Those horse riders are shockingly dangerous. Only 1 with a visibility jacket, no light source on whilst crossing a road and there looks to be almost 10 of them. Rear car was too close, but those horse riders are putting everyone in danger.
Including their own horses; and I bet if any of the horses got hurt or killed they would be "You hit my horse (stream of expletives)," while not admitting it was very much their fault.
I used to ride but no longer my daughter does and rides at night / early evening she has high Vis for the horses main body , the head, hoofs she also has flashing red lights on her helmet and rear of saddle she has head torch and horse breast lamps reflectors on her boots she basically looks like a Christmas tree from a distance. Guess what car driver in particular still have close calls cos they don't look they sit in their boxes music on distracted about getting home. Yes these horse riders need a kick up the back side it don't cost much for these lights or reflectors compared to the cost of looking after horses.😊
I encounter a lot of horses around my way and most of them are great, high vis jackets and reflectors, good use of space and compliant with motorists. There is one however who is often out around sunset or into dark who rides a dark coloured horse and wears dark clothes and just seems to have no concept of how hard they are to spot amongst the high hedgerows and narrow lanes. It's in an area where 20mph would be ambitious but you'll often hear a squeal of tyres as someone comes across this accident waiting to happen followed by a flurry of abusive language from both parties. I've even slowed down for a chat and mentioned that I've got some spare hi viz stuff at home (on a route they often pass) if they want it but I'm just greeted by "keep moving please, you're making my horse nervous". No helping some people
The one with the horses was in my opinion absolutely stupid. Crossing a fast road at night in the rain with horses is NOT something you should be doing. Just ignoring the tailgating for a minute, the only time I saw a horse in the video was when one passed in front of the headlights of the stopped car in the oncoming lane. That right away tells you that the horses & riders aren't visible enough. As someone who has cycled when it's just getting dark, you make yourself as visible as possible, the same applies when riding horses at night. You light yourself up! The tailgating was entirely uncalled for, and again a stupid thing to do, and again comes as no surprise whatsoever.
I thought the Cammer did a good Job of stopping. Why did the Horse riders think it was a good idea to go for a ride at night and crossingbusy roads with oncoming traffic. Seriously need a word with themselves, those Poor Horses would've been wiped out😢
All I can think is the horses must have been caught out and weren't intending to be out after dark. They're usually quite protective of their animals. I was watching the tail gater as that's where I was expecting the problem to come from and didn't see the horses for ages which I guess can happen when your driving too. I dont know if the camera made it look closer than it was but he would've been really annoying me.
@@markwalton8644 They should be wearing reflectors on their helmets and boots at the minimum, a light or two as bikes are required to would be a decent start as well.
As someone who rides I would say they could’ve done more to make themselves visible such as hi vis vests and hi vis saddle pads, maybe a head torch over the helmet too. They were not in the wrong to be crossing that road in the dark but they were in the wrong to not have any visibility gear
At 3:08 I don't think the cammer is behind the A-pillar blind spot. My best guess would be that the cammer did not have their headlights on. If you look at the oncoming cars in the distance, you can see the difference between having headlights on and off. The car with headlights off has bright red color, so you can only imagine that a black car (the hood of the cammer seems to be black or some other dark color) is much more difficult to see if the headlights are off. Headlights on or off, that was lethal overtake. But be seen and keep your headlights on to reduce your chances of ending up in a situation like this.
The amount of “I could avoid a collision but in the name of being right, I won’t!” is absolutely staggering. Personally, would rather have a working car and no bumps or bruises.
People have the same mentality with poor overtaking towards them and not slowing down or trying to avoid a crash. I don’t care who’s in the right. I’d rather be safe / alive.
@@MeTube3 It's not always like that. You don't always have to have driven perfectly to not be held liable. So long as your enemy was much more in the wrong than you
6:02 it’s insane how close the person behind is, especially in such bad visibility. I actually find this is quite common with drivers who aren’t confident driving at night with very little light. They get too close and are too nervous.
Because 99.9% of the time they get away with it. All it takes is one further small event to make the 0.1%, and these tailgaters just simply don't have the intelligence to think that far ahead.
Tailgating at night is very common where I live (rural, windy country roads, national speed limit) and combined with lots of animals out at night it's a recipe for disaster. Think I'll get a dashcam now!
They may also have the ridiculous attitude of "well, I've never had an accident!" as if people somehow go looking to get in an accident. Sadly, reckless, selfish and careless driving rarely punishes just those who are responsible.
If someone is that close to me, I’ll slow right down to 10-20mph. Just not worth the risk to go any faster. They nudge your rear at speed and you could be spun off the road.
Ashley, your "make it a non-event" advice has been crucial in improving my driving - I used to be extremely stubborn! I wish more people were exposed to it. I genuinely believe that "make it a non-event" would make an absolutely fantastic PSA for all motorists. Any MP's watching?
You are so right. Many scenarios I see now and instead of flashing my lights or just driving through I'll stop. My first thought is oh well why not just keep driving and I won't be at fault... but it just saves 5 seconds. I feel much better making it a non event.
@@Blahsheep My weakspot was trying to "punish" poor lane discipline and poor merging / overtakes in general. I was a space closer. Driving was stressful! I don't even need to think about stuff like that anymore as it's become a solid habit. I'll just stick some Stevie Wonder on and groove all the way home. M.I.A.N.E.!
Same here. I got caught in the whole city driving philosophy and was a space closer, my priority and this is my lane type of driver along with the beeping while undertaking someone lane hogging and flashing lights at people not indicating when pulling back in. I started to change my ways and then found this channel. My driving is much calmer and if someone is in a rush, so be it. As Ogmios might say “Your journey looks more important than mine so after you, I can wait as I am in no rush. I’ll look at the trees and admire nature as you make your 7 point turn”
I had this conversion with my partner over the weekend. She got fixated on an twatty Audi driver to the point where we missed our turn. I ended with "What would Ashley Neal say" 😅
My instructor told me that the first thing you can do is if you are unsure or cautious, lift off the accelerator. To many people, see the brake/throttle as binary, on or off only.
I use lifting and coasting a lot and do exactly that. If there is a tentative situation up ahead, off the throttle first. If it develops, brakes and my car slows down easier since the engine has already done a fraction of the work for me (engine braking). If it is a non-event, then back on the throttle and I don't lose much momentum.
And you can have your foot already touching the brake should you need it. It might even be appropriate to tap it to alert the people behind of a hazard ahead.
@@flemit35 I love cruise control, means I can keep speed up without taking concentration away from observations. The second I observe a red flag, it comes off and I am back to manual throttle until the risk is gone.
Whenever I pass through a junction I tend to hover my foot over the brake and come up with a rough escape plan if something were to happen. If I think I haven't been spotted I'll start slowing more, thus giving more options to deal with the situation appropriately and safely.
The t-bone at 4:30 is something I am very well aware of. Almost every day I see drivers pulling out onto main roads because a vehicle is turning left off it. It is fraught with danger and without knowing the stats, I'd bet this is how very many motorcyclists get killed - by someone thinking that the left-turner has the job of making it clear for them to emerge. It's not their job, never was. Even if it's not a motorcyclist, pretty well _anything_ could have been hidden behind that camper. The only time the traffic on the major road is clear is when an unimpeded view shows there is nothing there!
It blows my mind just how many people think "I can't see anything, so it must be clear", even when their view is obstructed by other vehicles. If you can't see whether there is anybody on the road, slow down further or just stop until the obstruction is gone.
My father in law lives at a junction just like and there is a serious accident on it at least once a month. Crazy the amount of idiots who pull out onto a 60mph road because they see a car turning left assuming all the traffic behind them will come to a stand still.
Those horse riders were essentially invisible until the last moment that was shocking. How that is even legal is beyond me. As for the junction crash I disagree about the driver could have done a lot more, he's travelling the A96 towards Aberdeen and I even checked the road on google maps and couldn't see anything suggesting the speed limit was below 60mph which our driver was. The distance between the arrow marking the slip road (The first time you see the black car approaching the junction) and the point of collision is 70 metres so even if our cammer was doing 40mph there would only be a 1 second difference, not enough time to have changed anything in this scenario so speed control wouldn't have changed anything. If someone is going to come flying out of a junction there's really little you could do. I honestly have no idea what the cammer could have done differently here
As Ashley said at the start - sometimes there is nothing you can do and it's your destiny to have a crash. But approaching a junction like that, where a large vehicle is exiting, a quick think of "will a car approaching that junction now see me?" is not unwarranted and a reasonable thought. You say even driving at 40mph would have made little difference, but there is a near 30 meter stopping distance difference (obviously, several variables at play here). I think Ashley's general point was, the driver did not slow at all approaching that well sign-posted junction (of course, they do not HAVE to, given the speed limit and "right of way" -- although little impact that had) and perhaps had they shaved a little off their speed earlier, been a touch more defensive, then it may have avoided the accident. Yes, it is being critical of a driver who is not at fault, but we're here to learn. This does not excuse the car who pulled out at all, who made a terrible decision and is completely liable, but we're all about learning here and thinking about what we can do better.
I would not have been driving over 50mph on that road in those conditions, even though its a nice straight wide road, most likely would ease off a bit before the junction. Not that it would have prevented that collision, just reduced the impact.
7:13 whenever i pass a junction i always keep a second eye on the car that might pull out and have my right foot hovering over the brake pedal ready, i have saved myself a few close calls by thinking like this
3:30 father’s son here, im glad my dad sorted the dangerous situation, and i still feel bad for myself giggling about my mother’s panic reaction had slightly the same experience when learning to drive with my dad, luckily i was aware
Just had an exact repeat of one of these incidents today. Small car pulling out from left hand side road with kids in the back hidden by a big white van pulling left, I slowed down not really believing someone would pull out blind but they DID and I was prepared with the video excepted here timestamp 5:38 in my mind. Didn't hit but what a chance she took. Also found out my dashcam wasn't recording, SD card failed so fixed that today also! Thanks for the warning!! Glad I watched the vid!
agree. Yes the taxi is responsible to make sure its safe to make a move, but they'd done that IMO and were established in their move so the responsibility has fully transferred to the oncoming cyclist.
Ooh! This is a good call. I’ve wondered about my ABS performance on country roads with gravel on them. I know I shouldn’t be relying on ABS but sometimes it happens that a car comes around a corner and I really need to slow and the ABS kicks in really early and the braking is so disappointing. I have good all season tyres on so it’s not that. I’m not sure what the best thing to do is. Do I lift off to disengage ABS and then reapply?
Regardless of any brake-lifting, they shouldn't have entered the box junction as they couldn't clear it with the Skoda in their path. If they did ease off, I wonder if it was a punishment collision.
The cyclist crashing into the taxi was (in my view) trying to stop in time but couldn't, because their bikes brakes were completely in disrepair. Happened to me once, when riding a terribly maintained bike I couldn't stop in time and hit the floor instead of the van that pulled out on me. Suffice to say I pay for the upkeep of my bike a lot more these days
Yep, it's an absolute must to look after the brakes as a cyclist. I recall once nearly ending up in the back of a car at a mini roundabout. The car in front came to a sudden, unnecessary stop. But I had time to stop, unfortunately my brake wire snapped. Has no choice but to go into the fence on the side of the road. I was fine, and no injuries. Just a little red face from embarrassment. The driver behind me, stopped and got out to check if I was ok. Very much appreciated, and even she couldn't understand why the car in front stopped. The roundabout was clear to enter. So my advice is to check your brakes regularly.
It's also possible the brake cable snapped unexpectedly, it's rare but does happen. It's easy to sit back and apportion blame after the event, but no one wants to crash into the side of a vehicle.
@@Velo-DK Whilst possible, it does seem in the video the cyclist is slowing down but far too slowly to escape the collision, so I don't think the brake cable snapped but rather either the cables was too loose, too worn, or the pads were shot, making it firmly the rider's fault
The one at 6:27 - I think the taxi driver was giving way to the pedestrian waiting to cross. Watch the pedestrian wearing the blue jacket, he becomes visible at 6:29 on the left of the screen walking away from the cammer. When the taxi signals to turn left at 6:36 he probably performed a good mirror check, saw the cyclist and judged that he could turn without obstructing the cyclist. At this point the pedestrian would probably not have been see by the taxi driver as his attention would have been to the cyclist behind him. The pedestrian reaches the road at 6:43 and his body language shows he was intending to cross. 6:44 - The taxi starts to turn into the side road and at the same time you can see the pedestrian looking down the side road at the silver car that will become visible to the cammer later that same second. A couple of frames later and the taxi's brake lights come on. This is probably when the taxi saw the pedestrian waiting to cross and decided to stop to give the pedestrian priority. The silver car did not choose to do the same. Only 2 seconds later at 6:46 the taxi's brake lights go off. IMO the taxi driver has decided that the pedestrian will not cross the road in front of him (likely due to the silver car) and tries to clear the junction. The cyclist was going too fast for the developing situation. Since the cyclist didn't intend to turn down the street was likely not paying attention to the pedestrian and didn't understand the taxi drivers movements yet still chose not to reduce their speed and let the situation clear. Looking frame by frame analysis of the cyclists front wheel reflector: (the video was viewed at 30fps) The front wheel takes 12 frames (being generous) to complete a full rotation. Assuming a standard bicycle wheel size of 27 inches this gives the speed of the cyclist as 12 mph when they become visible. From the bicycle rear wheel reflector you can see it go through a quarter revolution as the cyclist is leaning to reduce the collision. This quarter revolution takes 3 frames (4 is you being VERY generous). This shows that even whilst taking avoiding action, the cyclist was not slowing down. (Edited due to error calculating the bicycle linear speed. I used the diameter instead of the radius in my calculation. credit to @GodmanchesterGoblin for the spot)
With regards to how to deal with giving way to pedestrians crossing, This is one of my ponderings on how to deal with this safely, i wonder if the Taxi was giving way i think it would of been safer to have waited in the main road, maybe with a slow creep so that he still has left mirror visibility on the cycle lane, which he lost when turning in.
