The most popular theory is that this careless driver assumed they were in a single-turn lane when, in fact, it was very much a double-turn lane.
San Mateo County-area driver and Redditor /u/Babiest-Yoda shared headshaking dashcam footage from earlier in July (July 5, 2026) to the /r/IdiotsInCar subreddit, showing the headshaking moment a Subaru driver likely wrongfully assumed they were in a single-turn lane, made a driving maneuver as such, and almost caused an expensive collision with a dashcam owner who happened to be following close behind.
Check out the dashcam footage of the near-miss below with the original Reddit thread linked here.
The incident happened at the intersection of Industrial Way/Whipple Ave & Winslow St. (Exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
As the dashcam shows, OP is pointed eastbound on Industrial in the rightmost of two left-turn lanes, ready to turn left onto Winslow.
Next to him is a driver in a Subaru Crosstrek also turning.
It looks like the driver in the Crosstrek doesn’t realize that drivers in the lane next to them not only can go straight, but they can turn, too.
As OP begins to turn and the car in front of OP goes straight, the driver in the Crosstrek perhaps wrongly assumes OP is trying to cut them off and “defends” his lane.
“…I think the dumb*** thought OP was cutting in their lane and threw their car to block, thinking it was only one turn lane. All around just idiotic,” one of the top comments replies from /u/bonners4days reads.
Or, maybe they were trying to make an extra-wide turn.
Thankfully, both brake in time, avoiding hitting each other, with the Crosstrek driver ending up in the rightmost lane in front of OP.
“Does anyone else think the passenger front door looks damaged already… almost like they did the exact same thing before,” /u/Wexlo_ pointed out.
“Ponyo is shocked,” /u/JLX_37 added, referencing the mini stuffed plushes on the dashboard.
In California, swinging wide from one of two designated turn lanes into the adjacent turn lane and nearly hitting another vehicle could result in an improper turn citation under California Vehicle Code 22100. The typical penalty is about $238 in total fines and 1 DMV point, though San Mateo County court assessments can vary slightly. (shouselaw.com)
