Thankfully, this motorcyclist in Istanbul caught the hit-and-run on his camera.
*if you’re here from that Reddit thread, this blog post doesn’t add anything that you probably already know.
Redditor /u/kankadir94 shared a video on the /r/idiotsincars subreddit showing recent footage (May 21, 202) from a motorcyclist’s personal traffic camera and the precise moment he gets sideswiped by a woman in a Mercedes. Included is the chase that ensues, and the frustrating moments when witnesses make things worse, defending the wrong person.
The accident happened in Istanbul, Turkey on the Rauf Orbay Cd (Caddesi) as cars and motorcyclist merge from Adnan Kahveci Blvd.
Crash location from Google Maps is linked here.
The Reddit thread is linked here, and check out the video for yourself below.
In his video we can see the motorcyclist is travelling in the far right lane minding his business. A white car is seen travelling directly perpendicular to him in the next lane.
As the white car pulls ahead, a small gap between that car and the motorcyclist opens up.
We then see a Mercedes approach from the left to thread the needle between the motorcyclist and the white car, but there’s barely enough space to pull off such a tight maneuver.
The Mercedes’ rear fender knicks the motorcyclist’s handlebar, causing the motorcyclist to almost lose control. Thankfully, the hit wasn’t too strong and, ultimately, the motorcyclist regains control.
Having committed a hit-and-run, although she probably didn’t even realize, the motorcyclist gives chase, honking his horn and shouting at the woman to pull over.
OP gives a rough translation of the video.
“Motorcyclist tries to call her out saying “Pull over, Pull over” When she opens the window he says “this is no toy we are going to file report”. She is saying something about her mom having cancer.“
Witnesses driving by, seeing a motorcyclist yelling at the woman in the Mercedes, either pull in front of them both to block the motorcyclist in or confront the motorcyclist, wrongly accusing him of some kind of road rage towards the woman when, in fact, the woman is at fault.
OP further explains.
“Other people stop and tell him to “move on” “it’s a lady don’t you see?” He tries to explain that she crashed him but they brush it off saying “move on son of a *****”. He says ok and moves on, but says he will report every one of them.“
OP then comments how road rage is rampant in Turkey, this type of incident not at all uncommon.
“It’s Turkey, road rage and shouting at each other in traffic is pretty common. I myself stay out of these exchanges in traffic, even when I’m 100 percent right. You read news every week how people smash other people’s cars and almost kill them for the smallest altercations.“
On one hand, thankfully, no one was hurt and, when you take stock of the entire situation, it’s not the end of the world for either of them.
It is, however, frustrating to see someone actually commit hit-and-run and then play it off like it’s no big deal.
According to Anglo Info, even though there are a lot of traffic accidents in Turkey drivers are required to carry third party insurance and, on some level, are expected to deal with even minor accidents civilly.
In this situation, the Mercedes drivers should’ve, at the very least, pulled over to a safe place to discuss with the motorcyclist how they can resolve this situation amicably.
Who knows, a simple and sincere apology from the woman might’ve sufficed.
Instead, according to OP, “…a news station said he will file charges tomorrow for everyone involved “