@@frazermountford You are probably right, but I dont think the taxi driver was aware of the pedestrian until he had already started his turn. This is why the current rules are incompatable with safety and common sense. It takes time for a pedestrian to realise whats happening and react by crossing a road. It's much more natural to not walk in front of the self powered hunk of metal whilst it's moving
That's right, and if you are slow creeping then the pedestrian is not likely to move but on the other hand we do need to show some form of intention of progress to the vehicles behind and then to the pedestrian if they don't really want to cross, I honestly don't know the correct balance to give here
at 6.30 the taxi driver was complying with the highway code and slowed and stopped for the clearly visible pedestrian who appeared to be crossing the road where the taxi wanted to drive into. The cyclist had plenty of time to stop, at 6.36 the taxi had the indicator going. The recording stops for comment, but then the Taxi moves and some 5 seconds later the bike hits the taxi. What was the taxi driver supposed to do? break the almighty 'Highway code' Heavens no, the world would end. He complied to give way to the most vulnerable, the pedestrian. The cyclist was clearly at fault as proven by the speed they hit the taxi.
Should the taxi not cross and stop in thr bike lane if he needs to wait for a person to cross. Bit like not crossing the opposite lane of traffic if your roads not clear.
It's another example of how giving pedestrians priority on junctions like this just causes confusion. The pedestrians don't seem to be on board with it and are reluctant to step out. This piece of the highway code needs to be scrapped.
But the cycle should always have priority in a cycle lane! Well I am sure that would be their argument, but it is flawed. The taxi was in a no win situation here.
@@musquito7865no, it’s not the fault of the “new priorities”, and you should stop spreading this misconception, the taxi should not have been stopped in the cycle lane, but the actual collision was the cyclist’s fault.
Haha, you got me for a second with the police arresting the cyclist on the pavement and not the offender. I could very much see this or something similar happen.
2:07 - apparently lifting off the brake before completely stopping is quite a common psychological thing, so much so that some of the braking assist systems won't release pressure until they detect that the vehicle has stopped completely
Probably due to fear of broken ankles when the impact occurs. If I thought the impact was unavoidable I'd probably release my foot too. I remember reading somewhere that the 1994 - 1999 Toyota Celica had collapsible pedals in the event of a crash, but I've not heard this as a safety feature even on more modern cars.
Yes, I'd concur having done this exact thing about twenty years ago. There's a scene in the film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World in which Sid Caesar, having fallen through many flights of stairs (the derelict building bit at the end) just gives up and falls the rest. That is the only way I can describe what happened to me. I did hit the car that pulled out in front of me, though I think it was inevitable. Thankfully, a witness stopped to say what happened otherwise it was his word against mine. I think my current car has 'emergency brake assist' that takes the car to a dead stop unless the throttle is engaged.
Releasing the brake pressure as you come to a stop is part of the normal progressive braking process in a normal stop, but when you are doing an emergency stop, most people would keep the pressure on until you have stopped. It looked like an intentional act to me.
4:34 here the mistake the cammer made was NOT keeping their speed slow when they saw the first car pull out. I would have slowed and kept my speed slow. The cammer slowed then sped back up. They aren't at fault but that's how they could've been better. 6:07 and no it wasn't because of the horses, it was down to the person tailgating, badly tailgating. People like that refuse to look farther than their hood. Zero forward planning capabilities.
5:24,, I’m not sure what you think that the camer could have done better, the car that pulls out cannot be seen on the side road approaching the junction, it becomes visible in front of the van that is turning off for less than 1 second, as the van turns into the side road the car then become visible again about 1.5 seconds before the impact. If the cammer slowed down as the van pulled off the road in front then the severity of the impact would be reduced but I don’t think that this would have avoided the accident because the car literally pulled out without slowing, And are you going to slow down to a crawl on a fast main road every time someone turns off of the road infront of you ? 🤔
You could easily see the approach of the car before the van turned into the junction, what on earth are you even talking about? That's why common sense tells you to take caution, something that was seen approaching the junction is now invisible.
Yeah this is a rare case of me disagreeing with Ashley on the ability of the vehicle with right of way to avoid the issue with defensive driving. We can't slow for every junction on a 60 road. And when the car could be seen before the camper it was a fair assumption that it was going to stop. It only became clear that it wasn't going to stop when it was too late.
@@TheSpacecraftX why not? What is the issue with being a little bit cautious around those junctions where visibility is reduced? I have no issues slowing when someone is turning in front of me even with a small slip road Looks like cold weather with a risk of ice as well - there is snow in the fields and on the pavements. How do you know there is no black ice anywhere that could potentially cause issues? Speed limits are a limit and not a target…please drive to the conditions, that is both weather and traffic conditions 👍
@@TheSpacecraftXWell it clearly wasn't a "fair assumption" because that STUPID assumption caused an accident. The only assumption it's safe to make when a car becomes obscured to you is that they can't see you either. Assuming what they are doing while not visible (especially going so far in assuming that they have ceased to become a hazard at all) is dangerous. It's something you are taught as a learner, something that comes up in the hazard perception test and something - therefore - that fully qualified drivers are expected to understand
@@jakerockznoodles you're assuming the cammer: a) could actually see everything in the frame of the footage, and if so then b) had the same visibility as we have from the footage, because eyes and lenses aren't the same Ashley assumed the driver of the vehicle who emerged into the intersection blindly hadn't spotted the cammer's vehicle, which means they would not have seen anything at all to their right prior to emerging as if they had done so at any point without being obstructed by the campervan, they would've seen the cammer's vehicle. We could likewise assume the cammer was looking elsewhere at the moment the vehicle was visible for a split second prior to vanishing behind the campervan. Whatever assumptions you want to make, the vehicle emerging blindly having obviously not stopped to check the road was clear once the campervan was no longer obstructing their view was 100% at fault. We can't all slow to a crawling pace past intersections on the off chance that some moron is going to blindly emerge. Frankly it's high time people begin being punished properly for such stupidity - loss of licence for a decade then making them resit all tests to earn it back could be a good starting point. Driving needs to be a privilege again, with an emphasis on the responsibility. Road ragers are another wonderful bunch who need to be given a lengthy breather from driving.
That first clip shows exactly why dashcams are a great idea. Without that footage it could easily have turned into a finger pointing exercise with one word against the other. As it is, we can clearly see the grey Vauxhall was being driven too fast round a blind corner and was a long way over the centre line.
Absolutely. This was actually my footage and when I first submitted it to the insurance I had trimmed it too soon, to before where I had passed the sign on the left showing priority. They were arguing it as a narrow road collision when in my mind the third party was clearly at fault. Got there in the end but without the footage there would have been no chance! Definitely recommend the A129 Pro dash cam! The 4K may be overkill for some, but the WiFi link makes getting footage a breeze
@@AlexClark16 So sorry about your Beemer. They were great cars. I had the 530d saloon and it was probably the best I've ever had in terms of quality, comfort and handling. I'm sure you've found it really hard to find anything equivalent as a replacement.
The 5 series incident….the other driver not adapting to the type of road…note the big corner markers. Many of our back roads here are like that…30mph is about as fast as it gets to make one of those tight bends…even tho it’s technically an NSL 60 road. Pulling out onto the main road. Yep, several like that here as well. Do not pull out until the camper van has moved over out the way so you can see & make sure no other cars are coming or even…overtaking the camper van as it pulls in. Those horses were not illuminated but the car was too close to the one in front.
The car should have at least stopped and looked both ways as it's a high speed road. Definitely paid the price for not being careful and learnt the hard way.
It's common sense. The road wasn't build for him or only for a person. So u cannot except it to be free all the time, hence freaking stop and look out for people. And secondly this is not a town centre where 25 or 30 is the speed limit. It's a fast moving road. Simple use your f-ing brain people. Jezzzz
And it doesn't mean that you only stop if there is a STOP sign. If you have that mindset, Please get yourself out of the road, just take a cab or bus. The road will be dangerous place for people with that mindset.
I try to maintain speed unless it is obvious they are on a collision course with an innocent Like last week when the speed limit changed from 30mph to 40mph, I checked my mirrors and all clear so proceeded to accelerate and when I checked again someone decided they didn’t want to wait and started to overtake from a few cars back. I could see vehicles coming the other way so eased off and carried on. 7 minutes up the road at a set of lights I was two vehicles behind them…I would’ve been directly behind them but I let someone out of a sideroad while I was slowing for the lights Idiotic overtake for no progress 🤦♂️
0:23 Perhaps the cammer could've gone a little bit slower and wider, but other than that, I don't see anything drastic they could've done to change the outcome.
My guess with the scooter incident was a classic case of move then look. I suspect his brain was just off and away and suddenly got woken up when a car appeared in the space he wanted to occupy
The scooter rider looked in the cammer's direction about three seconds before the incident, just where Ashley pauses the clip. Addressing Ashley's question, it would be odd if the drivers left indicator were on, since their previous manoeuvre was a right turn.
6:20 There wouldn't have been a lack of visibility had the car behind not been following stupid close. The riders were all silhouetted against the light sky and were clearly visible despite being unlit. The viewer managed it A-OK. This is why you don't tailgate.
Hiya Ashley just wanted to say thanks for your helpful vids because I’ve just passed my driving test on Friday the 7th July, The have they seen me video really helped improve my drive way better,👀🙌🏽part of the first time pass gang 😇.
If you watch dashcam videos, you will see the incident at 4:41 is a very common occurrence. I think the emerging vehicle sees traffic from that direction is blocked by the turning vehicle and fails to realise the very short time that will be the case.
50 years ago old George Beebe, my driving instructor, had a number of mantras…..the best one was ‘always be the bloke that anticipates’…..cheers George…🎉❤
1:13 also, the chevrons for the driver of the vauxhall have been rotated, facing away from them. This could be another contributor to them not realising this was a corner.
The chevrons were for the cammer's car. there didn't appear to be any for the Vauxhall. Also, a clearly painted white solid line down the middle of the road would have made the priority clearer.
@@musquito7865 I may very well be wrong, it's impossible to tell, but I thought that the sign rotated on the pole facing the hedge could have been a chevron for traffic coming from the vauxhall's direction. Equally, it could be another sign for the cam car's direction, but I couldn't see any other chevrons for the vauxhall's direction so thought it made the most sense. Better road markings would defiantely help - Vauxhall was clearly driving too fast on a road which they must have been unfamiliar with as they did not anticipate the corner and slow accordingly 👍
4:30 - ever since I did the police BikeSafe course last year, I am constantly aware of Saccadic masking at T junctions. If I'm on the main road, bike or car, I'm definitely easing off and covering the brakes. In that situation I would have been doing 50, max, probably closer to 45. Saccadic masking can be LETHAL when you're on a bike.
5:00 I had a similar situation. A junction with a bus waiting to emerge, and a car disappeared behind it. I moved out over the white line hoping to make sure I was seen, however the lanes were splitting to leave a central filter section for oncoming right turners and chevrons. So I just balanced the two risks all the while my foot was over the brake and speed reducing. I wanted to make sure when that car arrived out of the blind shadow of the bus that it seen me. An oncoming indicator for that filter lane I was about to encroach through made me move back, but I had seen the emerging car's bonnet and stationary so all good. Afterwards I could hear my last check ride with the IAM observer, "toot, toot! Toot, toot mate. If they don't see you, make sure they hear you."
Dash cams are pretty much a must now. Without one you risk falling into a your-word-against-theirs dispute with one of the legions of poor drivers out there, should you be unlucky enough (but with a reasonably high chance) of being involved in a collision with one of them. They will always lie and deceive, so it's important to have that video evidence.
And remember, many of the poor drivers have no insurance, and have no licence or right to be driving on UK roads. Still all of us insured drivers pay for the Motor Insurers' Bureau to cover for it.
a driving licence is a licence to learn is what my dad use to say, he was an advanced driving instructor and i learned a lot from him. if you buy a dash cam, it will help in the event of an accident, but with getting the best training you can afford after passing your driving test, bettering your skills and developing your attitude to be more relaxed about bad driving, you are increasing your chances of not having an accident at all. i ride a motorbike, at a red light i am looking behind me to see if anything going to run into me, i have an escape plan made. if i am sat behind a car at a red light, i position myself off to one side so if i need to move forward to avoid being rear ended i got the escape plan to do so. driving past junctions, i look at the tyres of cars sat waiting to pull out as you will see a tyre start to rotate before any reaction from the driver. like in thee clip where the driver just pulled out, i was looking up the inside of the camper van, as soon as i saw the car approaching i would be on the brakes and slow down to make sure i can see they have stopped, i would move the motorbike from middle position to the right position of the lane to give them that tiny bit of time to see the front head light and me. i love the advanced driving i know but i know i can learn more, and as soon as i can afford it and get in touch with right people near me il go get more skills. the aim for me, to ride and drive in a way that i dont have an accident as the one i had at 19 was painful enough, pain is a good teacher.
