My Dash Cam Footage

DKO · March 03, 2016, 10:43:49 AM

About 30 miles after my fuel stop on Monday I had a very near miss and less than six minutes later, a very unfortunate direct hit. My dash cam caught it all.

The near miss was a pick up truck that moved over in front of us and then slammed on his brakes. In reviewing the dash cam, it really looks like he wanted me to rear end him right next to a policeman. There is no way for me to know his motivation but that is what it looks like. Maybe he just panicked.

IF he was looking for a lawsuit, I am afraid he may not have been alive to collect and I may not have been alive to lose all my earthly possessions.

These pictures are screen grabs from my dash cam so they are not great pictures. You can see we are coming up on a semi in the right lane and a pick up truck in the left lane.

By the time I am up on the semi truck to pass it, the pick up had pulled into the right lane and is now moving back into the left lane. So far so good.

He is driving slower than me when he moves into the left lane and you can see his exhaust in the picture below as he puts his foot on the throttle. The exhaust is very clear in the video.

You can also see the policeman on the shoulder in front of him with a truck pulled over. This is about the time that I saw the flashing lights on the side of the road and realize the semi directly to my right and slightly behind me will need to get in. Thankfully, I have already eased my foot off the accelerator.

Right after he punches the gas in the picture above, he puts on his brakes hard! The exhaust can still be seen. The police and truck on the side of the road in the two pictures give you some sense of distance.

I put my foot on the brake hard and my hand on the horn hard. You can not see in the dash cam but the semi truck that I was passing was directly next to me in the right lane and there was no place for me to go. He was also slamming on his brakes. I figure he thought the guy was coming right back into his lane and the last thing he wanted to do was push the guy into a policeman.

As you can see, I was moving to the shoulder although it was very rough and it dropped off several inches a few feet into it. The picture below is just after he let off his brake. He did not speed up or get in the right lane until after he had passed the policeman.

I was probably two feet from eating his bumper. The dash cam GPS said I dropped 23 MPH from the picture where he hit the gas and the picture above. That is pretty good for nearly 50,000 pounds!

Less than six minutes later I had a very unfortunate direct hit. I will spare you all of the details and the graphic pictures but a dog was preparing to walk into a semi truck to my left and I was moving into the right lane to give him plenty of room do it. He changed his mind at the last moment and it was the worst decision in his life.

I pulled over immediately and checked the bus and car for damage and gave my heart a chance to catch up. Whew!

He did not survive all the bus wheels on the passenger side and the car, as well as the truck behind me. Honestly it broke my heart. I stayed beside the road for a while until I could drive again. Two baby heart attacks in six minutes were almost too much for me.

It was a bad few minutes in an otherwise great day to drive. I am very happy I invested in a camera. If I had hit the truck I know the video would have come in handy.

Davy

John316 · March 03, 2016, 11:12:11 AM

That is really amazing screen grabs. Glad you are safe!

Sorry about the pup. That is no fun at all.

Oonrahnjay · March 03, 2016, 11:18:39 AM

Quote from: John316 on March 03, 2016, 11:12:11 AM
That is really amazing screen grabs. Glad you are safe!

Sorry about the pup. That is no fun at all.

Ditto from me. Please tell us about your driver-view video cam (manufacturer, model, etc.) - after this, I think I'll get one. Thanks!

DKO · March 03, 2016, 11:54:44 AM

I am using the Panorama G Street Guardian SGZC12SG with a 64 Gig card. I purchased on Amazon in January of 2015. It has GPS coordinates and speed built in and uses a memory card. I film on a low setting and it will store days and days of footage, making it handy for leaving on all the time, even when parked. Those were pluses for me although there are great ones in all price ranges.

Davy

Oonrahnjay · March 03, 2016, 12:52:14 PM

Quote from: DKO on March 03, 2016, 11:54:44 AM
I am using the Panorama G Street Guardian SGZC12SG with a 64 Gig card. I purchased on Amazon in January of 2015. It has GPS coordinates and speed built in and uses a memory card. I film on a low setting and it will store days and days of footage, making it handy for leaving on all the time, even when parked. Those were pluses for me although there are great ones in all price ranges.

Davy

Thanks, very helpful.

Jeremy · March 03, 2016, 01:14:56 PM

I ran over a fox once (in my car) in exactly the scenario you describe. It ran out in front of me, crossing from left to right (bearing in mind we drive on the left); I made a minor course correction to the left and would have comfortably passed behind it. But then it saw me, panicked, and tried to return the way it came - and went straight under my car. Moral is, animals are unpredictable, so don't try to predict them. And they can change direction incredibly quickly.

Jeremy

Fred Mc · March 03, 2016, 02:48:17 PM

I think the instinct for a lot of us is to slow down when we see a cop. Perhaps that is what he did if he suddenly noticed the cop. OR, he may just have been an idiot.

Oonrahnjay · March 03, 2016, 03:02:32 PM

Quote from: Jeremy on March 03, 2016, 01:14:56 PM
I ran over a fox once (in my car) in exactly the scenario you describe. It ran out in front of me, crossing from left to right (bearing in mind we drive on the left); I made a minor course correction to the left and would have comfortably passed behind it. But then it saw me, panicked, and tried to return the way it came - and went straight under my car. Moral is, animals are unpredictable, so don't try to predict them. And they can change direction incredibly quickly.

Jeremy

Yep, same with me and a deer. I was a foot away from running off the road to the left - on the brakes really hard - when it reversed track at the right edge of the road and ran back to hit my right front corner just behind the headlight. That was a $2400 deer.

VegasFlyer · March 03, 2016, 03:31:43 PM

Here is another camera option for under 100.00 that has some pretty impressive output.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/131291243407

I will find a You Tube link that shows a good example.

It includes a separate GPS engine for data stamping.

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VegasFlyer · March 03, 2016, 03:38:57 PM

Here is one of many videos on YouTube for the camera.

http://youtu.be/90ADqT8fPXs

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Lin · March 03, 2016, 04:46:46 PM

Quote from: Jeremy on March 03, 2016, 01:14:56 PM
I ran over a fox once (in my car) in exactly the scenario you describe. It ran out in front of me, crossing from left to right (bearing in mind we drive on the left); I made a minor course correction to the left and would have comfortably passed behind it. But then it saw me, panicked, and tried to return the way it came - and went straight under my car. Moral is, animals are unpredictable, so don't try to predict them. And they can change direction incredibly quickly.

Jeremy

My totally unscientific observation seems to be that dogs reverse course when they see the car while goats just keep on going. If you could have a comprehensive list of what each different species does in that situation, you could serve accordingly. Is there an app for that?

HB of CJ · March 03, 2016, 05:08:52 PM

Hijacked thread. Sorry.

kyle4501 · March 03, 2016, 06:21:31 PM

I won't swerve for an animal on the road ( elephants excepted

) - had a cousin suffer a broken neck as a result of trying to avoid a small dog.

If the animal is big enough, I'll use the brakes - otherwise, I'm busy trying to keep an eye on what the other cars are doing.

Separated tire treads are something I will try to avoid - but they usually need to be struck before they move.

Scott & Heather · March 03, 2016, 08:17:54 PM

I honestly think you should send the video footage to state police. The license plate is clear. They could run it and make sure he isn't wanted for anything.

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DKO · March 03, 2016, 10:04:54 PM

You are right, Kyle, swerving in a bus is a recipe for disaster. I had lots of time to ease into the open right lane to avoid the dog so no swerve. If I had suddenly swerved back left when he changed his mind and direction, the results could have been catastrophic. That is not worth it to me.

Davy