When in a minor crash, aren't you supposed to move OUT OF THE ROAD?

"JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!" (jqj213)
04/29/2015 at 09:57 • Filed to: driving, help, advice, accident

I just want to double check on this. I almost got rear ended and rear ended someone because of a very small 2 car pileup in the fast lane of the highway. The cars just stopped there and refused to move. The car ahead of me ended up rear ending the car ahead of him and it ended up being a 5 car accident. This is the 4th one this year; we had one in the same spot earlier this year that took 9 cars. All of this could be avoided if the cars simply moved out of the fast lane. Am I wrong? Pictured: an accident that was more severe than this one.

DISCUSSION (26)

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 09:59

Yes. Unfortunately such people do not visit oppo, and thus will not be informed.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
04/29/2015 at 10:00

Scared the hell out of me seeing the huge ass lifted F-150 barely stopping in my rear view mirror. Going from 60-0 in such a short distance is not fun at all.

I couldn’t see ahead of me because I was behind a work van

CalzoneGolem > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 10:01

Why does there continue to be accidents in this spot?

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 10:01

Most people I’ve seen do move out of the roads here, unless the damage was severe/ there were injuries. You’re told to get out of the car if there’s an incident/ breakdown and sit away from the road too, incase someone hits your parked car.

BigBlock440 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 10:02

If the cars are mobile, you move them off the road.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > CalzoneGolem
04/29/2015 at 10:04

Honestly it’s a somewhat flawed intersection. There’s a Lowes parking lot right off the highway and they recently put a light there. Even though the Lowe’s doesn’t open until later, the light still changes randomly from time to time (this is because its got a red light camera and they want to catch people not paying attention I guess)

In this one, the light turned yellow and the guy stopped; didn’t go through it. The car behind him was planning on going through it though... so they met at like 10-20 MPH.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > BigBlock440
04/29/2015 at 10:05

That’s what I thought. It was a new Dodge Ramn that got rear ended by a CRV at like 15 MPH. Ram was fine, the steel bumper was a little bent. The CRV lost a front bumper but it could’ve still moved.

They just sat stopped in the fast lane on a road where the speed limit is 55...

Alfalfa Romeo > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 10:07

There are many people who believe that if you disturb the scene of the accident, no one will ever know exactly what happened, no one will ever take anyone’s word, insurance won’t cover anything, and you’ll end up dead in a ditch after the loan shark you borrowed from to fix your car made an example out of you.

CalzoneGolem > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 10:11

Ugh, that sucks. So it doesn’t matter what lane you’re in either?

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 10:12

Yeah, but most drivers are terrible.

RockThrillz89 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 10:20

May vary by state, but the general idea is yes you move them off the road. There a quite a number of signs on the interstates and some multi-lane highways here in South Carolina that state if there are no injuries, move to the side of the road and call highway patrol. And surprisingly, despite SC being the state with some of the worst drivers in the history of everything, I’ve never encountered a problem with people camping in traffic after a fender bender. Now, they may move to the left hand shoulder, which is still pretty bad, but at least they get out of traffic.

Moves-Like-Senna > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 10:22

Always move off the road if possible, otherwise you become a hazard to other motorists, your passengers and yourself.

The only thing I would recommend is turning on your hazard lights to acknowledge you’re not just driving away. I’ve been rear ended more times than I can count and the first couple times I didn’t do this they freaked out assuming I’d run off (ironically I was driving full size trucks so no damage to me, but their hood/grill were done in most cases).

Mattbob > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 10:24

I always thought the general rule was “if it steers it clears.” It’s not like they are going to bring CSI out to investigate some fender bender.

Rainbow > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 10:24

I once came across a fender bender in the middle of a blind curve. There was enough room in the oncoming lane for cars to squeeze by in both directions, but when it was my turn, I met a huge van that started blaring its horn as it swerved into the grass to avoid killing me.

I immediately pulled over, asked the two high-school-aged drivers if their cars could still start, and then told them they’ll both get a ticket if they don’t pull over before the cops show up. Not sure if that’s true, but if I didn’t pretend it was all about them, there’s no way they’d listen.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 10:39

It's those times when you have to balance a red light cam ticket vs accident. I'd have run it if it was a reasonably fresh red. That said, sounds like you were behind someone already stopped, which means it wasn't a fresh red and the guy behind was an idiot.

E92M3 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 10:44

Yes you are supposed to move off the roadway if the vehicle can still be driven. Leaving your car in traffic after a small accident is a ticketable offense. There’s 2 problems with this law though. Most cops don’t enforce it. First, it’s likely the person at fault is already getting a ticket for something else. Secondly the person can claim ignorance (or that they were mentally unfit at the time) to beat the ticket in court. “I didn’t know if moving the car would cause more damage”, “i was just in an accident, was freaking out, and couldn’t get back behind the wheel”. Sometimes if it’s not in the lane already next to the shoulder, it can be impossible to get over with everyone else driving aggressively to get around the accident, or if traffic is heavy. I myself have been stuck behind busses for dozens of stops because the traffic in the other lane is so heavy and tightly packed I can’t change lanes to get around it.

noise > Alfalfa Romeo
04/29/2015 at 10:58

can vouch

happened to me

*posted from my iPhone, dead in a ditch*

Justin Hughes > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 11:00

When I got rear ended last year, I cleared the intersection (despite minor rubbing on the corner I got hit) and pulled over. The X5 that hit me was completely immobilized, electronically. The police asked him to move it, since it was blocking the intersection, but he couldn’t.

They had no problem with me having moved out of the way - it wasn’t “leaving the scene.” Heck, I’m the one who made the 911 call, since the other guy was trapped inside the X5 and I couldn’t tell if he was injured or not at first. Too many air bags for me to see or him to escape!

MonkeePuzzle > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 12:56

we must have shared our commute, my complaint on the FB this morning

Kinja'd!!!

DoucheDouche > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 13:59

Anyone who, in a minor accident, and doesn’t move off the road, deserves to be fired upon by those they are pissing off by blocking a lane.

Rico > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/29/2015 at 14:20

This is why red light cameras are bad, unless they are properly timed with a delay they force people to slam on their brakes on yellow.

Rico > Alfalfa Romeo
04/29/2015 at 14:21

There is also the chance that the person who is doing the rear ending will simply drive off if given the opportunity.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Rico
04/29/2015 at 14:55

There was a study (by our county) that showed with the camera nearly just as many accidents happened at the intersections because of this reaction.

jkm7680 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/30/2015 at 16:07

Yah, usually on the highway it’s advisable. Surface streets also, if somebody is injured then definitely move out of traffic.

Yesterday I saw an accident right in the intersection of a red light on a narrow four lane road. There was literally zero damage whatsoever and whenever the light turned green, almost three more accidents would occur every time.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > jkm7680
04/30/2015 at 18:16

Thats how everyone has worked by me. When people see green, they go. It makes a simple 2 car accident into a mess. The best was the 12 car pileup we had at the start of the school year. Both the fast lane and middle lane. The one car was trying to avoid the 5 in the fastlane and swerved into the middle, clipping 2 more cars....

jkm7680 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/30/2015 at 18:21

Jeeeez, that does not sound fun at all.