Regarding looking when a caravan is blocking, my favourite phrase is "not seeing anything is NOT the same as seeing there is nothing". Ie. not being able to see a car coming is very different to being able to see an empty road.
Thanks Ashley for the tips. As in most of these examples, speed and anticipation play a major role in preventing a collision. Too much speed can be solved even at beginner level but reading the road correctly takes many months of driving, years even.
Indeed and quite a few comments already on here saying why should the cammer be slowing? The conditions aren’t exactly good for the “Same speed ahead at the speed limit”
I think regardless of the accident on the clip with the horses, they should have been more visible. The following clip with the taxi driver, i think he was going to give way to the pedestrian waiting to cross the road but aborted when the car coming in the opposite direction made it clear the guy wouldn't be able to cross. As for the cyclists, that seemed like a classic example of "I'm heading to my destination and I'm not going to pay attention to what's going on around me!".
I agree, the riders should have taken more steps to make themselves and their horses visible. There is so much hi-vis, flashing equestrian gear on the market these days. I know, I've bought a lot of it!
With that cyclist one, my first thought was that I bet they drive their car like that as well. People forget that most "cyclists" also drive motor vehicles, and people with the stubborn refusal to adjust speed regardless of what's happening around them will carry that attitude regardless of what vehicle they operate.
@@susiejones3634 Sadly I believe they were more concerned about looking "good" than safe. I agree, plenty of stuff to make them more visible, even head torches on each rider would have made them stand out more!
Did the cammer give the footage to the taxi driver or just vanish, thinking not my problem. If that's a London taxi, it's off the road until the dent/ paintwork is repaired.
I sustained a leg injury when my car hit a vehicle which failed to stop at a give way sign. The impact pushed my foot off the brake pedal with such force that I had to have physiotherapy. I've since been advised that if a similar thing was to happen again and an impact was imminent and unavoidable, it would be prudent to remove my foot from the brake pedal prior to the impact in order to reduce the risk of another injury. Something similar might have happened @2:05 and could explain why the driver came off the brake prior to impact.
@TestGearJunkie. actually down to poor technique. Even if the cover is completely loose, putting your foot squarely on the pedal will prevent it slipping off. But the illustration is that there are things that happen to cause a release of the pedal that aren't the driver deciding to crash.
The moment the lad @ 7:42 appeared and his manner on the pavement made me cautious of what he’d do next. The driver seems cautiously easing off the accelerator, creating a larger gap and possibly confuse the boy into thinking the driver would turn or give priority.
7:50 judging from shadow length and direction the sun was behind and slightly to the right of the car (which is white) and that combined with the fact it likely was reflecting off the road too probably made the car blend in with the quick glance he took before looking the other way
If you look at the reflection on the red car in front at 7:41 there doesn't seem to be any indicator activated on the dashcam driver's car. The driver also had already passed the left turn lane of that road while the scooter lad was looking.
6:01 100% the vehicle behind's fault, traveling FAR too close with no braking time whatsoever. I see this on a daily basis, people think they're invincible in their metal box and they won't crash, until they do.
Not to mention the major upset for their victim of being in such a collision, including the possibility of having insurance loaded despite being not at fault.
@@PedroConejo1939 _Not to mention the major upset for their victim of being in such a collision, including the possibility of having insurance loaded despite being not at fault._ Yeah that really grinds my gears that does. You can be stationary and someone could drive into you and your premium will go up because the statistics show if you've been in an accident your at higher risk of being in another? Utter horse shit!!
Ashley what are your thoughts on horn usage? Not to admonish of course, but to carry out its intended purpose which is to warn of your presence especially when you deem it likely that you haven't been seen. I mainly find myself doing it when encountering people reversing onto the road, a younger me would have said "sod 'em, they shouldn't be doing that so I'm ploughing on through" whereas now, okay they still shouldn't be doing but the fact is they are. So now my approach is a double pip of the horn and being ready for them still not hearing or seeing me (or carrying on regardless lol). Tight blind bends are another one, and I wonder if a warning beep of the horn might have saved that 5 series 😢
At 4:41, with the emerging car from the side road to the left. This is perhaps one reason why in North America, such intersections (junctions) are controlled via Stop signs and lines as opposed to Give Way in the Uk.
The lyrics of the song being played at the 5:00 clip is by Hi Rez - Smiling. "If i found a way to be happy everyday" Kind of a sore point for this person in that moment!
8:18 there is many folk on the road that have no clue about the width of their own vehicle, it should be second nature fairly quickly, you see it in car parks too with cars just thrown at a parking space and left where it landed, or holding up traffic because they dono't think they can get through hence the 'I can get a bus through there' from others stuck behind.
2:17 my home town. A629 heading through the middle of town, there are a lot of chancers at these marked junctions, they just go for it despite there being potentially 4 lanes of moving traffic.
The accident at 5:22 kind of justifies our rule in the Netherlands (where we drive on the right) that at many junctions we give way to the right. This makes road users more wary of vehicles appearing from the right ( the left for you) and so we tend to scan for or prepare for vehicles appearing. I'm not saying this accident could not have happened, but the heightened awareness helps.
I had a 61 plate Vw caddy, didn’t look special but was the best vehicle I’ve ever had, had it 4 years then just leaving my house and came to a set of traffic lights, mine was green and then out of nowhere someone ran the red and wrote my van off. In those 4 years I had a loose bolt on the injector and the whole clutch rebuilt. Now I’ve had to replace it I thought I’d treat myself and get a 68 plate caddy, just over a year later and constant trips to the garage it’s still not reliable.. I miss my old can a lot and makes you realise doesn’t matter how well you drive or how you follow the rules someone else is either distracted or just doesn’t care and it’s always the innocent party that suffers
I've recently started using the phrase "Fail Dangerous" as a contrast to "Fail Safe" and it seems to attach to too many features of our road system, and how one of the values on your channel, Ash, is to drive such that an error does not propagate. An example from thr recent WImbledon collision is perhaps that "speed limiter" systems can often be overridden by holding the accelerator down, rather than stopping and navigating through the menus to find it. If the reported "medical incident" is true, and it was a fit causing a sudden unintended pressure on the accelerator (as was allegedly the event caused by 'pushing the wrong pedal' as was the case with the Earlsfield collision last year when 11 pupils and parents were mowed down by a RAV4 on the pavement), that is Fail Dangerous. IMO a sudden and heavy kickdown at low speed should cause the vehicle to stop - Fail Safe - not accelerate.
At the end of 2:14 the white car had actually come to a stop. Just after 2:17 the white Auris had crashed into it. Im pritty sure that because the white car pulling out was stationary. The Auris is at Fault. The white car pulling out could have positioned better to see up the road. But the Auris was looking for a crash. So they got one. Coming off the breaks makes them at fault.
I recently attended an advanced driver training course, the final element of the training was hard braking with manoeuvring around the imaginary person/vehicle suddenly in front. I was surprised how quickly I could get a Mitsubishi Outlander to stop from 80kmph and how well the vehicle behaved while making an extreme avoidance manoeuvre to the left and then back straight. That white car could have stopped easily if it had braked according to the circumstances.
I worked for several years as a road safety engineer, mostly in rural road safety. Junctions like the one at 6:50 are lethal. It's a known, widespread issue that the wide shoulder for left turns hides following vehicles who are also encouraged to maintain speed. It's actually far safer to *narrow* the shoulder and force the following driver to slow
@ashley Neal, Love your videos, wish more people would watch them. Had my first accident in 25 years of driving yesterday when a dog ran out from between 2 parked cars into the passenger door of my car, its a narrow street so I had already adjusted my speed and did my best to avoid the dog but it emerged so late the best I could do was break and angle away. The people there said I did nothing wrong but its really knocked my confidence and I've felt like I'm on eggshells behind the wheel today, can't stop thinking about it. Any advice or is it just a case of needing to build up confidence over time driving? Dog has a broken leg but no other serious injuries thankfully.
I’ve had a very similar accident to the one in the clip at at 4:29 Approaching a T junction on a dual carriageway at 40mph, van just in front of me turns left, car emerging from that road to turn right. From spotting the emerging vehicle I had the length of a Transit to stop in. Both vehicles written off, other driver charged by Police. Other driver had neck/ shoulder injuries as it was a hard side impact. I had burns on both hands from the airbags deploying.
At around the 7:00 mark, why would the taxi be held liable for that? I'm sure the cyclist could clearly see that taxi and was able to slow down safely before they got there. Wouldn't that be like saying that a car that was turning into a side road but had to stop because someone that was not visible from the main road became visible would then be liable for a following car driving into the back/side of it? If it's a case that the law now makes the taxi driver liable just because it is a cyclist then it is a bad law....
Look again. The cycle lane is separated from the taxi's lane by a dashed line. Any traffic moving from one lane to another must give way to any traffic already in the lane. This has always been the case. Highway code changes in 2022 extended this to include scenarios where there is no separate lane and motor vehicles must give way to cyclists passing on the left at junctions.
@@Dan-iz4yr Yes I can see that and I agree that if the taxi had turned 'in front' of the cyclist giving them little to no time to react and causing the accident then the taxi would be at fault. However, in this video, the taxi is there, stationary, when the cyclist approached and it appeared that the cyclist didn't see the taxi until the last moment. If a cyclist were to cycle into a stationary car parked in a cycle lane (which they can unless parking restrictions apply on a road - blame the planners for that), who is to blame? On viewing it again I guess there wasn't a long time passed until the cyclist came along but then that begs the question: how long is long enough before it becomes the cyclist's fault. Common sense would say that it's something along the lines of 'could you slow/stop/avoid the vehicle without and sudden braking/change of direction. However, the taxi here probably thought they could turn and clear before the cyclist got there but didn't allow for the pause needed for the car emerging.
I suspect that the cyclist made the assumption that the taxi would clear the way before they got there, and didn't allow themselves enough time to react when it hesitated.
@@xenomorph6961 Oh, I see what you mean now - that's a good question. As you say, in this case I think the time was short enough that it's pretty much entirely the taxis fault for turning before it was clear when the cyclist's expectation was that they would clear and that expectation is what caused the accident. I think that if the cyclist didn't see the taxi until it was stopped in their lane - like in your parked car example - they would have been much more cautious and the accident would have been avoided.
At 7:00 I think the taxi went because the bike was a long way back (or out of sight), then stopped because of the new rules on giving way to pedestrians at junctions; theoretically he should have spotted the pedestrian and checked for the cyclist and stopped at the dotted line, but do you really expect everyone to do all this? Oh, and did the cyclist not have brakes close to hand?
5:50 What would I do? I'm always cautious around junctions, so would be prepared to stop. However if I were in the other car's position, if I can't see down the road I'm emerging into, I would stop at the give way line and wait for the truck to move on so I'll get a better view. If the truck were parked instead, I would inch forward slowly until I can get a clear view. I guess it's already unanimous that driver was at fault, so I won't labour the point. 6:00 The following car was definitely tailgating. No 2 second ditty. Also, those riders ought to have been wearing high viz gear at night, but perhaps they were out all day and didn't expect to come back so late? That last clip was just special...
Maybe it is lots of iterations of dabbing the brakes that is the problem. So maybe you get used to seeing a hazard, start to brake, the situation resolves so you come off the brake. When the emergency happens and you need to continue braking the muscle memory is just to dab
7:03 this is my problem with "always being responsible" i while i accept I have to take more care especially as ill be driving trucks soon.. i refuse to take all the responsability, especially in situations like this. Whatever the reason for the cabs hesitation, That cyclist had so long to stop,evade or slow, he basicaly chose to crash into the cab. And with people like that you just cant be responable for them all the time its too exhausting
Clips 2:03 and 7:03 to me appear to be the exact same yet it is portrayed that because one involves a cyclist, the driver is always at fault. The toyota causes the accident from a car pulling across them and in the same vein, the cyclist 100% could see the taxi and made zero attempt to apply the brakes. I can't see how both clips show the exact same yet yield different results. I can't see how the verbiage "regardless of who is at fault ( 2:28 & 4:28 from this exact video ) avoiding the accident is the primary thing " doesn't apply since one of them is on a bike.
The first clip. I had a very similar (almost identical) incident but with no contact, The right 'A' pillar prevented me from seeing the car approaching from the right (as in this in the video they also wanted to go straight ahead), now on these sharp blind bends I lean right forward so I can see around the bend as soon as possible.
I should add, the camera is much further forward and so has a different view to that of the driver, not suggesting that this was a contributing factor in this case but it's something to consider.
