A driver going against traffic didn’t properly yield their right of way and collided with this dashcam owner.

New York commuter and Redditor /u/Itnnetwork shared headshaking dashcam footage from the Briarwood neighborhood of Queens from earlier this December (Dec 12, 2024) to the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit showing a driver going against traffic to get around a stopped box truck only to slam head-on into a dashcam owner turning left who couldn’t see the driver going against traffic in time.

Check out their dashcam footage embedded below (the original Reddit thread linked here.)

The incident happened at the intersection of 143 St. and 85 Dr in Queens (exact location on Google Maps linked here.)

As the dashcam video shows, OP is driving up 85 St and, with a stop sign at the intersection, comes to a complete stop as evidenced by their GPS hitting 0 MPH for at least a second.

To his left is a box truck unloading what looks like a large appliance blocking the dashcam owner’s vision of the other lane.

However, since OP is turning left into a lane where he can see any oncoming traffic entering from his right, it’s reasonable to assume there isn’t traffic coming towards him when he enters.

A driver in a silver Toyota Highlander on 143 St comes up against the box truck and decides to go against traffic to go around them.

By going against traffic, they must yield their right of way to traffic that may be coming towards them.

According to NY Veh & Traf L § 1120, section 3,

“When an obstruction exists making it necessary to drive to the left of the center of the highway; provided, any person so doing shall yield the right of way to all vehicles traveling in the proper direction upon the unobstructed portion of the highway within such distance as to constitute an immediate hazard.”

That means going against traffic with caution.

Here’s a screenshot of the Highlander’s POV.

The driver in the Highlander, however, arguably does the exact opposite of this and speeds through against traffic, resulting in what we see eventually play out, them colliding with OP turning left.

OP’s hood crunches up with the Highlander’s passenger side fender suffering a broadside collision.

There was a bit of a debate about who’s at fault in this situation but the consensus seems to be that the dashcam owner would carry some fault, from at least one commenter, more than 50%, as, with an obstructed view, they have the duty of care to confirm their lane is 100 percent clear.

“It’s really on OP since they made 0% attempt to make sure the intersection was clear. OP easily has more than 50% fault,” /u/JNads commented.

“From the stop sign vantage point OP had no visibility, so legally they’re not supposed to proceed across a lane of traffic until they verify it is clear.”

“The solution is to pull forward and STOP and then verify it is clear.”

“…without the video, I think the cammer would be 100% at fault, but the video clearly shows the Highlander moving very fast and dangerously passing the box truck. If there had been a pedestrian they would’ve creamed them… I think insurance won’t like that,” /u/Trash_RS3_Bot added.

Almost everyone agreed that the box truck shared some fault, too.

“I would get the info on the box truck and drag that company into the claim. Under NY law the truck is partially liable,” /u/castle_crossing added.

I think we can all agree that, in dicey situations like this, all involved parties should proceed with extreme caution, which means creeping out slowly and craning your neck to get a better view of where you’re going.