An alleged distracted driver in Downtown Durham hits a utility pole after a questionable left turn. Lies to police despite dashcam proof.
Tar Heeler and Redditor /u/BackLeftWindowSeat shared dashcam footage to the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit from earlier last week (Sept 21, 2024) from Downtown Durham showing a driver in a Chevrolet Traverse not paying attention after making their left turn resulting in them crashing into a utility pole.
Check out the dashcam footage for yourself below.
[OC] They told the cop that they had to swerve to miss oncoming traffic 🤨
byu/backleftwindowseat inIdiotsInCars
As mentioned, the incident happened in Downtown Durham in the 800 block of W Main St. next to Torero’s Mexican Restaurant (exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
As OP’s dashcam footage shows, OP first changes lanes into the left-most lane before making a left turn.
In front of him is a driver in a black Chevrolet Traverse.
The Traverse driver turns left, cuts the corner of the opposing lane a little too generously, and sets himself up on a trajectory toward a utility pole.
Allegedly distracted, the Traverse driver hits the utility pole, practically totaling his Traverse as a good portion of his front end gets crushed.
“I got out and checked to make sure the driver was OK, and then waited for cops to arrive,” OP explained.
As OP’s title says, the driver in the Traverse wasn’t exactly honest.
“They told the police they had to swerve to miss oncoming traffic,” OP’s thread title reads.
But, as the dashcam footage shows, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Despite having proof, the police weren’t interested in it.
“The cops didn’t want to see the footage. I told them I had a dash cam, but they just took my statement and said I could go.’
As one Redditor pointed out, with or without dashcam footage, the outcome would likely be the same.
“Probably because even if there was another car they swerved to avoid as long as there was no contact the outcome is the same, they/their insurance pays for the damages,” /u/RXRenesis8 replied.
“I don’t know what activates it, but there’s something oddly comedic about the rear wiper coming on,” /u/d)ouble0h pointed out.
“Can you imagine being that oblivious? Imagine getting a bowl of cereal and smashing into the wall like that leaving the kitchen,” /u/ButtChug23 humorously compared this situation to.
Other Redditors from Durham pointed out how this is par for the course for the area.
“That kind of thing happens all the time in these couple blocks. One block before this the left lane becomes left-turn only (while also crossing railroad tracks), so people cut over into the lane OP is in and then get flustered because they almost got squeezed between parked cars and moving traffic. Then they forget what they’re doing and drive erratically at this intersection,” said /u/jmelliere.
This looks like a case of glancing down or away from the road for a split second and generally, not paying attention.
This is why it’s important to have your total focus on the task at hand at all times, driving, when you’re behind the wheel.