As the driver in the first clip, I agree the A-pillar may have momentarily caused a blind spot seeing that car approach. But, like all other cars I've passed there, I expected it to take the corner and not plough into me 😂
@@AlexClark16 indeed as you would, I my case I was lucky in that we both jumped on the brakes quick enough to avoid contact, the other driver apologised and we both probably benefited from the experience.
6:10 the car behind is following far too closely anyway. An accident would have happened regardless of why the camera car slowed. 7:50 the lad on the scooter simply didn't look immediately before crossing. Does no one teach the Green Cross Code anymore?
I agree the Scooter rider probably looked past the approaching car and then went when the car coming from the opposite side had cleared. I often think people actually miss a vehicle or other road user by looking too far ahead.
3:10 Don't believe that close call is due to an A pillar blind spot. If that was the case then you could say the passenger window is one big blind spot. You move your head to see behind the A pillar the same as you move your head to see outside the passenger side window. You have a much wider view with your eyes than through a single lens camera.
Regarding an old car getting written off, you can usually buy them back for salvage value from the insurance company, but it sometimes takes a load of arguing with them. Many years ago my brother had an M-reg Punto (worth about £300 at the time) which someone drove into on a mini-roundabout, denting and tearing a hole in the rear passenger door. He bought it back off the insurance company, covered up the hole with gaffer tape, and drove it for a couple more years like that, until it finally died of underbody rust. He actually made a profit out of the whole thing.
2:15 Keep in mind, that the ABS system can deplete brake pressure by the time the car reaches a very slow speed, making it seem as though the driver has let off the brakes.
At 6:45, when the taxi decided to turn there was no cyclist possibly in view. However, the VW that would emerge out of that side street had to pull wide to avoid the parked car not seeing the taxi. The taxi had to stop in order to let the VW make it's manouver before the he could procede. Nothing that the VW or taxi could do, but the stupid cyclist again causing an accident that shouldn't have been. It wasn't Jeremy Vile by any chance, was it? Wait for the video.
I think the taxi driver at 6:43 eases off on the turn as there is the pedestrian on the side there. It looks like the taxi driver wants to make sure the pedestrian doesn't step into the road just as they turn which is why it would be plausible to slow down. The non reaction from the pedestrian signals to the driver to proceed.
at 2.15, yes, ]the white car should have been able to stop, but I wonder is it possible that the ABS operated & the noise of this , coupled with vibration of the brake pedal made the driver lift off from the emergency stop. I'm sure many drivers do not realise how dramatic the operation of ABS can be. When I worked as an ADI, (I retired in 2015) I always made sure my pupils experienced an ABS stop (even up to 50-60 mph so they knew what to expect & kept their foot firmly on the brake until the car had actually stopped. I would bet many drivers who learnt before ABS was commonplace have never experienced a full blown ABS emergency stop. Might be worth finding a safe place to find out before the actual emergency??
For clip#1, the Astra driver may have been using Google maps to navigate. On single track country roads, it sometimes misintreprets who has right of way at junctions like that and says "follow the road" instead of "turn right", and vice-versa.
be that as it may, you still should observe all rules. In any ambiguous situation, I just follow the rules and let the google reroute any missed turns. It just plays a little chime to say you've done something other than what it wanted, and then proceeds to give you options around it.
@xTerminatorAndy Depends how legible and clear the road markings are - and whether there's a Give Way sign. I drive down a lot of roads like this in rural Hampshire and there aren't always Give Way signs, plus the junction markings are worn away by farm vehicles.
On the first clip maybe the camera vehicle, could of sounded his horn approching the bend, I usually do on country roads, when I can't see round a bend
explanation for the scooter incident -- yes, people using them that shouldn't be and/or incorrectly. ban the bloody things, they are a menace around the city
Love the message you put out Ashley. But in regards to "fault" ; any crash you are involved in, you share some portion of responsibility for. Whether that's just by the unfortunate coincidence of being there at the wrong place wrong time, or whether its because you didn't do enough to mitigate against the future event, everyone shares some portion of responsibility. I know that's very hard for many people to grasp but it's simply true. Every action has consequences even when you're following the rules and not doing anything wrong. Sometimes its more important to fix another road-users mistake than it is to be "in the right"
Excellent video. Couldn’t agree more with your analysis of the campervan obscured T-bone incident. You can’t blithely carry on at the speed limit, you need a plan B, provided by dropping 10-15mph, allowing yourself to either make yourself seen by the emerging car, stopping their manoeuvre, or giving you enough leeway to come to a halt if they still pull out. I like having options, when it involves my immediate physical safety! You just have to keep thinking: what would be the worst driving interaction with other road users at this point and incorporate it into the speed, line and signals you make. This sort of stuff is gained with experience, sadly.
The Horses: The cars coming towards the cammer on the other side of the road managed to see the riders and stop safely. The car in the rear view is less than 1 second behind and incredibly close given the conditions. At 6:01 the cammer passes a car in the oncoming lane, by 6:02 it draws up alongside the following car. In any event, the car ahead would have had his break lights on, so horses or not he missed a pretty big visual clue that the car ahead was slowing.
That first one they should use the horn coming to a bend on a narrow lane like that. It's the safest thing to do. the other car should also have tucked in sooner. And both were too fast. 3:48 he did that in the right place, does that sign not point to the ER hospital?
The visibility of the horses was not responsible for the collision. Doesn't matter if you're walking cycling or driving, if you can't stop without collision you're too close.
The rear end collision is a separate incident. What people are saying is that those horse riders are being very dangerous with the amount of visibility drivers had of them, a car could easily have not seen them and ploughed through them.
@@paulstevens9409 It is not a separate incident, it is the incident! What would their excuse be... ''I did not see the horse/fallen tree/landslide/sinkhole, because the car In front was driving too close to my front bumper and obscured my view of the road ahead''🤦♂️ The visibility of the horse was the separate incident that did not lead to the collision. Tailgating is just plain stupid.
I know the junction in the clip that starts at 4:26 very well. Its the junction of the A920 with the A96 near the village of Colpy in NE Scotland. I've passed it hundreds of times, both on the main road and the side road and from all directions. It's known as a bit of an "accident black spot" locally. It's not even the first clip of an incident at the junction I've seen on TH-cam! If you drive the road regularly, you know that: 1) If approaching from the direction that the cammer was, it is very likely that someone turning right from the side road might pull out (as seen in the clip) - especially when there is a vehicle (of any size, let alone a campervan) turning left that has moved into the left turn slip lane (and thereby restricted the view of the emerging car). It almost seems to be taken as an invite to pull out. Local knowledge tells me to be particularly vigilant at this junction when approaching from the direction that the cammer was, particularly when someone is turning off (like the campervan in the clip). You can usually get a glimpse of cars coming from the side road though (as shown in the video). If you see someone like that at this junction, be prepared to respond: it is highly likely that they will pull out. 2) If approaching from the left road and turning right (like the black car was) it is actually quite hard to see to the right if a vehicle is in the left-turn lane. Even a small car does a pretty effective job of blocking the view. It's not a particularly long left-turn slip lane, so drivers commit to it quite close to the junction, and the slight uphill view you have of it from the side road also seems to affect how well you can see for some reason. You really need to be extra careful to make absolutely sure that nothing is also coming along the main road. Add to the above that: 1) A lot of people do turn left, as the campervan did, and so, people emerging (as the black car did) often assume that vehicles might be moving into the turning lane even when they aren't. The mindset seems to be "well, one vehicle is turning, the rest probably are too, I'll go". 2) The main road itself if busy. It's the trunk road between Aberdeen and Inverness, but is only a single carriageway. It is often choked up with HGVs and tractors and convoys of frustrated vehicles stuck behind them unable to pass due to heavy traffic in both directions. There are few opportunities to overtake because of the road layout. This section, although a good few miles out, is still close enough to Aberdeen that it has heavy commuting traffic on it to and from the city, especially at certain times of day. So, people arriving at the junction like the black car did often seem to want to do a quick and risky emerge if the traffic seems to allow it, rather than possibly getting stuck for a few minutes waiting for the next gap. 3) When not restricted by slow moving vehicles, people often speed on the road and this is one of the stretches where this is particularly common (and people also often use the cross-hatching in the middle of the road to do risky overtakes too). This seems to be more prevalent for cars travelling in the opposite direction to the cammer. While visibility isn't bad, there is a slight gradient that hides cars approaching from the left if you are turning right onto the road (as the black car was). If you have checked left, and seen it clear, and then looked right, a speeding car may have appeared from the left that wasn't visible when you last checked. So, lots of checking is required, but the layout and traffic also create a sense of urgency "I'd better pull out quickly in case something comes from the left". 4) Obviously, cars that have approached from the opposite direction to the cammer may wish to turn right into the side road. If there is someone doing that, then an emerge from the side road (like the black car) can be further restricted by cars waiting in the central filter lane, also adding to the frustration and the likelihood that someone will just launch out of the side road as soon as they see what they interpret as an opportunity to do so. It's not for nothing that the local paper ran an "A96, Stop the Carnage" campaign a few years back and that a police "safety camera" van is often parked near the junction too. The road is long, long overdue for an upgrade to dual carriageway. None of the above excuses the awful emerge, of course, but for what seems to be a pretty straight forward junction, on a good stretch of straight road, it certainly has its complications. There are lots of contributory factors for this particular junction. Far too frequently, incidents just like the one in the clip happen there.
Noted in your last clip the dark brown metallic suv already bore "battle scars" of a good "dunt" on the left rear wing. An incompetent driver perhaps? They certainly couldn't judge the width of the gap they tried to fit into!
I think it was target fixation with the scooter. The first car was blocking their path, and they were looking where they were going not moving their head for a second glance. Second glances is how I make a fool of my self falling on the spot instead of crashing into something
5’59” “What do you do in situations like this?” I ease off the power in snowy conditions; I ease off further approaching junctions on a long straight, especially when there’s obscuring movement like the damper in front of me. When I’m emerging: a) I can’t see anything coming b) I can see that there is nothing coming I choose b), which means waiting till the camper has cleared. I also move up to the junction, unless there’s a reason not to. It usually gives me greater visibility, but it also makes it clearer to oncoming traffic that I am at the junction.
Those horse riders are shockingly dangerous. Only 1 with a visibility jacket, no light source on whilst crossing a road and there looks to be almost 10 of them. Rear car was too close, but those horse riders are putting everyone in danger.
Including their own horses; and I bet if any of the horses got hurt or killed they would be "You hit my horse (stream of expletives)," while not admitting it was very much their fault.
I used to ride but no longer my daughter does and rides at night / early evening she has high Vis for the horses main body , the head, hoofs she also has flashing red lights on her helmet and rear of saddle she has head torch and horse breast lamps reflectors on her boots she basically looks like a Christmas tree from a distance. Guess what car driver in particular still have close calls cos they don't look they sit in their boxes music on distracted about getting home. Yes these horse riders need a kick up the back side it don't cost much for these lights or reflectors compared to the cost of looking after horses.😊
I've a feeling it might have been a racing stables exercising as they tend to do that about the morning rush hour round here.
@@simong9067 With that number of horses, yes, I suspect you are right. They should *all* have been wearing reflective gear.
I encounter a lot of horses around my way and most of them are great, high vis jackets and reflectors, good use of space and compliant with motorists. There is one however who is often out around sunset or into dark who rides a dark coloured horse and wears dark clothes and just seems to have no concept of how hard they are to spot amongst the high hedgerows and narrow lanes. It's in an area where 20mph would be ambitious but you'll often hear a squeal of tyres as someone comes across this accident waiting to happen followed by a flurry of abusive language from both parties. I've even slowed down for a chat and mentioned that I've got some spare hi viz stuff at home (on a route they often pass) if they want it but I'm just greeted by "keep moving please, you're making my horse nervous". No helping some people
Those horses would have had more chance surviving the Battle of Gallipoli than crossing that road in complete darkness
The one with the horses was in my opinion absolutely stupid. Crossing a fast road at night in the rain with horses is NOT something you should be doing.
Just ignoring the tailgating for a minute, the only time I saw a horse in the video was when one passed in front of the headlights of the stopped car in the oncoming lane. That right away tells you that the horses & riders aren't visible enough. As someone who has cycled when it's just getting dark, you make yourself as visible as possible, the same applies when riding horses at night. You light yourself up!
The tailgating was entirely uncalled for, and again a stupid thing to do, and again comes as no surprise whatsoever.
I thought the Cammer did a good Job of stopping. Why did the Horse riders think it was a good idea to go for a ride at night and crossingbusy roads with oncoming traffic. Seriously need a word with themselves, those Poor Horses would've been wiped out😢
All I can think is the horses must have been caught out and weren't intending to be out after dark. They're usually quite protective of their animals. I was watching the tail gater as that's where I was expecting the problem to come from and didn't see the horses for ages which I guess can happen when your driving too. I dont know if the camera made it look closer than it was but he would've been really annoying me.
@@markwalton8644 They should be wearing reflectors on their helmets and boots at the minimum, a light or two as bikes are required to would be a decent start as well.
As someone who rides I would say they could’ve done more to make themselves visible such as hi vis vests and hi vis saddle pads, maybe a head torch over the helmet too. They were not in the wrong to be crossing that road in the dark but they were in the wrong to not have any visibility gear
"A pillar blind spot" just seems to be an excuse for "I didn't look" half the time. That overtake at 3:08 was lethal.
yes it definitely is but using that phase is probably supposed to bring more awareness to it
There are drivers whose heads are constantly bobbling, and there are drivers who are bobbleheads. That driver was the latter.
