Dashcam footage clearly captures the service tech exclaiming, “Oh my G-d” as he casually driver through a red light.
Presumed Ottawa resident and Redditor /u/ssign posted up dashcam footage to the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit showing the surprising moment one of the alleged techs from Ottowa Honda in Ottawa, ON took his car for a test drive and accidentally ran a nearby red light.
/u/ssign’s dashcam footage is posted below.
This idiot that took my car for a test drive after being in for service [oc]
byu/ssign inIdiotsInCars
The incident happened at the intersection of Ottawa 36 (AKA Richmond Rd.) and New Orchard Ave. N. (Exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
As OP’s dashcam footage shows, this happened on November 29, but he only discovered the mishap when he checked his dashcam footage a few days later.
“I didn’t even think to look until a few days later. I kept the video in case of a red light camera, but he didn’t get into an accident and he at least knew he did something wrong.”
We see the service tech take out his car for a test drive at around 5 P.M., making a right turn onto Richmond Rd.
As the linked Google Maps area and dashcam footage shows, there’s major construction in the area, which, with all the road signs, makes navigating the roads challenging.
Regardless, if this is an Ottawa Honda employee, they should have some familiarity with the nearby roads.
Wanting to go straight, the service tech overtakes traffic stuck turning right by going into the opposite direction of traffic for a moment (mistake number one, especially in a customer’s car.)
Then we see the service tech slowly roll into the middle of the intersection against a red light.
“Oh my G-d,” the service tech exclaims, realizing their mistake.
Thankfully, nothing comes of it, but it could’ve ended up a lot worse.
“Was he drunk? Holy s**t,” /u/morithum commented.
“So THAT’S why every shop I’ve been to disconnects my dashcam…,” /u/narielthetrue wryly comments.
I’ll extend the benefit of the doubt to service techs, they don’t mean to break traffic laws, well most of the upstanding ones don’t.
But, as this dashcam footage shows, accidents happen.
As previous blog posts I’ve written on these types of mishaps have shown, people tend to lie when presented with the opportunity.
They’re not necessarily bad people, it’s just human nature to preserve their job and to let insurance take the hit, regardless of what their inner compass is saying.
If some kind of accident happened in this situation, I’m leaning towards the employee not taking responsibility.
This service tech should’ve been on his game 110%, especially in a customer’s car, and shouldn’t take any risks (driving into oncoming traffic.)
It’s yet another data point to have a dashcam, too.
