Redditors watching the video question if a poorly designed middle turn lane is to blame.
If Charlotte, NC’s department of Public Works wants a road design to hone in on, this might be a good place to start.
Presumed Charlotte resident and Redditor /u/Muaddubintime posted up a dashcam footage to the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit showing the moment when a driver entering this shopping center almost collided head on with the dashcam owner.
Was it because the driver was just not the best, or was it poor road design?
You decide.
Check out the video for yourself below. It’s blurred because the video contains profanity.
[OC] Absolute genius making a wrong turn. NSFW for language
byu/muaddibintime inIdiotsInCars
The incident happened in the 10000 block of State Rd 3687 Rd in Charlotte, NC (Exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
As the overhead view shows, it’s a highly trafficked area, with cars coming into to patronize the local CVS, Sam’s Express Car Wash, and Showman’s Pineville Greek Restaurant.
As OP’s dashcam video shows, as he exits this shopping center, a driver in a Mazda crossover can be seen entering the exit part of this divided median off of State Rd 3687, a driving maneuver he’s not supposed to do.
If he’d been entering at a faster speed and/or OP was not paying attention, the inevitable would’ve caused an insurance headache for the both of them.
Thankfully, OP slowed and, by the looks of the other driver, he realized his mistake.
“The hand up “my bad” doesn’t excuse it, but it helps. We all screw up,” /u/KaiserFortinBras commented.
At the end of the day, that other driver entering this exit part of the median is at fault.
However, many of the top comments point out the questionable road design here.
For one, the cross-hatching prohibiting turning from the center turn lane (as seen in the bird’s eye view I posted above) doesn’t start until right at the point where that driver entered.
As you can see, this might’ve caused some confusion, especially if you’re not paying attention.
” Just plugged in the coordinates. This guy gets a pass. The real idiots are the city’s civil engineers that put the suicide lane there when the last chance to turn left was 200′ back and then suddenly the crosshatching appears right before where he turned left. Looks like the city got the guy that finished bottom of the class at the local junior college,” /u/_Jump_yossarian bluntly put it.
“I drive this road pretty much every day. I recognized it immediately,” /u/SoloPorUnBeso added.
“It is really terribly designed. Traffic backs up like crazy at the light and people love to get into the extraordinarily long turning lane and fly past everyone. There’s a major hospital and a bunch of medical clinics right down the road.”
Also, here’s what it looked like from the other driver’s point of view. At the very least, a Do Not Enter sign would’ve made it extra clear.
“I’ve made this exact maneuver into a split lane that’s angled like that. From across the street it looks like how it should flow as opposed to the further, correct lane. A similar wave, a screaming girlfriend, and me turning beet red, i’ve never made that mistake again,” /u/Working_field_2060 empathized.
Poor road design or not, ultimately it’s up to you, the driver, to recognize these types of medians and to, despite it being open, not enter them as usual.
Ideally, you’d merge back into traffic, double back, and enter through the designated thoroughfare (i.e., coming from the opposite direction or, entering from the other driveway 200 feet back.)
Do you think this driveway is poorly designed?
Let me know your .02 in the comments below.