At 3:08 I don't think the cammer is behind the A-pillar blind spot. My best guess would be that the cammer did not have their headlights on. If you look at the oncoming cars in the distance, you can see the difference between having headlights on and off. The car with headlights off has bright red color, so you can only imagine that a black car (the hood of the cammer seems to be black or some other dark color) is much more difficult to see if the headlights are off.
Headlights on or off, that was lethal overtake. But be seen and keep your headlights on to reduce your chances of ending up in a situation like this.
seems to me, "blind spots are just a myth" is an even bigger excuse for poor driving.
@@kenbrown2808 To paraphrase my father "There's none as blind as them as won't see blind spots".
The amount of “I could avoid a collision but in the name of being right, I won’t!” is absolutely staggering. Personally, would rather have a working car and no bumps or bruises.
People have the same mentality with poor overtaking towards them and not slowing down or trying to avoid a crash. I don’t care who’s in the right. I’d rather be safe / alive.
If you can avoid a collision but choose not to then you are at least partly responsible for the collision regardless of having priority etc.
If you're in the right with a dashcam you'll collect compensation from their insurance though
@@michaeljones1686 if you fail to take an opportunity to avoid a collision then you are in the wrong and the dashcam will prove it.
@@MeTube3 It's not always like that. You don't always have to have driven perfectly to not be held liable. So long as your enemy was much more in the wrong than you
6:02 it’s insane how close the person behind is, especially in such bad visibility. I actually find this is quite common with drivers who aren’t confident driving at night with very little light. They get too close and are too nervous.
But very common. It's never been more important to have a rear dash cam mounted.
Because 99.9% of the time they get away with it. All it takes is one further small event to make the 0.1%, and these tailgaters just simply don't have the intelligence to think that far ahead.
Tailgating at night is very common where I live (rural, windy country roads, national speed limit) and combined with lots of animals out at night it's a recipe for disaster. Think I'll get a dashcam now!
They may also have the ridiculous attitude of "well, I've never had an accident!" as if people somehow go looking to get in an accident. Sadly, reckless, selfish and careless driving rarely punishes just those who are responsible.
If someone is that close to me, I’ll slow right down to 10-20mph. Just not worth the risk to go any faster. They nudge your rear at speed and you could be spun off the road.
Ashley, your "make it a non-event" advice has been crucial in improving my driving - I used to be extremely stubborn! I wish more people were exposed to it.
I genuinely believe that "make it a non-event" would make an absolutely fantastic PSA for all motorists. Any MP's watching?
You are so right. Many scenarios I see now and instead of flashing my lights or just driving through I'll stop. My first thought is oh well why not just keep driving and I won't be at fault... but it just saves 5 seconds. I feel much better making it a non event.
@@Blahsheep My weakspot was trying to "punish" poor lane discipline and poor merging / overtakes in general. I was a space closer. Driving was stressful!
I don't even need to think about stuff like that anymore as it's become a solid habit. I'll just stick some Stevie Wonder on and groove all the way home. M.I.A.N.E.!
Same here. I got caught in the whole city driving philosophy and was a space closer, my priority and this is my lane type of driver along with the beeping while undertaking someone lane hogging and flashing lights at people not indicating when pulling back in.
I started to change my ways and then found this channel. My driving is much calmer and if someone is in a rush, so be it. As Ogmios might say “Your journey looks more important than mine so after you, I can wait as I am in no rush. I’ll look at the trees and admire nature as you make your 7 point turn”
MP's don't care about any of us or driving. Wake up.
I had this conversion with my partner over the weekend. She got fixated on an twatty Audi driver to the point where we missed our turn. I ended with "What would Ashley Neal say" 😅
My instructor told me that the first thing you can do is if you are unsure or cautious, lift off the accelerator. To many people, see the brake/throttle as binary, on or off only.
it's why I don't like cruise control on a motorway, when you're observing something concerning I've found I've eased of without thinking about it.
I use lifting and coasting a lot and do exactly that. If there is a tentative situation up ahead, off the throttle first. If it develops, brakes and my car slows down easier since the engine has already done a fraction of the work for me (engine braking). If it is a non-event, then back on the throttle and I don't lose much momentum.
And you can have your foot already touching the brake should you need it. It might even be appropriate to tap it to alert the people behind of a hazard ahead.
'If in doubt, make time to think'
@@flemit35 I love cruise control, means I can keep speed up without taking concentration away from observations.
The second I observe a red flag, it comes off and I am back to manual throttle until the risk is gone.
That horse clip is absurd. Out on a horse and that time of night with no lights or hi vis is madness.
Whenever I pass through a junction I tend to hover my foot over the brake and come up with a rough escape plan if something were to happen. If I think I haven't been spotted I'll start slowing more, thus giving more options to deal with the situation appropriately and safely.
The t-bone at 4:30 is something I am very well aware of. Almost every day I see drivers pulling out onto main roads because a vehicle is turning left off it. It is fraught with danger and without knowing the stats, I'd bet this is how very many motorcyclists get killed - by someone thinking that the left-turner has the job of making it clear for them to emerge. It's not their job, never was. Even if it's not a motorcyclist, pretty well _anything_ could have been hidden behind that camper. The only time the traffic on the major road is clear is when an unimpeded view shows there is nothing there!
It blows my mind just how many people think "I can't see anything, so it must be clear", even when their view is obstructed by other vehicles. If you can't see whether there is anybody on the road, slow down further or just stop until the obstruction is gone.
My father in law lives at a junction just like and there is a serious accident on it at least once a month. Crazy the amount of idiots who pull out onto a 60mph road because they see a car turning left assuming all the traffic behind them will come to a stand still.
Those horse riders were essentially invisible until the last moment that was shocking. How that is even legal is beyond me. As for the junction crash I disagree about the driver could have done a lot more, he's travelling the A96 towards Aberdeen and I even checked the road on google maps and couldn't see anything suggesting the speed limit was below 60mph which our driver was. The distance between the arrow marking the slip road (The first time you see the black car approaching the junction) and the point of collision is 70 metres so even if our cammer was doing 40mph there would only be a 1 second difference, not enough time to have changed anything in this scenario so speed control wouldn't have changed anything. If someone is going to come flying out of a junction there's really little you could do. I honestly have no idea what the cammer could have done differently here
As Ashley said at the start - sometimes there is nothing you can do and it's your destiny to have a crash. But approaching a junction like that, where a large vehicle is exiting, a quick think of "will a car approaching that junction now see me?" is not unwarranted and a reasonable thought. You say even driving at 40mph would have made little difference, but there is a near 30 meter stopping distance difference (obviously, several variables at play here). I think Ashley's general point was, the driver did not slow at all approaching that well sign-posted junction (of course, they do not HAVE to, given the speed limit and "right of way" -- although little impact that had) and perhaps had they shaved a little off their speed earlier, been a touch more defensive, then it may have avoided the accident. Yes, it is being critical of a driver who is not at fault, but we're here to learn. This does not excuse the car who pulled out at all, who made a terrible decision and is completely liable, but we're all about learning here and thinking about what we can do better.
When he asked "what would you have done?" my answer was "brace for impact"
I would not have been driving over 50mph on that road in those conditions, even though its a nice straight wide road, most likely would ease off a bit before the junction. Not that it would have prevented that collision, just reduced the impact.
@@regmemer9198 Well said!
They are invisible on the camera but the driver would have seen them no problem. And the driver did see them and that’s why he stopped.
7:13 whenever i pass a junction i always keep a second eye on the car that might pull out and have my right foot hovering over the brake pedal ready, i have saved myself a few close calls by thinking like this
Terrible that they didn't brake enough to avoid the collision. Someone attempting a right turn is an obvious hazard.
3:30 father’s son here, im glad my dad sorted the dangerous situation, and i still feel bad for myself giggling about my mother’s panic reaction
had slightly the same experience when learning to drive with my dad, luckily i was aware
Just had an exact repeat of one of these incidents today. Small car pulling out from left hand side road with kids in the back hidden by a big white van pulling left, I slowed down not really believing someone would pull out blind but they DID and I was prepared with the video excepted here timestamp 5:38 in my mind. Didn't hit but what a chance she took. Also found out my dashcam wasn't recording, SD card failed so fixed that today also! Thanks for the warning!! Glad I watched the vid!
7:07 - Surely not, the cyclist had plenty of time to stop and just decided to run into the taxi.
To be fair to the taxi driver, it looked as he was giving way also to the pedestrian crossing from left to right?
The cyclist can brake faster than that too
I thought it looks like the taxi driver is giving way to the pedestrian, who doesn't cross, so the taxi continues on.
agree. Yes the taxi is responsible to make sure its safe to make a move, but they'd done that IMO and were established in their move so the responsibility has fully transferred to the oncoming cyclist.
@@MrKlawUK Whenever the taxi driver makes a move that forces the cyclist to brake, he's at fault.
The front of the white Toyota lifting right before the collision at 2:42 may have been due to ABS intervention over the yellow paint
Interesting thought!
ABS wouldn’t release to the point the bonnet lifts 16 inches…..brakes were off completely
@@ashley_nealset up a camera and do an emergency stop, the brakes engage too quickly to transfer weight like that in the video
Ooh! This is a good call. I’ve wondered about my ABS performance on country roads with gravel on them. I know I shouldn’t be relying on ABS but sometimes it happens that a car comes around a corner and I really need to slow and the ABS kicks in really early and the braking is so disappointing. I have good all season tyres on so it’s not that. I’m not sure what the best thing to do is. Do I lift off to disengage ABS and then reapply?
Regardless of any brake-lifting, they shouldn't have entered the box junction as they couldn't clear it with the Skoda in their path. If they did ease off, I wonder if it was a punishment collision.
The cyclist crashing into the taxi was (in my view) trying to stop in time but couldn't, because their bikes brakes were completely in disrepair. Happened to me once, when riding a terribly maintained bike I couldn't stop in time and hit the floor instead of the van that pulled out on me. Suffice to say I pay for the upkeep of my bike a lot more these days
Yep, it's an absolute must to look after the brakes as a cyclist. I recall once nearly ending up in the back of a car at a mini roundabout. The car in front came to a sudden, unnecessary stop. But I had time to stop, unfortunately my brake wire snapped. Has no choice but to go into the fence on the side of the road. I was fine, and no injuries. Just a little red face from embarrassment. The driver behind me, stopped and got out to check if I was ok. Very much appreciated, and even she couldn't understand why the car in front stopped. The roundabout was clear to enter. So my advice is to check your brakes regularly.
It don't surprise me, most just get on and ride only getting thing fixed when it falls off 😢
It's also possible the brake cable snapped unexpectedly, it's rare but does happen. It's easy to sit back and apportion blame after the event, but no one wants to crash into the side of a vehicle.
@@Velo-DK Whilst possible, it does seem in the video the cyclist is slowing down but far too slowly to escape the collision, so I don't think the brake cable snapped but rather either the cables was too loose, too worn, or the pads were shot, making it firmly the rider's fault
@@Velo-DK Like that’s an excuse. Bikes need servicing too, including replacing rusty brake cables
The one at 6:27 - I think the taxi driver was giving way to the pedestrian waiting to cross. Watch the pedestrian wearing the blue jacket, he becomes visible at 6:29 on the left of the screen walking away from the cammer.
When the taxi signals to turn left at 6:36 he probably performed a good mirror check, saw the cyclist and judged that he could turn without obstructing the cyclist. At this point the pedestrian would probably not have been see by the taxi driver as his attention would have been to the cyclist behind him.
The pedestrian reaches the road at 6:43 and his body language shows he was intending to cross.
6:44 - The taxi starts to turn into the side road and at the same time you can see the pedestrian looking down the side road at the silver car that will become visible to the cammer later that same second. A couple of frames later and the taxi's brake lights come on. This is probably when the taxi saw the pedestrian waiting to cross and decided to stop to give the pedestrian priority. The silver car did not choose to do the same.
Only 2 seconds later at 6:46 the taxi's brake lights go off. IMO the taxi driver has decided that the pedestrian will not cross the road in front of him (likely due to the silver car) and tries to clear the junction.
The cyclist was going too fast for the developing situation. Since the cyclist didn't intend to turn down the street was likely not paying attention to the pedestrian and didn't understand the taxi drivers movements yet still chose not to reduce their speed and let the situation clear.
Looking frame by frame analysis of the cyclists front wheel reflector: (the video was viewed at 30fps)
The front wheel takes 12 frames (being generous) to complete a full rotation.
Assuming a standard bicycle wheel size of 27 inches this gives the speed of the cyclist as 12 mph when they become visible. From the bicycle rear wheel reflector you can see it go through a quarter revolution as the cyclist is leaning to reduce the collision. This quarter revolution takes 3 frames (4 is you being VERY generous). This shows that even whilst taking avoiding action, the cyclist was not slowing down.
(Edited due to error calculating the bicycle linear speed. I used the diameter instead of the radius in my calculation. credit to @GodmanchesterGoblin for the spot)
I think you may have used 2xPI which would be for the radius, not the diameter. I calculated 12 to 13 mph.
