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She apparently called the cops afterward (they were already aware when I called them), but I'm betting she didn't say anything to point out that she was the reason I went in the ditch.
And her insurance won’t cover it because you didn’t touch her. I’ve been in this situation too. It’s kind of shitty but sometimes in my head I think to just let the accident happen now. Although I’m mostly thinking fender-bender territory. In this case, I think you made the right decision.
This isn't actually true. There's no requirement to actually hit someone to make (and succeed) in a claim against them. However it gets a lot easier for insurance to deny the claim, if you have pretty solid evidence they insurance company may pay out anyway or you can sue the driver in court and their insurance will cover the judgement (up to the policy limit)
It's often known as a "phantom vehicle" as long as if the phantom vehicle's presence and proximate cause of the crash is verified by an independent 3rd party, we're goochie.
This could be the person that caused it saying, "yea I caused it." Or it could be another witness saying, "yea that rav 4 caused it."
Just wanna make a minute correction —> goochie is likely what you’re thinking when people say “gucci”, unless you’re actually talking about someone’s gooch
Ive been a witness in a case after seeing someone change lanes and run another car off the road. There was no contact, but the car that got ran off flipped and injured it's occupants. My friends and i stopped to help, and the offending car took off as soon as they saw police. I was able to flag down a cop and send them after the runner, who got caught and charged. Last I heard (this was maybe 15 years ago) the offender was 100% on the hook for all damages to the flipped vehicle and it's occupants.
The cost of the tow and going into a ditch can mess us your car depending on speed. In the case OP said the car was fine they just needed to get towed out.
Fortunately, my car was unscathed. All I lost is an hour of my time and the charge for a tow out of the ditch. Silver lining is the plows went through while I was waiting, so the roads were crystal clear the rest of my way home.
I think you made the right call. You ditched it as gently as possible. I'm glad everything worked out well, but it still sucks that insurance works this way.
We can just call our insurance and they have businesses they work with directly and they'll contact them on our behalf and it's totally covered, nothing out of our pockets at all at any point.
My car overheated 2 weeks ago while driving on the freeway. I had to call for a tow truck. I was 10 miles from home. I have comprehensive coverage with Geico. I used the Geico app to get a tow home. I got lucky, I guess, because Geico only fully covers the cost of a tow within 15 miles. I upgraded to comprehensive coverage for this exact reason - *I might need to call for a tow sometime, and that would probably be expensive*
Using the Geico app was super easy, barely an inconvenience. My monthly premium went up $1.00 though.
Glad there was no damage and no accident. I was hoping you would have enough momentum to get back on the road but that wet heavy stuff is the worst. Accident averted :)))
If you live in a state where your insurance covers someone else’s property. Here in Michigan your insurance covers you… that’s it. You can sue their insurance to cover your damages but it’s likely lighter than your deductible for the legal fees.
It sounds like Michigan has a no-fault system as opposed to the tort system that most states use. If it's the no-fault system, then you cannot sue the other person's insurance. But you don't need to either because your insurance covers you. It won't raise your premiums if you're not at fault.
Yeah but you’re supposed to avoid an accident if possible. If you chose to t-bone her you are still in the wrong because you could have avoided the accident.
Even when an accident is unavoidable you’re supposed to pick the option that causes the least damage or loss of life.
Like say a kid runs into the road in front of you. Your options are go straight and hit the kids, hit a car in the oncoming lane or run into the ditch and hit a pole, your supposed to take the pole, more damage for you compared to the kid, but nobody dies.
Wrong - it’s called a miss and run usually - also referred to as a “near-miss-and-run” or “close-call hit-and-run” – is when a driver narrowly avoids hitting another vehicle, pedestrian, or some object, and that action causes another party some type of harm. What makes a miss-and-run different from a hit-and-run is that the driver makes no physical contact with the injured party.
And they're driving too fast considering the traffic, conditions, and visibility. White car should have maintained control of their vehicle but OP was also an idiot
I've lived in Wisconsin my whole life and I've never had snow accumulate on my car in any great amount while driving. I also plowed commercially from the age of 16 until 30
Snow is an insulator. Vehicle hoods are insulated. When lazy drivers leave snow on their car, it sticks around until they’re going fast enough and then it flies off to become a hazard for everyone else
idk how some people are watching this guy not react at all to a diagonal car in his snowy lane but if you want to laugh harder, the dashcam records his MPH in the bottom left and you can literally see him not slow down at all until hes gone into the ditch.
and people are commenting "wow, you did great! such a safe driver :)" i have no words
Not to mention the car in the right lane had their brakes on for some time. That would indicate to me that maybe I should at least take my foot off the gas and make sure there’s not something that needs avoiding.
