Because the dashcam owner was following from a safe distance, he was able to slow and stop in time; otherwise, he would have easily rear-ended the out-of-control truck.

Freedom Plains area commuter and Redditor /u/Smackie_El_Frog shared dashcam footage from earlier last week (June 17, 2025) to the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit showing a driver in a lifted truck on a rain-soaked State Rte 55, whom we later found out had tires with little to no tread, lose control, spin out, and slam into a guard rail.

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

The incident happened on State Route 55 (Freedom Plains Road) just before the intersection with Laurel Rd (Exact location on Google Maps linked here.)

As OP’s footage shows, he’s driving along a rain-soaked soaked, his wipers on to maintain good visibility.

Notice how he’s following at a safe distance, giving himself enough time to react if something were to happen.

The distance is almost following the 3-second rule to a T.

Going downhill, traffic in front of him, including a driver in a lifted Ford truck, starts to brake.

Any normally equipped and maintained vehicle could handle such conditions, but it was apparently too much for the lifted truck as we see them spin out of control, into a ditch, and slamming into a guard rail before coming to a stop.

The lifted truck’s tires? Bald.

How was OP able to tell? OP wasn’t the driver but the passenger and happened to notice the condition of the tires of the lifted truck owner.

“(I) can confirm,” OP clarified to a commenter asking just such question how he was able to tell the tires condition.

“I was the passenger, and the tires looked really worn.”

And, because the dashcam owner was following from a safe distance, he was able to slow in time to avoid making a bad situation even worse.

Although OP doesn’t give much follow-up on the lifted truck driver since, with his own kid in the car and not being able to safely pull over, it’s safe to assume the driver had nothing more than one big scare, not to mention an important lesson to keep your tires up to snuff.

“Now that’s a good safe follow distance,” the top comment from /u/LimePizza reads, complimenting the dashcam owner on what every driver should do in that regard.

“Just as the guard rail started again, any sooner and they would of been in the trees,” /u/Th4t0ndud3 pointed out.

“And to top it off, his headlights were off. *chef kiss*,” /u/razor_train added.

Yes, in NY, if your wipers are on, your headlights must be on, too.

If you get anything from this story, this is why it’s important to maintain safe following distances and to check your tires from time to time, too, before it’s too late.