With regards to how to deal with giving way to pedestrians crossing, This is one of my ponderings on how to deal with this safely, i wonder if the Taxi was giving way i think it would of been safer to have waited in the main road, maybe with a slow creep so that he still has left mirror visibility on the cycle lane, which he lost when turning in.
@@GodmanchesterGoblin You are correct. Good spot. I have edited the original
@@frazermountford You are probably right, but I dont think the taxi driver was aware of the pedestrian until he had already started his turn. This is why the current rules are incompatable with safety and common sense.
It takes time for a pedestrian to realise whats happening and react by crossing a road. It's much more natural to not walk in front of the self powered hunk of metal whilst it's moving
That's right, and if you are slow creeping then the pedestrian is not likely to move but on the other hand we do need to show some form of intention of progress to the vehicles behind and then to the pedestrian if they don't really want to cross, I honestly don't know the correct balance to give here
at 6.30 the taxi driver was complying with the highway code and slowed and stopped for the clearly visible pedestrian who appeared to be crossing the road where the taxi wanted to drive into. The cyclist had plenty of time to stop, at 6.36 the taxi had the indicator going. The recording stops for comment, but then the Taxi moves and some 5 seconds later the bike hits the taxi. What was the taxi driver supposed to do? break the almighty 'Highway code' Heavens no, the world would end. He complied to give way to the most vulnerable, the pedestrian. The cyclist was clearly at fault as proven by the speed they hit the taxi.
Was just about to write this
Should the taxi not cross and stop in thr bike lane if he needs to wait for a person to cross. Bit like not crossing the opposite lane of traffic if your roads not clear.
It's another example of how giving pedestrians priority on junctions like this just causes confusion. The pedestrians don't seem to be on board with it and are reluctant to step out.
This piece of the highway code needs to be scrapped.
But the cycle should always have priority in a cycle lane! Well I am sure that would be their argument, but it is flawed. The taxi was in a no win situation here.
@@musquito7865no, it’s not the fault of the “new priorities”, and you should stop spreading this misconception, the taxi should not have been stopped in the cycle lane, but the actual collision was the cyclist’s fault.
gutted to see that old 5 series get written off 💔
Same 😢
Im honestly sickened by that
Yeah you are right. Thank god it wasn't an M5.
@@vintagetriplex3728 an M5 would be worth more and would not have been written off
I don't see how it can be deemed a right off.
Vehicle it's self is still in a drivable heck roadworthy condition just some bodywork damage.
Haha, you got me for a second with the police arresting the cyclist on the pavement and not the offender. I could very much see this or something similar happen.
If the Met is involved, nothing can be ruled out 😬
2:07 - apparently lifting off the brake before completely stopping is quite a common psychological thing, so much so that some of the braking assist systems won't release pressure until they detect that the vehicle has stopped completely
Probably due to fear of broken ankles when the impact occurs. If I thought the impact was unavoidable I'd probably release my foot too. I remember reading somewhere that the 1994 - 1999 Toyota Celica had collapsible pedals in the event of a crash, but I've not heard this as a safety feature even on more modern cars.
Yes, I'd concur having done this exact thing about twenty years ago. There's a scene in the film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World in which Sid Caesar, having fallen through many flights of stairs (the derelict building bit at the end) just gives up and falls the rest. That is the only way I can describe what happened to me. I did hit the car that pulled out in front of me, though I think it was inevitable. Thankfully, a witness stopped to say what happened otherwise it was his word against mine.
I think my current car has 'emergency brake assist' that takes the car to a dead stop unless the throttle is engaged.
Releasing the brake pressure as you come to a stop is part of the normal progressive braking process in a normal stop, but when you are doing an emergency stop, most people would keep the pressure on until you have stopped. It looked like an intentional act to me.
Or abs kicked in
@@JohnCarlyle on all the even slightly modern cars I've driven, the brake pedal can go to the floor once max braking is reached.
4:34 here the mistake the cammer made was NOT keeping their speed slow when they saw the first car pull out. I would have slowed and kept my speed slow. The cammer slowed then sped back up. They aren't at fault but that's how they could've been better.
6:07 and no it wasn't because of the horses, it was down to the person tailgating, badly tailgating. People like that refuse to look farther than their hood. Zero forward planning capabilities.
5:24,, I’m not sure what you think that the camer could have done better, the car that pulls out cannot be seen on the side road approaching the junction, it becomes visible in front of the van that is turning off for less than 1 second, as the van turns into the side road the car then become visible again about 1.5 seconds before the impact.
If the cammer slowed down as the van pulled off the road in front then the severity of the impact would be reduced but I don’t think that this would have avoided the accident because the car literally pulled out without slowing,
And are you going to slow down to a crawl on a fast main road every time someone turns off of the road infront of you ? 🤔
You could easily see the approach of the car before the van turned into the junction, what on earth are you even talking about?
That's why common sense tells you to take caution, something that was seen approaching the junction is now invisible.
Yeah this is a rare case of me disagreeing with Ashley on the ability of the vehicle with right of way to avoid the issue with defensive driving. We can't slow for every junction on a 60 road. And when the car could be seen before the camper it was a fair assumption that it was going to stop. It only became clear that it wasn't going to stop when it was too late.
@@TheSpacecraftX why not? What is the issue with being a little bit cautious around those junctions where visibility is reduced? I have no issues slowing when someone is turning in front of me even with a small slip road
Looks like cold weather with a risk of ice as well - there is snow in the fields and on the pavements. How do you know there is no black ice anywhere that could potentially cause issues? Speed limits are a limit and not a target…please drive to the conditions, that is both weather and traffic conditions 👍
@@TheSpacecraftXWell it clearly wasn't a "fair assumption" because that STUPID assumption caused an accident. The only assumption it's safe to make when a car becomes obscured to you is that they can't see you either. Assuming what they are doing while not visible (especially going so far in assuming that they have ceased to become a hazard at all) is dangerous. It's something you are taught as a learner, something that comes up in the hazard perception test and something - therefore - that fully qualified drivers are expected to understand
@@jakerockznoodles you're assuming the cammer:
a) could actually see everything in the frame of the footage, and if so then
b) had the same visibility as we have from the footage, because eyes and lenses aren't the same
Ashley assumed the driver of the vehicle who emerged into the intersection blindly hadn't spotted the cammer's vehicle, which means they would not have seen anything at all to their right prior to emerging as if they had done so at any point without being obstructed by the campervan, they would've seen the cammer's vehicle. We could likewise assume the cammer was looking elsewhere at the moment the vehicle was visible for a split second prior to vanishing behind the campervan.
Whatever assumptions you want to make, the vehicle emerging blindly having obviously not stopped to check the road was clear once the campervan was no longer obstructing their view was 100% at fault. We can't all slow to a crawling pace past intersections on the off chance that some moron is going to blindly emerge.
Frankly it's high time people begin being punished properly for such stupidity - loss of licence for a decade then making them resit all tests to earn it back could be a good starting point. Driving needs to be a privilege again, with an emphasis on the responsibility. Road ragers are another wonderful bunch who need to be given a lengthy breather from driving.
That first clip shows exactly why dashcams are a great idea. Without that footage it could easily have turned into a finger pointing exercise with one word against the other. As it is, we can clearly see the grey Vauxhall was being driven too fast round a blind corner and was a long way over the centre line.
Absolutely. This was actually my footage and when I first submitted it to the insurance I had trimmed it too soon, to before where I had passed the sign on the left showing priority. They were arguing it as a narrow road collision when in my mind the third party was clearly at fault. Got there in the end but without the footage there would have been no chance!
Definitely recommend the A129 Pro dash cam! The 4K may be overkill for some, but the WiFi link makes getting footage a breeze
@@AlexClark16 So sorry about your Beemer. They were great cars. I had the 530d saloon and it was probably the best I've ever had in terms of quality, comfort and handling. I'm sure you've found it really hard to find anything equivalent as a replacement.
1:58 That's no joke. The coppers are crazy enough to actually do that
The 5 series incident….the other driver not adapting to the type of road…note the big corner markers. Many of our back roads here are like that…30mph is about as fast as it gets to make one of those tight bends…even tho it’s technically an NSL 60 road.
Pulling out onto the main road.
Yep, several like that here as well. Do not pull out until the camper van has moved over out the way so you can see & make sure no other cars are coming or even…overtaking the camper van as it pulls in.
Those horses were not illuminated but the car was too close to the one in front.
The car should have at least stopped and looked both ways as it's a high speed road. Definitely paid the price for not being careful and learnt the hard way.
I find it strange that it is not a stop sign placed there, rather than the give way.
It's common sense. The road wasn't build for him or only for a person. So u cannot except it to be free all the time, hence freaking stop and look out for people. And secondly this is not a town centre where 25 or 30 is the speed limit. It's a fast moving road. Simple use your f-ing brain people. Jezzzz
And it doesn't mean that you only stop if there is a STOP sign. If you have that mindset, Please get yourself out of the road, just take a cab or bus. The road will be dangerous place for people with that mindset.
3:59 I often ease off whenever people overtake me.
I try to maintain speed unless it is obvious they are on a collision course with an innocent
Like last week when the speed limit changed from 30mph to 40mph, I checked my mirrors and all clear so proceeded to accelerate and when I checked again someone decided they didn’t want to wait and started to overtake from a few cars back. I could see vehicles coming the other way so eased off and carried on. 7 minutes up the road at a set of lights I was two vehicles behind them…I would’ve been directly behind them but I let someone out of a sideroad while I was slowing for the lights
Idiotic overtake for no progress 🤦♂️
3:30 that was my mum but I don’t blame her, I would be panicking too if I was the passenger. dad was the driver but thankfully nothing major happened
0:23 Perhaps the cammer could've gone a little bit slower and wider, but other than that, I don't see anything drastic they could've done to change the outcome.
My guess with the scooter incident was a classic case of move then look. I suspect his brain was just off and away and suddenly got woken up when a car appeared in the space he wanted to occupy
The scooter rider looked in the cammer's direction about three seconds before the incident, just where Ashley pauses the clip.
Addressing Ashley's question, it would be odd if the drivers left indicator were on, since their previous manoeuvre was a right turn.
6:20 There wouldn't have been a lack of visibility had the car behind not been following stupid close. The riders were all silhouetted against the light sky and were clearly visible despite being unlit. The viewer managed it A-OK. This is why you don't tailgate.
Hiya Ashley just wanted to say thanks for your helpful vids because I’ve just passed my driving test on Friday the 7th July, The have they seen me video really helped improve my drive way better,👀🙌🏽part of the first time pass gang 😇.
Congratulations 👏
Congratulations and here is to many many years of happy driving 🎉🎉
Congratulations! 🏆
Well done 👍 all the best drivers pass on Friday!
Thanks guys 🙌🏽🙌🏽
If you watch dashcam videos, you will see the incident at 4:41 is a very common occurrence. I think the emerging vehicle sees traffic from that direction is blocked by the turning vehicle and fails to realise the very short time that will be the case.
Don’t worry guys, we’ve now bought this car (the first bmw) were going to document the full repair and build on our channel TH-cam!
Jeez.. your way with words. "But even being in the right, people can still die. We must do better!" That is awesome.
50 years ago old George Beebe, my driving instructor, had a number of mantras…..the best one was ‘always be the bloke that anticipates’…..cheers George…🎉❤
1:13 also, the chevrons for the driver of the vauxhall have been rotated, facing away from them. This could be another contributor to them not realising this was a corner.
Good spot!
The chevrons were for the cammer's car. there didn't appear to be any for the Vauxhall.
Also, a clearly painted white solid line down the middle of the road would have made the priority clearer.
@@musquito7865 I may very well be wrong, it's impossible to tell, but I thought that the sign rotated on the pole facing the hedge could have been a chevron for traffic coming from the vauxhall's direction. Equally, it could be another sign for the cam car's direction, but I couldn't see any other chevrons for the vauxhall's direction so thought it made the most sense. Better road markings would defiantely help - Vauxhall was clearly driving too fast on a road which they must have been unfamiliar with as they did not anticipate the corner and slow accordingly 👍
I always find these videos very helpful. Makes me think about how I can be more careful and observant around junctions, cyclists, etc.
4:30 - ever since I did the police BikeSafe course last year, I am constantly aware of Saccadic masking at T junctions. If I'm on the main road, bike or car, I'm definitely easing off and covering the brakes.
In that situation I would have been doing 50, max, probably closer to 45.
Saccadic masking can be LETHAL when you're on a bike.
5:00 I had a similar situation. A junction with a bus waiting to emerge, and a car disappeared behind it. I moved out over the white line hoping to make sure I was seen, however the lanes were splitting to leave a central filter section for oncoming right turners and chevrons. So I just balanced the two risks all the while my foot was over the brake and speed reducing. I wanted to make sure when that car arrived out of the blind shadow of the bus that it seen me. An oncoming indicator for that filter lane I was about to encroach through made me move back, but I had seen the emerging car's bonnet and stationary so all good.
Afterwards I could hear my last check ride with the IAM observer, "toot, toot! Toot, toot mate. If they don't see you, make sure they hear you."