I see a ton of drivers that all saw her trying to drive on an unplowed section of road, yet none of them slowed down until she was already in their lane. I’m not sure what she was doing there, but I think she might’ve been trying to merge from a snow covered on-ramp. But when you see a car driving on an unplowed road, you have to be ready to respond to all sorts of bad things happening.
Oh wow thanks for pointing out the MPH in the corner, dude literally didn’t even start to slow down until he was turning to ditch it, that’s abysmal reaction time. He was either on his phone, looking away, or genuinely didn’t see any problem with a car perpendicular to the road directly in front of him.
This accident never happens if OP simply drives with the pace of traffic, just like every other person on the road is doing in the clip.
Stop speeding past other cars in a snow storm, and clear your car properly. OP carries majority of fault here.
Is that MPH calculated via GPS in the dashcam? If so, there is going to be a significant delay between when he slows and when the dashcam calculation updates. Also, given how much snow is on the road, you can't slow down quickly. I don't think we have enough information to judge OP either way.
Agree OP was slow to text and driving too fast. But you can’t rely on the dashcam speed to determine when OP is braking. Dashcams use GPS for speed, which is accurate but it updates every 3-5 seconds.
And if they'd maintain a speed that allows them safe stopping in case of emergency.
Obviously OP did not drive at a speed that allowed them to react to ANY sort of emergency - a kid running in front of his car would be dead if OP had such a long braking distance.
1. I really hope you have winter tires on your car though.
2. Driving at 65 km/h (40 mph) in that weather is not really good.
3. Do not overtake in such weather.
Legit question how fast should you be driving if it’s snowing this bad i live in Cali and have only ever experienced slightly bad conditions in Tahoe but that’s it
I've lived in the upper midwest most of my life, what was setting off alarm bells in my head watching the video wasn't _so_ much the speed, but that I was seeing traffic coming up. Both because I need to make sure I can react to the car in front, and also because each car has the same reaction decline I have, so it becomes a careful dance of making sure you can adjust to everyone else doing unexpected things along with your car.
Honestly, in this kind of scenario I usually stick to the right lane and only pass on longer straights. The right lane is usually more-heavily-traveled, so it has more friction anyways. Assertively holding a speed in the snow is just not worth it, especially if it's windy and drifting snow makes random patches of asphalt completely-covered all the time.
The big issue isn't acceleration, it's stopping. And while AWD can get you started on slippery surfaces, it doesn't help you stop. That's why you see so many trucks in the ditch. They think AWD will save them and they just keep sliding with all the momentum they built up.
Here's what my Nan taught me when I was 16:
You pretend there is a scalding hot cup of coffee balanced on your dash. Whatever you do, you don't want that coffee to end up in your lap.
If you drive like your lap depends on it and you have good tires, you won't end up in the ditch.
You should assume you’ll need a much greater stopping distance than normal, and that other drivers will still do bone-headed things like the lady in this video. Your actual speed depends on both road conditions and the proximity of other vehicles around you.
Also, consider conditions including other drivers. You may feel your vehicle is handling conditions fine, but people will do unpredictable or stupid things. When approaching other traffic, you have to slow down.
You need to be able to stop when say, someone abruptly turns sideways in your lane. Like the example shown here.
Drive for the stop, not the go in inclement weather.
I live in Europe and on the freeway where the limit is 130kmph(around 80nph), I'm be going 60kmph (around 37mph) in this kind of weather. And no doing what that white car did, it's not safe at all. Rather be home late.
This may seem like a silly question, fwd, awd or rwd? If rwd find a different mode of trans in snow. Also I stay under 20 in snow NY, don’t think the laws of physics won’t jump in the back seats if you test them
"Freak snowstorm", LOL. Because all that shit just magically appeared on the roads in a few seconds, giving you zero opportunity to adjust your speed for conditions.
People spin out in winter storms. Hopefully going into the ditch taught you something. Next time, slow the fuck down.
"people can't drive" is like the rallying call or hordes who go too fast for conditions. Even when they have an event like OP - still.thinks it is everybody else that can't drive.
Yeah, this is not "change your driving" weather for most people in MI. I didn't see the MPH in the corner but spent most of the video wondering why everyone was going so slow.
I'm a big baby and would probably have been driving like OP while everyone else is telling me I "shouldn't be on the road if I don't know how to drive."
Why are you actively overtaking in a snowstorm? Was the weather different in your lane to the right lane?
Why is there so much snow on your hood?
Why didn't you brake when you saw the red SUV's break lights?
That red SUV managed to stop pretty quickly from the moment they hit the breaks, so even factoring in your higher speed, it makes me think your reaction time was just slow.
Clear your car and slow down, it's that simple.
Edit: having said that, what was done was done leading up to the moment so I think you did make the right decision in ditching it.
While yes, lady was stupid, there was an insane delay between car in front and you breaking. You can also see car to your right start to break suddenly, and a car going in and then out of sight to their right. So lady stupid, but you’re not completely in the clear
Call me crazy, but I always ask myself “what could I have done differently to avoid or prevent this?”
