An impatient driver at the intersection of US-50 and Walney Rd. paid an expensive price trying to beat a fire truck.
Virginian and Redditor /u/Ill-Way1002 shared head-shaking dashcam footage from earlier in July (July 8, 2024) from Chantilly to the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit showing an impatient driver in a Toyota Highlander rear-end a Toyota Prius after trying to change lanes at the last second to avoid waiting for an approaching fire truck.
Check out the dashcam footage below.
[OC] Driver causes an accident trying to avoid waiting for fire truck.
byu/Ill-Way1002 inIdiotsInCars
The accident happened at the intersection of US Route 50 and Walney Rd in Chantilly, VA (Exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
As the footage shows, OP is stopped at the intersection mentioned above.
Emergency services in a fire truck can be seen already entering the intersection by the time OP gets to the white stop line.
Suddenly, a driver in a blue Toyota Highlander in the leftmost lane, adjacent to the turn lanes, notices that the traffic going straight has a green light. The driver assumes that the Prius kitty-corner them will proceed through the intersection, bypassing the fire truck
The Highlander driver quickly changes lanes to go straight and accelerates.
In a twist, the Highlander driver didn’t see coming, the Prius driver does the right thing and stops abruptly, yielding their right of way to the fire truck like you’re supposed to.
With nowhere to go, the Highlander driver rear-ends the Prius.
“All that and they still had to wait. hope they were embarrassed for being an impatient idiot,” /u/BlackInkGalaxy commented.
“You just know the people in the fire truck are shaking their heads right now. “Like, seriously?,” /u/Old_Goat_Ninja added.
“When I hear a siren close to an intersection, I slow down and check. This has caused people behind me to blare their horns,” said /u/dawlben.
Failing to yield to emergency vehicles in Virginia is a serious traffic violation subject to a fine of up to $250 before all the fees and four points on your record.
Another Northern Virginia driver. What do you expect? Impatient, rude, aggressive, and stupid. This is why we have so many accidents on our roads, and why it makes it stressful to be driving out there.
The highlander wasn’t in a “left turn lane” as mentioned by whomever wrote this. Just saying.