Dash cams are pretty much a must now. Without one you risk falling into a your-word-against-theirs dispute with one of the legions of poor drivers out there, should you be unlucky enough (but with a reasonably high chance) of being involved in a collision with one of them. They will always lie and deceive, so it's important to have that video evidence.
And remember, many of the poor drivers have no insurance, and have no licence or right to be driving on UK roads. Still all of us insured drivers pay for the Motor Insurers' Bureau to cover for it.
a driving licence is a licence to learn is what my dad use to say, he was an advanced driving instructor and i learned a lot from him. if you buy a dash cam, it will help in the event of an accident, but with getting the best training you can afford after passing your driving test, bettering your skills and developing your attitude to be more relaxed about bad driving, you are increasing your chances of not having an accident at all.
i ride a motorbike, at a red light i am looking behind me to see if anything going to run into me, i have an escape plan made. if i am sat behind a car at a red light, i position myself off to one side so if i need to move forward to avoid being rear ended i got the escape plan to do so.
driving past junctions, i look at the tyres of cars sat waiting to pull out as you will see a tyre start to rotate before any reaction from the driver. like in thee clip where the driver just pulled out, i was looking up the inside of the camper van, as soon as i saw the car approaching i would be on the brakes and slow down to make sure i can see they have stopped, i would move the motorbike from middle position to the right position of the lane to give them that tiny bit of time to see the front head light and me.
i love the advanced driving i know but i know i can learn more, and as soon as i can afford it and get in touch with right people near me il go get more skills. the aim for me, to ride and drive in a way that i dont have an accident as the one i had at 19 was painful enough, pain is a good teacher.
Regarding looking when a caravan is blocking, my favourite phrase is "not seeing anything is NOT the same as seeing there is nothing". Ie. not being able to see a car coming is very different to being able to see an empty road.
someone rams you on purpose Ashley neal: you could have been on the moon to avoid the crash
Thanks Ashley for the tips. As in most of these examples, speed and anticipation play a major role in preventing a collision. Too much speed can be solved even at beginner level but reading the road correctly takes many months of driving, years even.
in the clip with the camper turning off, it looks like it is also a frosty morning. all the more reason not to be accelerating towards a junction.
Indeed and quite a few comments already on here saying why should the cammer be slowing? The conditions aren’t exactly good for the “Same speed ahead at the speed limit”
I think regardless of the accident on the clip with the horses, they should have been more visible.
The following clip with the taxi driver, i think he was going to give way to the pedestrian waiting to cross the road but aborted when the car coming in the opposite direction made it clear the guy wouldn't be able to cross. As for the cyclists, that seemed like a classic example of "I'm heading to my destination and I'm not going to pay attention to what's going on around me!".
I agree, the riders should have taken more steps to make themselves and their horses visible. There is so much hi-vis, flashing equestrian gear on the market these days. I know, I've bought a lot of it!
With that cyclist one, my first thought was that I bet they drive their car like that as well. People forget that most "cyclists" also drive motor vehicles, and people with the stubborn refusal to adjust speed regardless of what's happening around them will carry that attitude regardless of what vehicle they operate.
@@susiejones3634 Sadly I believe they were more concerned about looking "good" than safe. I agree, plenty of stuff to make them more visible, even head torches on each rider would have made them stand out more!
@@jakerockznoodles I couldn't agree more with you.
Did the cammer give the footage to the taxi driver or just vanish, thinking not my problem.
If that's a London taxi, it's off the road until the dent/ paintwork is repaired.
I sustained a leg injury when my car hit a vehicle which failed to stop at a give way sign. The impact pushed my foot off the brake pedal with such force that I had to have physiotherapy. I've since been advised that if a similar thing was to happen again and an impact was imminent and unavoidable, it would be prudent to remove my foot from the brake pedal prior to the impact in order to reduce the risk of another injury. Something similar might have happened @2:05 and could explain why the driver came off the brake prior to impact.
For that matter, I've seen a crash where the rubber cover slid off the brake pedal, and the driver's foot slid off with it.
@@kenbrown2808 That's down to poor maintenance; you should replace pedal rubbers well before they start to slip off.
@TestGearJunkie. actually down to poor technique. Even if the cover is completely loose, putting your foot squarely on the pedal will prevent it slipping off. But the illustration is that there are things that happen to cause a release of the pedal that aren't the driver deciding to crash.
The moment the lad @ 7:42 appeared and his manner on the pavement made me cautious of what he’d do next.
The driver seems cautiously easing off the accelerator, creating a larger gap and possibly confuse the boy into thinking the driver would turn or give priority.
7:50 judging from shadow length and direction the sun was behind and slightly to the right of the car (which is white) and that combined with the fact it likely was reflecting off the road too probably made the car blend in with the quick glance he took before looking the other way
If you look at the reflection on the red car in front at 7:41 there doesn't seem to be any indicator activated on the dashcam driver's car. The driver also had already passed the left turn lane of that road while the scooter lad was looking.
Yh, it's like a typical hazard perception clip from the DVSA !
6:01 100% the vehicle behind's fault, traveling FAR too close with no braking time whatsoever. I see this on a daily basis, people think they're invincible in their metal box and they won't crash, until they do.
yep too close to react or see ahead, also being that close may alter the driving style of the driver under pressure.
Not to mention the major upset for their victim of being in such a collision, including the possibility of having insurance loaded despite being not at fault.
@@tricky1992000 _also being that close may alter the driving style of the driver under pressure_
It definitely alters mine, I slow right down! 🤣🤣
@@PedroConejo1939 _Not to mention the major upset for their victim of being in such a collision, including the possibility of having insurance loaded despite being not at fault._
Yeah that really grinds my gears that does. You can be stationary and someone could drive into you and your premium will go up because the statistics show if you've been in an accident your at higher risk of being in another? Utter horse shit!!
Ashley what are your thoughts on horn usage? Not to admonish of course, but to carry out its intended purpose which is to warn of your presence especially when you deem it likely that you haven't been seen. I mainly find myself doing it when encountering people reversing onto the road, a younger me would have said "sod 'em, they shouldn't be doing that so I'm ploughing on through" whereas now, okay they still shouldn't be doing but the fact is they are. So now my approach is a double pip of the horn and being ready for them still not hearing or seeing me (or carrying on regardless lol).
Tight blind bends are another one, and I wonder if a warning beep of the horn might have saved that 5 series 😢
At 4:41, with the emerging car from the side road to the left. This is perhaps one reason why in North America, such intersections (junctions) are controlled via Stop signs and lines as opposed to Give Way in the Uk.
The lyrics of the song being played at the 5:00 clip is by Hi Rez - Smiling. "If i found a way to be happy everyday" Kind of a sore point for this person in that moment!
8:18 there is many folk on the road that have no clue about the width of their own vehicle, it should be second nature fairly quickly, you see it in car parks too with cars just thrown at a parking space and left where it landed, or holding up traffic because they dono't think they can get through hence the 'I can get a bus through there' from others stuck behind.
2:17 my home town. A629 heading through the middle of town, there are a lot of chancers at these marked junctions, they just go for it despite there being potentially 4 lanes of moving traffic.
The accident at 5:22 kind of justifies our rule in the Netherlands (where we drive on the right) that at many junctions we give way to the right. This makes road users more wary of vehicles appearing from the right ( the left for you) and so we tend to scan for or prepare for vehicles appearing. I'm not saying this accident could not have happened, but the heightened awareness helps.
I had a 61 plate Vw caddy, didn’t look special but was the best vehicle I’ve ever had, had it 4 years then just leaving my house and came to a set of traffic lights, mine was green and then out of nowhere someone ran the red and wrote my van off. In those 4 years I had a loose bolt on the injector and the whole clutch rebuilt. Now I’ve had to replace it I thought I’d treat myself and get a 68 plate caddy, just over a year later and constant trips to the garage it’s still not reliable.. I miss my old can a lot and makes you realise doesn’t matter how well you drive or how you follow the rules someone else is either distracted or just doesn’t care and it’s always the innocent party that suffers
I've recently started using the phrase "Fail Dangerous" as a contrast to "Fail Safe" and it seems to attach to too many features of our road system, and how one of the values on your channel, Ash, is to drive such that an error does not propagate.
An example from thr recent WImbledon collision is perhaps that "speed limiter" systems can often be overridden by holding the accelerator down, rather than stopping and navigating through the menus to find it.
If the reported "medical incident" is true, and it was a fit causing a sudden unintended pressure on the accelerator (as was allegedly the event caused by 'pushing the wrong pedal' as was the case with the Earlsfield collision last year when 11 pupils and parents were mowed down by a RAV4 on the pavement), that is Fail Dangerous.
IMO a sudden and heavy kickdown at low speed should cause the vehicle to stop - Fail Safe - not accelerate.
At the end of 2:14 the white car had actually come to a stop. Just after 2:17 the white Auris had crashed into it.
Im pritty sure that because the white car pulling out was stationary. The Auris is at Fault.
The white car pulling out could have positioned better to see up the road. But the Auris was looking for a crash. So they got one. Coming off the breaks makes them at fault.
I recently attended an advanced driver training course, the final element of the training was hard braking with manoeuvring around the imaginary person/vehicle suddenly in front. I was surprised how quickly I could get a Mitsubishi Outlander to stop from 80kmph and how well the vehicle behaved while making an extreme avoidance manoeuvre to the left and then back straight.
That white car could have stopped easily if it had braked according to the circumstances.
I worked for several years as a road safety engineer, mostly in rural road safety. Junctions like the one at 6:50 are lethal. It's a known, widespread issue that the wide shoulder for left turns hides following vehicles who are also encouraged to maintain speed. It's actually far safer to *narrow* the shoulder and force the following driver to slow
@ashley Neal, Love your videos, wish more people would watch them.
Had my first accident in 25 years of driving yesterday when a dog ran out from between 2 parked cars into the passenger door of my car, its a narrow street so I had already adjusted my speed and did my best to avoid the dog but it emerged so late the best I could do was break and angle away. The people there said I did nothing wrong but its really knocked my confidence and I've felt like I'm on eggshells behind the wheel today, can't stop thinking about it. Any advice or is it just a case of needing to build up confidence over time driving?
Dog has a broken leg but no other serious injuries thankfully.
I’ve had a very similar accident to the one in the clip at at 4:29
Approaching a T junction on a dual carriageway at 40mph, van just in front of me turns left, car emerging from that road to turn right. From spotting the emerging vehicle I had the length of a Transit to stop in. Both vehicles written off, other driver charged by Police. Other driver had neck/ shoulder injuries as it was a hard side impact. I had burns on both hands from the airbags deploying.
At around the 7:00 mark, why would the taxi be held liable for that?
I'm sure the cyclist could clearly see that taxi and was able to slow down safely before they got there. Wouldn't that be like saying that a car that was turning into a side road but had to stop because someone that was not visible from the main road became visible would then be liable for a following car driving into the back/side of it?
If it's a case that the law now makes the taxi driver liable just because it is a cyclist then it is a bad law....
Look again. The cycle lane is separated from the taxi's lane by a dashed line. Any traffic moving from one lane to another must give way to any traffic already in the lane. This has always been the case.
Highway code changes in 2022 extended this to include scenarios where there is no separate lane and motor vehicles must give way to cyclists passing on the left at junctions.
@@Dan-iz4yr Yes I can see that and I agree that if the taxi had turned 'in front' of the cyclist giving them little to no time to react and causing the accident then the taxi would be at fault.
However, in this video, the taxi is there, stationary, when the cyclist approached and it appeared that the cyclist didn't see the taxi until the last moment.
If a cyclist were to cycle into a stationary car parked in a cycle lane (which they can unless parking restrictions apply on a road - blame the planners for that), who is to blame?
On viewing it again I guess there wasn't a long time passed until the cyclist came along but then that begs the question: how long is long enough before it becomes the cyclist's fault. Common sense would say that it's something along the lines of 'could you slow/stop/avoid the vehicle without and sudden braking/change of direction.
However, the taxi here probably thought they could turn and clear before the cyclist got there but didn't allow for the pause needed for the car emerging.
I suspect that the cyclist made the assumption that the taxi would clear the way before they got there, and didn't allow themselves enough time to react when it hesitated.
@@xenomorph6961 Oh, I see what you mean now - that's a good question.
As you say, in this case I think the time was short enough that it's pretty much entirely the taxis fault for turning before it was clear when the cyclist's expectation was that they would clear and that expectation is what caused the accident. I think that if the cyclist didn't see the taxi until it was stopped in their lane - like in your parked car example - they would have been much more cautious and the accident would have been avoided.
Good morning from Sweden
Good morning from a rainy England
Hey I’m in Sweden also :)
Good morning from a sunny Norway!
Good morning from cloudy East England 🌥
Sverige ar fantastik! 🇸🇪
6:15 I'm sorry but what are horse riders doing out when it's this dark...
They're probably those "because I can types", more concerned with doing what they want than taking into account the safety of others.
At 7:00 I think the taxi went because the bike was a long way back (or out of sight), then stopped because of the new rules on giving way to pedestrians at junctions; theoretically he should have spotted the pedestrian and checked for the cyclist and stopped at the dotted line, but do you really expect everyone to do all this? Oh, and did the cyclist not have brakes close to hand?