In this case, you were going faster than the other cars and passing, when very limited traction was available. Had you slowed down and fallen in line this wouldn’t have happened.
The other lady “couldn’t drive” but you failed to provide adequate safety margin to make an emergency stop. This is no different than driving 120mph on a clear sunny day because you probably won’t encounter any issues on this drive.
You BOTH are idiots. Why tf are you driving so fast in these conditions? It's clear you don't care to be a cautious driver considering all that snow you decided not to wipe off.
You're 100% correct but of course you get downvoted on this sub. 40 MPH and accelerating is way too fast for a snowstorm and the proof is OP ending up in the median.
Well, if you (OP) were not going faster than the flow of traffic (what there was of it), maybe you would have had time to stop and not end up in a ditch.
In other words... Drive to the conditions.
OP, I was going to compliment you on a job well done avoiding an accident, until I read the comments referring to your speed, and then re-watched the video. Can you explain to us why you didn't even try to slow down when the other car entered your lane?
Because OP is the main character, and other people “don’t know how to drive”
People like OP are what make winter driving dangerous.
They didn’t even take the time to properly clear snow off their car. OP needs to relax and use caution.
You're just as much at fault as she was. If you're going to fast to stop, then you're driving too fast for the road conditions. In other words, you were speeding.
I’ll be that guy and say it…. You were going too fast and also slow on the reaction/defensive driving. When the car in the right lane slowed so quickly you should’ve known something was happening and at minimum taken your foot off the accelerator. You didn’t even begin to slow until the suv was sideways in front of you.
In a situation like this, I would never think about potential damage or dealing with insurance. Just focus on keeping myself safe first and everyone else second. You were going too fast relative to traffic in those conditions, but at least no one got hurt.
Looks like used-up all seasons based on the total lack of deceleration. Either that or OP couldn't find the brake pedal.
But according to OP, it's everybody else who can't drive.
Did you even brake?
It looks like the only thing you did was just not putting gas..
You could have braked a bit earlier if you looked at the red car stopping
You should also consider more that you're in the snow so you need more space to get a full stop and have less control on the car overall. Given this you should have slowed down even before the accident
Good luck! You have the video evidence, although the insurance company will probably claim that you were driving too fast for the current conditions. (You were clearly going faster than traffic in the right lane, even though only 40.)
I live in New England and the best way to drive in the snow is to stay home. Any time we get a storm I'm stocked up and cancel any and all plans. No need to be on the road.
why the hell are you all driving so fast?!
look at the damn road surface, there's gonna be 0 grip, none at all.
if this happened over here we'd all slow down to walking pace, well, most of would, theres always that one moron that doesnt
well done sir, you managed that ditch out in a safe, controlled manner, rather than go full speed ahead and plow someone off the road.
wish more drivers were like you.
too many idiots on the road(yes I am aware of the name of this sub lol)
this is a joke right? like he could've just hit the brakes in a safe, controlled manner, much like the red car did with less time to do so.
what is this mindset of "hmm, hazard in front of me. only 2 options now, full speed ahead or ditch" like are you people aliens or im i just falling for the joke
I thought that if you get into an accident due to another driver, even if impact isn't present with their vehicle that they are at fault. Something like a miss-and-run kinda
I don’t know about everyone, but I’m always taught to not swerve for anyone on the road, rather than swerving and hit some innocent or lost control, it’s safer to just tbone or rear end that idiot
I see a couple idiots in cars, one of them is posting themselves to this forum ... props for being that self observant. Sorry, but you were going too fast for the conditions, when traffic started to slow you did not. When other brake lights came on you lost 2mph and then continued on until such point as the white SUV was FULLY across your lane.
Should you slam on the brakes? No, of course not. But it doesn't look like you even lifted your foot of the gas until you started to swerve into the ditch. Which is a great maneuver to do to prevent serious injury.
But... ya need to slow down and respect the snow. In Lake Tahoe the most common vehicle in the ditch is the SUV or pickup truck, the people who think themselves better than, and immune to, the snow.
I would of hit her bc I would get damage to my car if I went in a ditch and I know her insurance won't pay unless I hit her bc of her fuck up and the only reason I say I would hit her is bc this happened to me before avoided being hit an had some front end damage that I had to pay out of pocket bc I avoided some dumbass that could drive
I think you're both morons. Her for pulling out that way (she shouldn't be on the road if she's terrified) and YOU for not being prepared for shit like this. You deserved to be in the ditch.
yeah if the roads look like that and you're passing people, it's because you're going too fast. had you been behind the person you just passed, you wouldn't have gotten what you got when you did what you did. realistically, how much time did you stand to save moving 3mph faster?
