Driver not paying attention thought they got the green light, too, only to almost crash into this turning dashcam owner.
Decatur-area driver and Redditor /u/pnhman12 shared headshaking dashcam footage from earlier last week (Dec. 9, 2025) to the /r/Dashcam subreddit showing a distracted driver automatically assuming they got the green light too when turners next to them started going, only to find out in the worst possible way they just ran a red.
Check out the near miss likely saved by their SUV’s Automated Emergency Braking system kicking in in the footage below, with the original Reddit thread linked here.
The incident happened at the intersection of N Druid Hills and Lawrenceville Highway (exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
As the dashcam shows, OP is stopped on N Druid Hills, ready to turn left onto Lawrencville Highway.
His turn lane and the turn lane directly across from him get the green to go.
All seems business as usual until a driver in what looks like a newer model Lincoln Nautilus headed straight, directly across from OP, assumes they got the green too, when in reality, they’re now running a red light.
“I generally pause before a green light, and I’m generally looking specifically at cross traffic, and where I’m going, so it didn’t catch my attention that the other SUV ran the red light (or I’ll be generous and assume they misread the green arrow).”
Likely saved by their Lincoln Nautilus’s Automatic Emergency Braking system, we see the Lincoln brake hard, narrowly avoiding crashing into OP as he completed his turn.
Thankfully, despite the other driver’s incompetence, technology seems to have saved the day, and everyone made it out of the situation unscathed.
“A near miss, and yet another driver error possibility to bank. 🫠 At the time, I was so certain it was solely the other driver’s fault, but looking at this, I can only feel that I should have seen them run the light,” OP added to his statement above, feeling like, as he mentioned, he should’ve been paying a bit more attention.
“Considering traffic opposite you was stopped for a while, I would’ve also been looking for cross traffic runners instead of from the opposite direction. Driver was probably distracted, and when they saw the person turning, they assumed they had a green and didn’t double check,” one of the top comments from /u/Loose_Warning4572 reads, reassuring OP they weren’t entirely at fault.
In Decatur, GA, running a red light (or failing to obey a traffic signal) typically results in about a $150–$300 fine and adds 3 points to your license — assuming it’s a moving‑violation citation by a police officer. (LegalClarity)
If it were a camera ticket, the fine may be lower (around $70) and usually doesn’t add points. (drivinglaws.org)
