Had this elderly driver waited another 30 seconds, he could’ve likely entered a traffic-free intersection.
Presumed Hoosier and Redditor /u/TryingToBeReallyCool posted up concerning dashcam footage from earlier last week (May 14,2024) showing the boneheaded moment an elderly driver pulled a no-signal merge after a left turn, moments after allegedly displaying poor parking lot driving etiquette.
Check out his dashcam video below.
[OC] Idiot drove through parking spaces and cuts me off, proceeds to not signal and cause an accident
byu/TryingToBeReallyCool inIdiotsInCars
The incident happened in the 3800 block of South St. in Lafayette, IN (Exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
Prior to the video, OP commented that this elderly driver, behind the wheel of this White Buick Enclave, was driving recklessly through this parking lot.
“They (the elderly driver) cut between parked cars, through two parking spots just to pass me here.”
The Enclave driver then enters what looks to be a center turn lane to wait for an opening to complete their left turn.
All of a sudden, the elderly driver pulls into the nearest lane, not giving enough space for a driver with the right of way in dark-colored Ford Explorer.
It looks an awful lot like they got into a collision.
According to OP, this was easily avoidable.
“There are lights on either side that are timed. The safe option (what I ended up doing) is to wait another 30 seconds for the light to cycle before attempting a left turn. Though this driver seems to be of the ‘only look forward’ variety, so who knows if that would’ve helped them”
OP made sure that the police have the footage, just in case.
“Sadly I couldn’t make a safe left turn in time to catch up to them, and I don’t think the enclave stopped at the next intersection. I reached out to the police, they said if there’s a report that matches up they’ll be in contact.”
“This is one of those people who just expects everyone on the road to make room for them. I hope you gave the footage to the person they hit so they can prove the idiot was at fault,” /u/KevinXB commented.
Several commenters pointed out the bad road design, here.
“What a bad road design making it where you need to stop in the middle to turn left. What if that Walmart semi wanted to turn left into the strip mall the black car is about to exit?,” /u/UltraEngine60 commented.
“The biggest question from all of this is: WHO decided that a STOP SIGN is sufficient for this intersection??,” /u/Polarized_X added.
While this is arguably a bad road design, it does not excuse poor, potentially dangerous driving habits.
If you see this type of behavior and have your dashcam running, it wouldn’t hurt to let police know, so there’s a record of it.