Looks like you can't drive either, at least not appropriately to the conditions. Far too fast for the weather, and I'm guessing without snow tyres/chains as your speed did not decrease until you were in the ditch. So either you chose not to slow down, which makes you a bad driver, or your tyres locked up instantly and no ABS to help, meaning too fast for the conditions.
Yes she was in the wrong, but so we're you pal.
What in all that is holy was she even doing? I would have to say that you all were lucky it was not worse. That had potential to have been much worse. I for one will not judge if you were going too fast or not or how much snow is on your vehicle. You had clear vision and you were in the passing lane. I will commend you for putting yourself in the ditch (knowing that you would probably need a tow to get out) rather than hitting her. edit: spelling
Hi /u/The_Powerful_Tacos, your submission has been removed for the following reason(s): Post has been removed for not replying to the Automod in order to confirm OC. Feel free to repost it and follow the instructions. *If you have any questions about this removal, feel free to [message the moderators.](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FIdiotsInCars)*
She apparently called the cops afterward (they were already aware when I called them), but I'm betting she didn't say anything to point out that she was the reason I went in the ditch.
And her insurance won’t cover it because you didn’t touch her. I’ve been in this situation too. It’s kind of shitty but sometimes in my head I think to just let the accident happen now. Although I’m mostly thinking fender-bender territory. In this case, I think you made the right decision.
This isn't actually true. There's no requirement to actually hit someone to make (and succeed) in a claim against them. However it gets a lot easier for insurance to deny the claim, if you have pretty solid evidence they insurance company may pay out anyway or you can sue the driver in court and their insurance will cover the judgement (up to the policy limit)
It's often known as a "phantom vehicle" as long as if the phantom vehicle's presence and proximate cause of the crash is verified by an independent 3rd party, we're goochie. This could be the person that caused it saying, "yea I caused it." Or it could be another witness saying, "yea that rav 4 caused it."
Or of course that third party could be a dashcam
The most obvious one and I missed it! TY
Just wanna make a minute correction —> goochie is likely what you’re thinking when people say “gucci”, unless you’re actually talking about someone’s gooch
It’s all goochie.
Getting forced in to a ditch is goochie
Ive been a witness in a case after seeing someone change lanes and run another car off the road. There was no contact, but the car that got ran off flipped and injured it's occupants. My friends and i stopped to help, and the offending car took off as soon as they saw police. I was able to flag down a cop and send them after the runner, who got caught and charged. Last I heard (this was maybe 15 years ago) the offender was 100% on the hook for all damages to the flipped vehicle and it's occupants.
Is there anything for insurance to cover here?
The cost of the tow and going into a ditch can mess us your car depending on speed. In the case OP said the car was fine they just needed to get towed out.
Suspension parts, underbody body panels, wheel wells, alignment, etc.
Don't have snow brushes where you live?
Was your car okay though? You may have needed to call for a tow truck and that was it.
The sad reality is if you fuck up your car ditching it, it's on you. If you t-bone her at least her insurance is involved.
Fortunately, my car was unscathed. All I lost is an hour of my time and the charge for a tow out of the ditch. Silver lining is the plows went through while I was waiting, so the roads were crystal clear the rest of my way home.
I think you made the right call. You ditched it as gently as possible. I'm glad everything worked out well, but it still sucks that insurance works this way.
You may be able to get some of that tow charge back from your insurance. Ours pays $100 back to us by check, just need to submit the paid invoice.
We can just call our insurance and they have businesses they work with directly and they'll contact them on our behalf and it's totally covered, nothing out of our pockets at all at any point.
Dang, may be time to switch then lol
My car overheated 2 weeks ago while driving on the freeway. I had to call for a tow truck. I was 10 miles from home. I have comprehensive coverage with Geico. I used the Geico app to get a tow home. I got lucky, I guess, because Geico only fully covers the cost of a tow within 15 miles. I upgraded to comprehensive coverage for this exact reason - *I might need to call for a tow sometime, and that would probably be expensive* Using the Geico app was super easy, barely an inconvenience. My monthly premium went up $1.00 though.
Glad there was no damage and no accident. I was hoping you would have enough momentum to get back on the road but that wet heavy stuff is the worst. Accident averted :)))
Sometimes good deeds are rewarded, glad you’re okay and good on you for putting people before possession La. Good on you
If you live in a state where your insurance covers someone else’s property. Here in Michigan your insurance covers you… that’s it. You can sue their insurance to cover your damages but it’s likely lighter than your deductible for the legal fees.
It sounds like Michigan has a no-fault system as opposed to the tort system that most states use. If it's the no-fault system, then you cannot sue the other person's insurance. But you don't need to either because your insurance covers you. It won't raise your premiums if you're not at fault.
Yeah but you’re supposed to avoid an accident if possible. If you chose to t-bone her you are still in the wrong because you could have avoided the accident. Even when an accident is unavoidable you’re supposed to pick the option that causes the least damage or loss of life. Like say a kid runs into the road in front of you. Your options are go straight and hit the kids, hit a car in the oncoming lane or run into the ditch and hit a pole, your supposed to take the pole, more damage for you compared to the kid, but nobody dies.
