Why paying attention, even when there’s no traffic in the middle of the night, matters.
Winnebago County driver and Redditor /u/LazyEyeMcfly shared headshaking dashcam footage from earlier in February (Feb 9, 2026) to the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit showing a driver at this empty Machesney Park intersection blowing through a stop sign, nearly t-boning this dashcam owner if he hadn’t been 100 percent paying attention.
Check out the near miss in the dashcam footage provided below with the original Reddit thread linked here.
The incident happened at the intersection of Forest Hills Rd. and Burden Rd. (Exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
As the dashcam shows, OP turns onto Forest Hills from N 2nd.
It’s in the middle of the night with little to no traffic around him.
As he approaches the aforementioned intersection, a driver can be seen approaching from the right.
As OP gets closer, it suddenly becomes shockingly clear that the driver shows no signs of slowing.
OP brakes to avoid t-boning them, and the driver breezes past like they didn’t have a stop sign.
Thankfully, nothing came of the incident, but it did highlight how important it is to pay attention, even in the dead of night.
“That would sure as hell wake me up!,” the top comment from /u/dJasonPenney reads.
“It sure did!!!,” OP replied.
In Machesney Park, Ill., blowing a stop sign is treated as a moving violation under Illinois law (625 ILCS 5/11‑1204), and penalties can include a fine typically in the range of about $120–$250+ depending on the municipality.
A conviction for failing to stop at a stop sign generally results in about 20 points on your Illinois driving record, which can contribute toward license suspension if multiple violations accumulate. Fines and exact amounts are set by local courts, so the ticket you receive should list the specific fine. (phillipslawoffices.com)
