at the lights so I can only assume it applies to cars behind OP.

        Anyway, has no effect on the incident

    • angywoo on 02/11/2024 - 01:02

      Goodness knows why you are negging me…?

      • Gervais fanboy on 02/11/2024 - 01:04
        +5

        Welcome to Ozbargain

      • Yummy on 02/11/2024 - 01:04

        negging me

        Welcome to OzB.

        • angywoo on 02/11/2024 - 01:09
          -1

          Racism is never ok.

          (Especially when half a Russian is reading the post.)

          • Yummy on 02/11/2024 - 01:11
            +1

            @angywoo: In Soviet Union, they don't know jokes.

            /s

            • Gervais fanboy on 02/11/2024 - 01:12

              @Yummy: In Soviet Union, you are not allowed to say “In Soviet Union, they don't know jokes.”

            • Murkymerv on 02/11/2024 - 05:34

              @Yummy: Obviously your living in the late 80's as soviet Russia became Russian Federation in 1991 .

    • jv on 02/11/2024 - 01:14
      +3

      Do you want us to include the fact you went through on a red light?

      No they didn't.

      Read the sign.

      • pegaxs on 02/11/2024 - 09:00

        100% this…

        OP "the dash cam driver" had their green light and proceeded as instructed by this sign

  • Save 50 Cent on 02/11/2024 - 00:29
    +13

    If you aren’t sure who’s at fault, then that partially explains how you got into an accident in the first place.

  • Yummy on 02/11/2024 - 00:38
    -4

    Must be Russian.

  • AustriaBargain on 02/11/2024 - 00:52
    +1

    u r

  • OMGJL on 02/11/2024 - 00:53
    +8

    dashcam owner is at fault.

    1. changing multiple lanes

    2. fail to keep distance with the vehicle in front (the red mazda has already finished merging)

    pretty much the car behind is almost always at fault in rear end collision, the only exception is when car in front purposely do break check…. and even then the judge can still challenge you with the question why don't you keep safe distance.

    • Ramrunner on 02/11/2024 - 13:52

      A BRAKE check is very hard to argue even with footage and witnesses.

  • Bruceflix on 02/11/2024 - 01:04
    +3

    Without an MS paint diagram, i really can't say

    • this is us on 02/11/2024 - 07:37
      +1

      We live in times when videos might be more reliable and able to replace MS Paint diagrams.

      • MS Paint on 02/11/2024 - 07:44
        +5

        Pffffft

      • DashCam AKA Rolts on 02/11/2024 - 12:09
        +1

        We live in times when dash cam videos might be more reliable and able to replace MS Paint diagrams
        Got to agree.

      • Massive Flog on 02/11/2024 - 12:28

        @this is us Heretic!

  • jv on 02/11/2024 - 01:11
    +2

    Dash cam driver, 100%

  • hasher22 on 02/11/2024 - 01:26
    +4

    Obviously the dash cam driver.

    Trying to double lane merge and I am 99% certain they were looking at their blind spot for the second lane merge and wasn't focusing on the first lane on what's going on.

    This is why you don't double lane merge……. Congratulations, you wanted to save 5 seconds, now you just wasted weeks and money just because you're impatient

    • Gervais fanboy on 02/11/2024 - 01:29

      Everyone’s having a go at the op lol.
      Firstly, we are not sure if that was him driving that dash cam car.
      Second, even if that’s him he’s anyways going to face the consequences for his negligence. Why are people getting so mad over this.

      • hasher22 on 02/11/2024 - 01:52
        +5

        Because it's just stupid driving in general.

        The red car now has to deal with the dash cam's foolishness.

        If my life was inconvenienced by someone else's mistake, there should be further compensation. For example, I work as a contractor and if someone hit me from behind and I wasn't able to go to work, where is my compensation? And even if I had income protection insurance, I shouldn't need to make a claim.

        • Gervais fanboy on 02/11/2024 - 02:02
          +1

          I hear you, agree with you and ofcos the dash cam driver is at fault here but there are so many cars on the road, stuff happens sometimes. Hopefully the driver at fault will learn from this and does better next time.

      • Murkymerv on 02/11/2024 - 05:38

        Why so serious!

        • hasher22 on 02/11/2024 - 13:29

          Because I have been rear ended worst than this at a roundabout!! He admitted he was on his phone.

          My car was totalled!!!

          Not to mention the weeks and countless contact with insurance to get this sorted out.

          I am a contractor and I NEED my car, without it, my income stops.

          Also, I had to make an income protection claim which doesn't even pay out the max income I get it I was working. And I need to pay for excess.

          Now you tell me, should a person go through all this when it wasn't even my fault.

          If you been in a car accident that hinders your life and finances, then you should know.

  • miwahni on 02/11/2024 - 01:35

    I'm not sure why this even needs to be asked, unless you come from a place where the person in front is to blame for someone rear-ending them.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 02/11/2024 - 01:38
    +3

    I'll update on the outcome soon!

    Don’t let us down op

  • Exprise on 02/11/2024 - 02:01

    Dashcam driver at fault

  • AngoraFish on 02/11/2024 - 05:49
    +1

    Dashcam was driving too fast for the conditions. Also, any time you rear end someone it's your fault.

  • Gunnar on 02/11/2024 - 05:52

    you are the driver is at fault

    Even trying to play the card that you were in the lane first (and the red car needed to give way to you) is unlikely to work because you were not fully in the lane

  • SBOB on 02/11/2024 - 06:19
    +1

    Im not sure this survey needs two choices.
    This has to be one of the least controversial 'whose at fault' ozb car lawyer posts ever

  • c64 on 02/11/2024 - 06:43
    +2

    it was the fault of that topless woman walking along the side of the road

  • Fredfloresjr on 02/11/2024 - 07:14

    Ahahaha no need brain here.

