This is why it’s important to keep a safe following distance with the car in front of you.
Redditor /u/you-can-call-me-alki shared unbelievable dashcam footage earlier this week on the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit showing a Tesla driver deciding to overtake traffic by popping out of his lane into oncoming traffic on a blind corner, no less, narrowly avoiding a serious head on collision.
The near-collision happened in West Seattle, Washington near the intersection of Highland Park Way SW and West Marginal Way SW.
The original thread is linked here and a copy of the video is below. *I’m only posting a copy to keep it ad friendly because OP’s thread title has an expletive.
Tesla decides to skip traffic and nearly causes head-on collision pic.twitter.com/tuuh8Lf04X
— TireMeetsRoad.com (@TireMeetsRoad_) April 8, 2022
The video starts off with OP’s dashcam showing him traveling northbound on Highland Park Way SW following a red GMC SUV at a safe distance. About 200 meters past the intersection, we see the red GMC SUV quickly dart right out of the way.
Why? A driver in a Tesla Model 3 thought they could skip ahead to the left turn lane by driving on the wrong side of the road, right into oncoming traffic. and, as mentioned, on a blind corner.
It’s a move this Tesla driver’s probably done a handful of times successfully before but, this time turned out different.
You can clearly see double-solid lines delineating opposing lanes of traffic.
“They’re (the Tesla driver) probably trying to get around traffic entirely,” commented Redditor /u/Anderdudes. “There isn’t a designated turn lane there. It just splits. That section is horrendous and has been since the WS bridge closed in 2020. It’s been insane.”
Thankfully, no collision occurred and since OP was following at a safe distance, he had plenty of time to react.
Driving on the wrong side of the road is a violation of RCW 46.61.150 and carries a base fine of $288. With all the fees, that fine will probably double.
Far worse than any other fine is the possibility of a collision where serious injury or worse can occur.
If you’re in the habit of unnecessarily risky moves on the road to save, at best, a minute’s time, consider this your warning to stop.
That one time you decide to skip traffic and copy this Tesla driver’s move, the car approaching might not stop in time, at all.