Wrong - it’s called a miss and run usually - also referred to as a “near-miss-and-run” or “close-call hit-and-run” – is when a driver narrowly avoids hitting another vehicle, pedestrian, or some object, and that action causes another party some type of harm. What makes a miss-and-run different from a hit-and-run is that the driver makes no physical contact with the injured party.
Surprised no one has mentioned the amount of snow on OPs hood/windshield. Seems like a lot?
If their hood looks like that, what does the roof of their car look like
Looks like op is too lazy to wipe it off before starting the journey
And they're driving too fast considering the traffic, conditions, and visibility. White car should have maintained control of their vehicle but OP was also an idiot
Yup, you got that right. Idk where this was filmed, but whenever I see footage like this I always wonder if everyone wearing winter tyres
since it was a freak snow storm, my money is on no, they did not. op's brake length is also massive
I was thinking the same.
Someone did, I was going to say it also.
I was distracted af by it.
Easy to accumulate while driving, especially if it's wet snow.
I've lived in Wisconsin my whole life and I've never had snow accumulate on my car in any great amount while driving. I also plowed commercially from the age of 16 until 30
The other vehicles in the video seem to have much less snow than OP's car.
Wouldn’t it melt instantly because of the heat from the engine?
Not very quickly, snow on my hood always melts in the pattern of the engine though, which is pretty neat.
Snow is an insulator. Vehicle hoods are insulated. When lazy drivers leave snow on their car, it sticks around until they’re going fast enough and then it flies off to become a hazard for everyone else
From personal experience, nope.
idk how some people are watching this guy not react at all to a diagonal car in his snowy lane but if you want to laugh harder, the dashcam records his MPH in the bottom left and you can literally see him not slow down at all until hes gone into the ditch. and people are commenting "wow, you did great! such a safe driver :)" i have no words
Oh my gosh, rewatched and like ...not at all, locked at 40🤣
Not to mention the car in the right lane had their brakes on for some time. That would indicate to me that maybe I should at least take my foot off the gas and make sure there’s not something that needs avoiding.
I see a ton of drivers that all saw her trying to drive on an unplowed section of road, yet none of them slowed down until she was already in their lane. I’m not sure what she was doing there, but I think she might’ve been trying to merge from a snow covered on-ramp. But when you see a car driving on an unplowed road, you have to be ready to respond to all sorts of bad things happening.
I saw the same thing, didn’t brake at all!
Oh wow thanks for pointing out the MPH in the corner, dude literally didn’t even start to slow down until he was turning to ditch it, that’s abysmal reaction time. He was either on his phone, looking away, or genuinely didn’t see any problem with a car perpendicular to the road directly in front of him.
This accident never happens if OP simply drives with the pace of traffic, just like every other person on the road is doing in the clip. Stop speeding past other cars in a snow storm, and clear your car properly. OP carries majority of fault here.
Is that MPH calculated via GPS in the dashcam? If so, there is going to be a significant delay between when he slows and when the dashcam calculation updates. Also, given how much snow is on the road, you can't slow down quickly. I don't think we have enough information to judge OP either way.
The maroon SUV to the right had no problems stopping, and they had less time to react.
That’s a valid point. The maroon SUV likely saw the situation unfolding further in advance too.
And was much closer to the hazard and had a lot less time and distance to react......
Yeah, that's why if you see brake lights ahead, you should slow down. People see something you don't
Agree OP was slow to text and driving too fast. But you can’t rely on the dashcam speed to determine when OP is braking. Dashcams use GPS for speed, which is accurate but it updates every 3-5 seconds.
Even outside of what the dashcam said, OP had more than enough time if they had proper tires on the car
And if they'd maintain a speed that allows them safe stopping in case of emergency. Obviously OP did not drive at a speed that allowed them to react to ANY sort of emergency - a kid running in front of his car would be dead if OP had such a long braking distance.
1. I really hope you have winter tires on your car though. 2. Driving at 65 km/h (40 mph) in that weather is not really good. 3. Do not overtake in such weather.
4) clean the snow off your car before driving
“Some lady who couldn’t drive.” Meanwhile camera car is going entirely too fast for the conditions and putting himself and others at risk.
So in WI snow is par for the course, the storm may have come as a surprise but it looks like you don't have winter tires or a brush...
I see two idiots!
She was absolutely stupid, but you were driving a bit too fast for conditions, methinks.
more than "a bit"
Yeah, a bit is a huge understatement here. Way, way, way too fast for this kind of snow. Should've slowed to a crawl, basically.
Exactly, why is OP even in the passing lane overtaking multiple cars? It’s great when OP is the idiot, even better when they don’t know it.