    Was the cyclist. So they need to pay road taxes like us.

  • Sal in SA on 02/11/2024 - 07:26
    +1

    How is this even a question ?. If anyone is uncertain that the dashcam driver is in the wrong, please never ever drive again.

  • GordonD on 02/11/2024 - 07:54
    -1

    I have run the video a couple of times. I can't see why the white vehicle in front stopped suddenly. If its not a good reason then it caused the crash.

    • HomerJ on 02/11/2024 - 08:08
      +1

      I think the white car hit the car in front

    • pegaxs on 02/11/2024 - 08:36
      +2

      I can't see why the white vehicle in front stopped suddenly.

      Because there is a line of stopped cars in front of it. From about the 12 to 16 second mark you can clearly see the bank up of stopped cars and you can see the 3 or so cars in front of the white car that stops.

      From about 22 seconds onwards, you can clearly see that there is a line of stopped cars in the red car's lane.

      And the white car "stops suddenly", because as it slowed and came to a stop… they too hit someone :D So, yeah, they are also at fault, but not for what transpired with the dash cam car and the red Mazda.

  • pegaxs on 02/11/2024 - 08:17
    +5

    lol… really? You needed to post this as a question? *face palm*

    And just before the inevitable "DELETE THIS POST!!" edits to the OP and the taking down of the video… It has now been archived for posterity.

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 02/11/2024 - 08:44
      +2

      archived(imgur.com) for posterity.

      This is extremely aesthetic

    • smartazz104 on 02/11/2024 - 13:55

      No one’s going to remember this by next week.

  • Bignudge on 02/11/2024 - 08:22

    Dash cam driver at fault

  • AndyC1 on 02/11/2024 - 08:31
    +1

    Red car changed lanes legally and safely, so dashcam driver at fault for not keeping a safe distance to the car in front in order to stop in case of something going wrong.
    The red car stopped without hitting the car in front, but the car in front of the red car hit the car in front of it.

    Dashcam driver is in denial that driver is at fault.

    • askbargain on 02/11/2024 - 09:15

      dash cam driver should have sped up and hit red car on the side and make it a 50/50 claim

      red car clearly accelerated to "cut" in front of dash cam

      • AndyC1 on 02/11/2024 - 11:52

        Do you drive in the inner city where there are roads like in the dashcam? If not then….

  • skid on 02/11/2024 - 08:31

    Dash cam driver at fault

    The driver in the red car is a bad driver tho

  • gomertose on 02/11/2024 - 08:44
    +1

    You should probably hand in your licence and delete this post

  • JIMB0 on 02/11/2024 - 09:00

    You lost the drag race to the other car.

  • JaymeRyan on 02/11/2024 - 09:09

    Potentially failing to follow the one car per green light flash. We need to have footage 10 seconds earlier as it appears that the dashcam driver may have stopped at the red light, and the white car could have pushed in line.

    Changing two lanes, could argue that the dashcam driver was trying to avoid a crash ahead with the red car and quickly changed lanes which failed.

    As it is a rear end, the dashcam driver is likely to have some blame as the driver did not give themself enough stopping distance from the car ahead (red). This is complicated as the other red car merged into the Dashcam driver's lane.

    • pegaxs on 02/11/2024 - 11:16

      Potentially failing to follow the one car per green light flash.

      It's one car "per lane". At that section of road, there are two lanes. It's one car, per green, per lane.

      In the video, there is literally open road in front of OP. They were the "one car" in their lane.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 02/11/2024 - 09:30

    Waiting for the twist that op is the red car… righttt?

  • loropy9 on 02/11/2024 - 09:31
    -1

    It's a fender bender. OP will most likely be liable. I would have negotiated to pay damages to the red car without involving insurance. Given that the red mazda already had some damage on the back, and it's not a brand new expensive vehicle, I would speculate that the owner of that car isn't overly pedantic about his car and would likely accept cash. I would have offered $300 cash to forget about the whole incident. Going through the insurance at fault is not worth the excess and the bad mark against the drivers record.

  • Rahonui on 02/11/2024 - 09:56
    -5

    The red car was a dick and cut in when they weren't allowed to, but dash cam also had plenty of time to figure out what was going on and should have backed off. Dont let your ego take the wheel for you

  • DingoBilly on 02/11/2024 - 10:40

    This is extremely obvious that the driver is at fault. Are you honestly hoping it isn't?

  • angywoo on 02/11/2024 - 12:40

    I'm invested in this post now.

    Did the white car hit the grey car which then caused the red car to break suddenly however the red car's brakes didn't come on?

    There doesn't seem to be any difference in the lens brightness/colour when the red car moves forward from stationary at 0:24

    if this is the case then 50:50 fault

  • Clickbait on 02/11/2024 - 13:48

    DashCam is at fault unless this is his first accident since he got his licence.
    Then there is no way it was his fault………until it is.

  • smartazz104 on 02/11/2024 - 13:58

    Judging by the dent on the back of the red car, it isn’t their first rodeo. Maybe they’ll think twice next time before changing into the left lane right at an on-ramp, and right behind a line of stopped cars.

  • Sal in SA on 02/11/2024 - 14:02

    And assuming OP is dashcam driver… were you really thinking it was anyone else's fault but yours ? really would be interested in the thought process..

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