2:05 Could the ABS have let off the brakes due to the paint on the road? Where I live, the paint greatly reduces traction.
The scooter incident, even if the camera car was indicating, never trust anyone until they actually start maneuvering.
5:50 What would I do? I'm always cautious around junctions, so would be prepared to stop. However if I were in the other car's position, if I can't see down the road I'm emerging into, I would stop at the give way line and wait for the truck to move on so I'll get a better view. If the truck were parked instead, I would inch forward slowly until I can get a clear view. I guess it's already unanimous that driver was at fault, so I won't labour the point.
6:00 The following car was definitely tailgating. No 2 second ditty. Also, those riders ought to have been wearing high viz gear at night, but perhaps they were out all day and didn't expect to come back so late?
That last clip was just special...
I love your channel and the fantastic information you give.
But.. I'm a total nervous wreck after watching it.
😂
2:05 Lot's of drivers don't know how to perform an emergency break and panic when the ABS kicks in.
Maybe it is lots of iterations of dabbing the brakes that is the problem. So maybe you get used to seeing a hazard, start to brake, the situation resolves so you come off the brake. When the emergency happens and you need to continue braking the muscle memory is just to dab
Or an emergency brake? Break and brake are totally different things!
Give us a break!
Every driver is taught that and may be required to do it in a test.
7:03 this is my problem with "always being responsible" i while i accept I have to take more care especially as ill be driving trucks soon.. i refuse to take all the responsability, especially in situations like this. Whatever the reason for the cabs hesitation, That cyclist had so long to stop,evade or slow, he basicaly chose to crash into the cab.
And with people like that you just cant be responable for them all the time its too exhausting
Clips 2:03 and 7:03 to me appear to be the exact same yet it is portrayed that because one involves a cyclist, the driver is always at fault. The toyota causes the accident from a car pulling across them and in the same vein, the cyclist 100% could see the taxi and made zero attempt to apply the brakes.
I can't see how both clips show the exact same yet yield different results. I can't see how the verbiage "regardless of who is at fault ( 2:28 & 4:28 from this exact video ) avoiding the accident is the primary thing " doesn't apply since one of them is on a bike.
The first clip. I had a very similar (almost identical) incident but with no contact, The right 'A' pillar prevented me from seeing the car approaching from the right (as in this in the video they also wanted to go straight ahead), now on these sharp blind bends I lean right forward so I can see around the bend as soon as possible.
I should add, the camera is much further forward and so has a different view to that of the driver, not suggesting that this was a contributing factor in this case but it's something to consider.
As the driver in the first clip, I agree the A-pillar may have momentarily caused a blind spot seeing that car approach. But, like all other cars I've passed there, I expected it to take the corner and not plough into me 😂
@@AlexClark16 indeed as you would, I my case I was lucky in that we both jumped on the brakes quick enough to avoid contact, the other driver apologised and we both probably benefited from the experience.
6:10 the car behind is following far too closely anyway. An accident would have happened regardless of why the camera car slowed.
7:50 the lad on the scooter simply didn't look immediately before crossing. Does no one teach the Green Cross Code anymore?
Not since the Green Cross Man turned to the dark side.
I agree the Scooter rider probably looked past the approaching car and then went when the car coming from the opposite side had cleared. I often think people actually miss a vehicle or other road user by looking too far ahead.
3:10 Don't believe that close call is due to an A pillar blind spot. If that was the case then you could say the passenger window is one big blind spot. You move your head to see behind the A pillar the same as you move your head to see outside the passenger side window. You have a much wider view with your eyes than through a single lens camera.
Hard to tell. It can be a contributing factor, where tunnel vision paired with a too short analyzis process, may be the main cause.
Regarding an old car getting written off, you can usually buy them back for salvage value from the insurance company, but it sometimes takes a load of arguing with them. Many years ago my brother had an M-reg Punto (worth about £300 at the time) which someone drove into on a mini-roundabout, denting and tearing a hole in the rear passenger door. He bought it back off the insurance company, covered up the hole with gaffer tape, and drove it for a couple more years like that, until it finally died of underbody rust. He actually made a profit out of the whole thing.
2:15 Keep in mind, that the ABS system can deplete brake pressure by the time the car reaches a very slow speed, making it seem as though the driver has let off the brakes.
6:01 Don't tailgate and you'll have a lot much chance of reacting in time.
At 6:45, when the taxi decided to turn there was no cyclist possibly in view. However, the VW that would emerge out of that side street had to pull wide to avoid the parked car not seeing the taxi. The taxi had to stop in order to let the VW make it's manouver before the he could procede. Nothing that the VW or taxi could do, but the stupid cyclist again causing an accident that shouldn't have been. It wasn't Jeremy Vile by any chance, was it? Wait for the video.
2:48 That’s always horrifying, the corner means it’s often a little harder to tell the car is on your side of the road from further back.
I think the taxi driver at 6:43 eases off on the turn as there is the pedestrian on the side there. It looks like the taxi driver wants to make sure the pedestrian doesn't step into the road just as they turn which is why it would be plausible to slow down. The non reaction from the pedestrian signals to the driver to proceed.
6:50 cycling has kaput breaks?
at 2.15, yes, ]the white car should have been able to stop, but I wonder is it possible that the ABS operated & the noise of this , coupled with vibration of the brake pedal made the driver lift off from the emergency stop. I'm sure many drivers do not realise how dramatic the operation of ABS can be. When I worked as an ADI, (I retired in 2015) I always made sure my pupils experienced an ABS stop (even up to 50-60 mph so they knew what to expect & kept their foot firmly on the brake until the car had actually stopped. I would bet many drivers who learnt before ABS was commonplace have never experienced a full blown ABS emergency stop. Might be worth finding a safe place to find out before the actual emergency??
What can be taken from this is not many people tend to slow down, even when it's obvious it's the only way.
For clip#1, the Astra driver may have been using Google maps to navigate. On single track country roads, it sometimes misintreprets who has right of way at junctions like that and says "follow the road" instead of "turn right", and vice-versa.
be that as it may, you still should observe all rules. In any ambiguous situation, I just follow the rules and let the google reroute any missed turns. It just plays a little chime to say you've done something other than what it wanted, and then proceeds to give you options around it.
@xTerminatorAndy Depends how legible and clear the road markings are - and whether there's a Give Way sign. I drive down a lot of roads like this in rural Hampshire and there aren't always Give Way signs, plus the junction markings are worn away by farm vehicles.
On the first clip maybe the camera vehicle, could of sounded his horn approching the bend, I usually do on country roads, when I can't see round a bend
explanation for the scooter incident -- yes, people using them that shouldn't be and/or incorrectly. ban the bloody things, they are a menace around the city
Love the message you put out Ashley.
But in regards to "fault" ; any crash you are involved in, you share some portion of responsibility for. Whether that's just by the unfortunate coincidence of being there at the wrong place wrong time, or whether its because you didn't do enough to mitigate against the future event, everyone shares some portion of responsibility.
I know that's very hard for many people to grasp but it's simply true. Every action has consequences even when you're following the rules and not doing anything wrong.
Sometimes its more important to fix another road-users mistake than it is to be "in the right"
Excellent video. Couldn’t agree more with your analysis of the campervan obscured T-bone incident. You can’t blithely carry on at the speed limit, you need a plan B, provided by dropping 10-15mph, allowing yourself to either make yourself seen by the emerging car, stopping their manoeuvre, or giving you enough leeway to come to a halt if they still pull out. I like having options, when it involves my immediate physical safety! You just have to keep thinking: what would be the worst driving interaction with other road users at this point and incorporate it into the speed, line and signals you make. This sort of stuff is gained with experience, sadly.
The Horses: The cars coming towards the cammer on the other side of the road managed to see the riders and stop safely.
The car in the rear view is less than 1 second behind and incredibly close given the conditions. At 6:01 the cammer passes a car in the oncoming lane, by 6:02 it draws up alongside the following car.
In any event, the car ahead would have had his break lights on, so horses or not he missed a pretty big visual clue that the car ahead was slowing.
That first one they should use the horn coming to a bend on a narrow lane like that. It's the safest thing to do. the other car should also have tucked in sooner. And both were too fast.
3:48 he did that in the right place, does that sign not point to the ER hospital?
The visibility of the horses was not responsible for the collision. Doesn't matter if you're walking cycling or driving, if you can't stop without collision you're too close.
The rear end collision is a separate incident.
What people are saying is that those horse riders are being very dangerous with the amount of visibility drivers had of them, a car could easily have not seen them and ploughed through them.
@@paulstevens9409 It is not a separate incident, it is the incident!
What would their excuse be...
''I did not see the horse/fallen tree/landslide/sinkhole, because the car In front was driving too close to my front bumper and obscured my view of the road ahead''🤦♂️
The visibility of the horse was the separate incident that did not lead to the collision.
Tailgating is just plain stupid.
I know the junction in the clip that starts at 4:26 very well. Its the junction of the A920 with the A96 near the village of Colpy in NE Scotland. I've passed it hundreds of times, both on the main road and the side road and from all directions. It's known as a bit of an "accident black spot" locally. It's not even the first clip of an incident at the junction I've seen on TH-cam!
If you drive the road regularly, you know that:
1) If approaching from the direction that the cammer was, it is very likely that someone turning right from the side road might pull out (as seen in the clip) - especially when there is a vehicle (of any size, let alone a campervan) turning left that has moved into the left turn slip lane (and thereby restricted the view of the emerging car). It almost seems to be taken as an invite to pull out. Local knowledge tells me to be particularly vigilant at this junction when approaching from the direction that the cammer was, particularly when someone is turning off (like the campervan in the clip). You can usually get a glimpse of cars coming from the side road though (as shown in the video). If you see someone like that at this junction, be prepared to respond: it is highly likely that they will pull out.
2) If approaching from the left road and turning right (like the black car was) it is actually quite hard to see to the right if a vehicle is in the left-turn lane. Even a small car does a pretty effective job of blocking the view. It's not a particularly long left-turn slip lane, so drivers commit to it quite close to the junction, and the slight uphill view you have of it from the side road also seems to affect how well you can see for some reason. You really need to be extra careful to make absolutely sure that nothing is also coming along the main road.
Add to the above that:
1) A lot of people do turn left, as the campervan did, and so, people emerging (as the black car did) often assume that vehicles might be moving into the turning lane even when they aren't. The mindset seems to be "well, one vehicle is turning, the rest probably are too, I'll go".
2) The main road itself if busy. It's the trunk road between Aberdeen and Inverness, but is only a single carriageway. It is often choked up with HGVs and tractors and convoys of frustrated vehicles stuck behind them unable to pass due to heavy traffic in both directions. There are few opportunities to overtake because of the road layout. This section, although a good few miles out, is still close enough to Aberdeen that it has heavy commuting traffic on it to and from the city, especially at certain times of day. So, people arriving at the junction like the black car did often seem to want to do a quick and risky emerge if the traffic seems to allow it, rather than possibly getting stuck for a few minutes waiting for the next gap.
3) When not restricted by slow moving vehicles, people often speed on the road and this is one of the stretches where this is particularly common (and people also often use the cross-hatching in the middle of the road to do risky overtakes too). This seems to be more prevalent for cars travelling in the opposite direction to the cammer. While visibility isn't bad, there is a slight gradient that hides cars approaching from the left if you are turning right onto the road (as the black car was). If you have checked left, and seen it clear, and then looked right, a speeding car may have appeared from the left that wasn't visible when you last checked. So, lots of checking is required, but the layout and traffic also create a sense of urgency "I'd better pull out quickly in case something comes from the left".
4) Obviously, cars that have approached from the opposite direction to the cammer may wish to turn right into the side road. If there is someone doing that, then an emerge from the side road (like the black car) can be further restricted by cars waiting in the central filter lane, also adding to the frustration and the likelihood that someone will just launch out of the side road as soon as they see what they interpret as an opportunity to do so.
It's not for nothing that the local paper ran an "A96, Stop the Carnage" campaign a few years back and that a police "safety camera" van is often parked near the junction too. The road is long, long overdue for an upgrade to dual carriageway.
None of the above excuses the awful emerge, of course, but for what seems to be a pretty straight forward junction, on a good stretch of straight road, it certainly has its complications. There are lots of contributory factors for this particular junction. Far too frequently, incidents just like the one in the clip happen there.
Noted in your last clip the dark brown metallic suv already bore "battle scars" of a good "dunt" on the left rear wing. An incompetent driver perhaps? They certainly couldn't judge the width of the gap they tried to fit into!
I think it was target fixation with the scooter. The first car was blocking their path, and they were looking where they were going not moving their head for a second glance. Second glances is how I make a fool of my self falling on the spot instead of crashing into something
5’59” “What do you do in situations like this?”
I ease off the power in snowy conditions; I ease off further approaching junctions on a long straight, especially when there’s obscuring movement like the damper in front of me.
When I’m emerging:
a) I can’t see anything coming
b) I can see that there is nothing coming
I choose b), which means waiting till the camper has cleared. I also move up to the junction, unless there’s a reason not to. It usually gives me greater visibility, but it also makes it clearer to oncoming traffic that I am at the junction.