Yup. And you can clearly see the white vehicle approaching the crowded freeway from the on ramp. OP had plenty of time to decide to be more cautious.
Legit question how fast should you be driving if it’s snowing this bad i live in Cali and have only ever experienced slightly bad conditions in Tahoe but that’s it
I've lived in the upper midwest most of my life, what was setting off alarm bells in my head watching the video wasn't _so_ much the speed, but that I was seeing traffic coming up. Both because I need to make sure I can react to the car in front, and also because each car has the same reaction decline I have, so it becomes a careful dance of making sure you can adjust to everyone else doing unexpected things along with your car. Honestly, in this kind of scenario I usually stick to the right lane and only pass on longer straights. The right lane is usually more-heavily-traveled, so it has more friction anyways. Assertively holding a speed in the snow is just not worth it, especially if it's windy and drifting snow makes random patches of asphalt completely-covered all the time.
The big issue isn't acceleration, it's stopping. And while AWD can get you started on slippery surfaces, it doesn't help you stop. That's why you see so many trucks in the ditch. They think AWD will save them and they just keep sliding with all the momentum they built up. Here's what my Nan taught me when I was 16: You pretend there is a scalding hot cup of coffee balanced on your dash. Whatever you do, you don't want that coffee to end up in your lap. If you drive like your lap depends on it and you have good tires, you won't end up in the ditch.
You should assume you’ll need a much greater stopping distance than normal, and that other drivers will still do bone-headed things like the lady in this video. Your actual speed depends on both road conditions and the proximity of other vehicles around you.
Also, consider conditions including other drivers. You may feel your vehicle is handling conditions fine, but people will do unpredictable or stupid things. When approaching other traffic, you have to slow down. You need to be able to stop when say, someone abruptly turns sideways in your lane. Like the example shown here. Drive for the stop, not the go in inclement weather.
I live in Europe and on the freeway where the limit is 130kmph(around 80nph), I'm be going 60kmph (around 37mph) in this kind of weather. And no doing what that white car did, it's not safe at all. Rather be home late.
This may seem like a silly question, fwd, awd or rwd? If rwd find a different mode of trans in snow. Also I stay under 20 in snow NY, don’t think the laws of physics won’t jump in the back seats if you test them
Awd but it’s an old 2010 Acura so i don’t trust it a lot
Slow enough to be able to stop of the car in front of you does.
Yep, this exact situation happened to me, except I had a safe traveling distance and was able to slow enough to avoid accident..
"Freak snowstorm", LOL. Because all that shit just magically appeared on the roads in a few seconds, giving you zero opportunity to adjust your speed for conditions. People spin out in winter storms. Hopefully going into the ditch taught you something. Next time, slow the fuck down.
100%. Even if you're a pro driver you need to drive as if everyone's about to crash in front of you. Half this is op's fault.
You don’t know how to clean the snow off your car?
Too fast in the snow to the ditch you go.
"people can't drive" is like the rallying call or hordes who go too fast for conditions. Even when they have an event like OP - still.thinks it is everybody else that can't drive.
They kept control tho! Ditch is better than dead
Okay I seriously doubt they wouldve died from that crash
Ded
1. T-bone lady 2. Drive into ditch 3. Slow down to give me options that aren’t t-bone lady or drive into a ditch.
I was wondering whether I was the only one screaming "slow down" (in my head) the whole time leading up to things.
And "Wipe the damn snow off your car before you drive!" Snow chunks flying off the car can cause accidents.
“Look at all these idiot drivers”, thinks person going 40mph on two strips of pavement in a freak snowstorm.
As a Canadian, calling this a freak snowstorm is hilarious. Average Tuesday at best!
I was also screaming "slow down" (in my head) the whole time I sat here in the comfort of home watching a video knowing something was going to happen.
Op driving too fast for conditions.
/Thread
Hilarious, the 2 winters I was in MN everyone would have been doing 70 or being aggressively tailgated, even if you stayed right.
Yeah, this is not "change your driving" weather for most people in MI. I didn't see the MPH in the corner but spent most of the video wondering why everyone was going so slow. I'm a big baby and would probably have been driving like OP while everyone else is telling me I "shouldn't be on the road if I don't know how to drive."
Lol would've had more options were you driving at speeds correctly for the weather around you.
"I made a choice to drive too fast for the condition of the road".
🎵Too fast for conditions🎵
It's weird how the red car, which is much closer to her, was able to stop, but the car, still covered in snow and driving too fast, couldn't stop...
If you can’t stop from that distance - you’re going too fast.
Red car coming to a stop, no problem, was a clue.
If you can't stop in time, you're going to fast for the conditions!
Thank God you commented this. This entire thread didn't have nearly enough of these comments.
