Multiple factors came into play, causing a speeding driver to take out more than one car.
Presumed Maryland resident and Redditor /u/Bjukes53 shared dashcam footage to the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit showing the surprising moment a car speeding on the Baltimore National Pike (aka US 40) at night caused a multi-car collision.
According to OP and the dashcam footage, the accident happened on March 17, 2023, but he’s only getting around to posting it as of late.
OP’s thread and dashcam footage is embedded below.
Accident a few months ago[oc]
byu/Bjukes53 inIdiotsInCars
The accident happened in Cantonsville, MD on US-40 at the underpass of the Baltimore Beltway. (Exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
It’s worth noting OP is not the dashcam owner and is, in fact, in the car in front of the dashcam owner.
As the video shows, cars are driving along the Baltimore National Pike at night around 9 P.M.
A driver in a yellow Mitsubishi Lancer speeds past two lanes over.
Up ahead, another car signals left to change lane.
The driver in the Lancer, already headed towards the lane the other car plans to change lane into, swerves back into his lane but realizes too little too late that the other car, in fact, will not change lane.
That meant, to avoid hitting cars in front of him, he had to violently swerve left ASAP.
It didn’t quite work out, as he sideswiped the rear of a Honda Odyssey, causing them to spin.
The Odyssey inadvertently pit maneuvers the car initially signaling, causing them to spin to.
The yellow Lancer ends up slamming into the freeway underpass support column.
And, the car that the Odyssey hit, in a panic, they accidentally hit the gas and crash into a support column, too.
You can even see their airbag go off.
It’s a mess.
According to OP, all parties appear to not have suffered life-threatening injuries.
“They seemed fine,” OP clarifies in a comment asking about the status of the people in the yellow Lancer.
“They were able to walk around.”
This illustrates the importance of defensive driving.
It’s speculative to assume what those other drivers could’ve done better, but we can clearly say that the Yellow Lancer driver was 100 percent at fault, speeding unnecessarily and taking risks when he should’ve been driving safely and normally like everyone else.
The dashcam driver maintained a safe distance from the car in front of them and, as a result, didn’t get entangled in the mess.
And, if you need another reason to get a dashcam, this is that.
This was a mess for everyone’s insurance to sort out, for sure.
