“When you are on your phone at a light and the car in front of you moves a bit.”

San Jacinto Valley commuter and Redditor /u/StarsBlink’s shared headshaking dashcam footage from earlier this week (April 13, 2025) to the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit showing an inattentive driver in a Toyota Corolla on their phone slam into the back of OP’s truck after mistaking him scooching forward as the light turning green.

Check out the dashcam video embedded below with the original Reddit thread linked here.

The incident happened in the 3300 block of CA-79 just before the intersection with Vista Place near the Homeland Center Shopping Center (Exact location on Google Maps linked here.)

As the dashcam footage shows, OP is stopped on CA-79, waiting for traffic to get moving.

He crawls forward as traffic inches up in front of him.

You can tell the driver in the Corolla is distracted because, as the Corolla driver inches forward, too, you can see their head down, looking at something in their lap.

Invariably, they were likely staring at their phone.

Bam!

The Corolla driver slams into the back of OP’s truck at a decent clip, probably around 10 MPH.

The Corolla driver’s phone either got thrown to the passenger footwell, or she places it there to cover her tracks as we see her reach in that general direction.

OP doesn’t say how bad the damage is but does mention they’re in a 2006 Toyota Tacoma, the definition of a tough mid-sized, body-on-frame truck.

I can only presume the Tacoma suffered minimal damage.

Knowing that Gen Corolla and its tough but plastick-y front end, I would NOT be surprised if insurance totaled their ride out.

Regardless, an expensive (for her insurance) lesson was learned that day to stay off your phone.

“It’s insane how many people can’t put their phone down while behind the wheel. The majority of the people I get next to at a light are just scrolling social media ,too. It’s mind boggling to me,” the top comment from /u/B-loni reads.

” If you’re going to use your phone at a stoplight, (you shouldn’t, but I admittedly have to try to fix Google Maps in the rare event it crashes and I have no idea where I am), you look up BEFORE you start moving the car. Not after. Better to be honked at than cause an accident. Again, you shouldn’t. But if you’re gonna, don’t add stupid onto it too,” /u/HelpMePlxoxo helpfully suggested.

“This is exactly why I don’t creep up when the light is red, even if the car in front of me moves up an entire car length,” /u/SuperHooligan added.

In California, Cell Phone Tickets cost violators $162 after all the fees for first time offenders. Second-time offenders will see that fine jump up to $285.

On top of that, you’re only increasing the chances of you getting into an accident, not worth whatever you’re looking at, for sure.