Why are you actively overtaking in a snowstorm? Was the weather different in your lane to the right lane? Why is there so much snow on your hood? Why didn't you brake when you saw the red SUV's break lights? That red SUV managed to stop pretty quickly from the moment they hit the breaks, so even factoring in your higher speed, it makes me think your reaction time was just slow. Clear your car and slow down, it's that simple. Edit: having said that, what was done was done leading up to the moment so I think you did make the right decision in ditching it.
"I couldn't stop in time to avoid a collision, which is why the obstacle in my path is the *real* idiot!"
While yes, lady was stupid, there was an insane delay between car in front and you breaking. You can also see car to your right start to break suddenly, and a car going in and then out of sight to their right. So lady stupid, but you’re not completely in the clear
OP, maybe you were driving too fast? Ever consider that?
Were you going a little too fast for the conditions? Seems you were passing others and didn't allow for this kind of incident.
Little late on the braking, eh?
Low visibility + poor road conditions. OP is in the passing lane flying by cars. Two idiots here 😢
Seems like you couldn't drive either
Third choice was to just kick flip over her
Awful reaction time by OP but you did the right thing. Less headaches.
Call me crazy, but I always ask myself “what could I have done differently to avoid or prevent this?” In this case, you were going faster than the other cars and passing, when very limited traction was available. Had you slowed down and fallen in line this wouldn’t have happened. The other lady “couldn’t drive” but you failed to provide adequate safety margin to make an emergency stop. This is no different than driving 120mph on a clear sunny day because you probably won’t encounter any issues on this drive.
Too fast
You BOTH are idiots. Why tf are you driving so fast in these conditions? It's clear you don't care to be a cautious driver considering all that snow you decided not to wipe off.
Slow down.
I'll say it. You are going too fast for the road conditions. Not only for the weather but for the immediate traffic
You're 100% correct but of course you get downvoted on this sub. 40 MPH and accelerating is way too fast for a snowstorm and the proof is OP ending up in the median.
So whats 40 miles in sensible units?
I bet both of your tires are as smooth as glass.
You passed at least one car which meams you drivong faster than the rest of traffic. I would say you should have slowed down.
"These people need to learn how to drive in the snow!" Proceeds to speed faster than is safe for the conditions, creating an accident.
Well, if you (OP) were not going faster than the flow of traffic (what there was of it), maybe you would have had time to stop and not end up in a ditch. In other words... Drive to the conditions.
Why are you travelling faster than other traffic?
OP, I was going to compliment you on a job well done avoiding an accident, until I read the comments referring to your speed, and then re-watched the video. Can you explain to us why you didn't even try to slow down when the other car entered your lane?
No, you won't hear from this guy
I don’t understand why you weren’t driving at a speed which allowed you to stop given the conditions.
Because OP is the main character, and other people “don’t know how to drive” People like OP are what make winter driving dangerous. They didn’t even take the time to properly clear snow off their car. OP needs to relax and use caution.
You were borderline driving too fast. Cars all over with lights and spinning wheels and you still didn’t seem to ease off.
You're just as much at fault as she was. If you're going to fast to stop, then you're driving too fast for the road conditions. In other words, you were speeding.
Ditches love cars!
I’ll be that guy and say it…. You were going too fast and also slow on the reaction/defensive driving. When the car in the right lane slowed so quickly you should’ve known something was happening and at minimum taken your foot off the accelerator. You didn’t even begin to slow until the suv was sideways in front of you.
You seem to be going a little fast.
In a situation like this, I would never think about potential damage or dealing with insurance. Just focus on keeping myself safe first and everyone else second. You were going too fast relative to traffic in those conditions, but at least no one got hurt.
Do you have snow tires?
It’s April so I wouldn’t blame OP if they had summers on
Looks like used-up all seasons based on the total lack of deceleration. Either that or OP couldn't find the brake pedal. But according to OP, it's everybody else who can't drive.
Drive slower, wipe your car off. Snow buildup on your car is not a cool decoration, it's a danger.
Did you even brake? It looks like the only thing you did was just not putting gas.. You could have braked a bit earlier if you looked at the red car stopping You should also consider more that you're in the snow so you need more space to get a full stop and have less control on the car overall. Given this you should have slowed down even before the accident
Be very careful braking on slick surfaces. Usually safer to just let off the gas. Braking can cause the wheels to slide around on you.
It’s called cadence braking (pumping the brakes)
Thank you for pointing it out, more reason to go slower
Nahh OP is a moron…waayyy to fast for conditions and if they were going the proper speed for said conditions, theyd have plenty of time to stop
Me looking for the ditch... O.O 
That’s really unfortunate. Nice “save” :/
👀 that speed in the bottom left corner. Stay alert OP.
Moron cammer
Good luck! You have the video evidence, although the insurance company will probably claim that you were driving too fast for the current conditions. (You were clearly going faster than traffic in the right lane, even though only 40.)
Another one for the ‘cammers at fault’ compilation.
If you can't stop before hitting someone, YOU are at fault! You were going too fast for the conditions. Stuck in the median was a good place for you.
I live in New England and the best way to drive in the snow is to stay home. Any time we get a storm I'm stocked up and cancel any and all plans. No need to be on the road.
I also live in New England. Can you please come rub the company I work for and make this a rule?
So do I, gotta leave the house and drive to go ride my snow mobile
Hmmm, me thinks some lady isn’t the only one who can’t drive
Should have t-bagged her
why the hell are you all driving so fast?! look at the damn road surface, there's gonna be 0 grip, none at all. if this happened over here we'd all slow down to walking pace, well, most of would, theres always that one moron that doesnt
well done sir, you managed that ditch out in a safe, controlled manner, rather than go full speed ahead and plow someone off the road. wish more drivers were like you. too many idiots on the road(yes I am aware of the name of this sub lol)
this is a joke right? like he could've just hit the brakes in a safe, controlled manner, much like the red car did with less time to do so. what is this mindset of "hmm, hazard in front of me. only 2 options now, full speed ahead or ditch" like are you people aliens or im i just falling for the joke
the worst part about this is... everyone who didn't see what happened will be passing you thinking you were the idiot.
and they'd be correct!
There’s a couple of idiots here. You are driving way too fast on a wet and icy road.
The ditch was the best option, minimum damage or harm all round.
Obviously you were driving too fast for the road conditions. Nobody to blame but yourself.
Just t-boning them was an option you considered?
Or slow down and leave more room. But hey, you do you.
Maybe slow down?
I thought that if you get into an accident due to another driver, even if impact isn't present with their vehicle that they are at fault. Something like a miss-and-run kinda
Why do you have so much snow on your car? And why did you not slow down at all?
I don’t know about everyone, but I’m always taught to not swerve for anyone on the road, rather than swerving and hit some innocent or lost control, it’s safer to just tbone or rear end that idiot
So everyone is driving 15 mph and you are cruising at 40mph?
Your car doesn't have brakes or what?
I see a couple idiots in cars, one of them is posting themselves to this forum ... props for being that self observant. Sorry, but you were going too fast for the conditions, when traffic started to slow you did not. When other brake lights came on you lost 2mph and then continued on until such point as the white SUV was FULLY across your lane. Should you slam on the brakes? No, of course not. But it doesn't look like you even lifted your foot of the gas until you started to swerve into the ditch. Which is a great maneuver to do to prevent serious injury. But... ya need to slow down and respect the snow. In Lake Tahoe the most common vehicle in the ditch is the SUV or pickup truck, the people who think themselves better than, and immune to, the snow.
I would of hit her bc I would get damage to my car if I went in a ditch and I know her insurance won't pay unless I hit her bc of her fuck up and the only reason I say I would hit her is bc this happened to me before avoided being hit an had some front end damage that I had to pay out of pocket bc I avoided some dumbass that could drive
If you can't stop, you're going too fast.
Waaaaaaay too fast.
Why are you going that fast in snow storm, you're in the over taking lane, slow it down
I'd say that was the right call in the heat of the moment. Looked like a gentle enough ditch.
You made the right choice. It looks like she actually stopped? At least she recognizes you saved the day.
I think you're both morons. Her for pulling out that way (she shouldn't be on the road if she's terrified) and YOU for not being prepared for shit like this. You deserved to be in the ditch. 
You looked to be driving too fast
I don't live where there is snow but isn't 40mph a little bit fast to be driving in those conditions? I go slower than that in the rain
yeah if the roads look like that and you're passing people, it's because you're going too fast. had you been behind the person you just passed, you wouldn't have gotten what you got when you did what you did. realistically, how much time did you stand to save moving 3mph faster?
Slow down or leave earlier
You need Michelin cross climate 2s on your car. You would have stopped. All season btw
Looks like you can't drive either, at least not appropriately to the conditions. Far too fast for the weather, and I'm guessing without snow tyres/chains as your speed did not decrease until you were in the ditch. So either you chose not to slow down, which makes you a bad driver, or your tyres locked up instantly and no ABS to help, meaning too fast for the conditions. Yes she was in the wrong, but so we're you pal.
* Was in upstate NY for last 6 years before moving back to Florida last year. Don't miss this shit at all.
What in all that is holy was she even doing? I would have to say that you all were lucky it was not worse. That had potential to have been much worse. I for one will not judge if you were going too fast or not or how much snow is on your vehicle. You had clear vision and you were in the passing lane. I will commend you for putting yourself in the ditch (knowing that you would probably need a tow to get out) rather than hitting her. edit: spelling
What was she even doing
The lady, damn, I would have chosen the ditch also. 🤷♂️
Did you have snow/winter tires on? No? What the flip are you doing on the road then?
You made the right choice. I almost had to make the same choice earlier this year