Dangerous driver narrowly misses collision, continues driving unsafely

A dangerous driver is making his way north on Highway 404 in Southern Ontario on a clear, dry day. Conditions are perfect and visibility is good. There is no reason for what is about to happen. But fortunately, the driver in the blue Honda civic with the dash camera is looking right at the gold colored Honda as the scene unfolds.

Traffic is merging from Highway 401, the Trans Canada Highway, onto Highway 404. These are two of the busiest highways in Canada. This stretch of road is 6 lanes wide, but there is plenty of room for everybody. Traffic is also moderate and moving along smoothly. The speed limit is 100km/h, or 60mph and the cars are all slowly picking up speed to reach the posted limit. There is no reason to be in a hurry, or to take needless risk to move into the preferred lane.

As the blue Honda begins to move past the gold one, a signal light appears, indicating that the gold Honda will change lanes. There is not enough room to do so in front of the blue Honda, and the blue one is moving a little more quickly that the gold one.

In Ontario, as in most provinces and states, a driver must signal his intentions and see that a lane change can be done safely before he has the right to move into a new lane. His lane change must not be done if it will interfere with traffic lawfully in that lane, or if it will require corrective action from another driver. The blue Honda has the right of way. The blue car is travelling at approximately 80km/h or 50mph. The gold car is travelling just slightly less, as they all slowly gain speed.

It would be expected that the driver will see the blue car when he does his legally required shoulder and mirror checks. A common mistake is to check mirrors, but not the "blind spot" that is at the corner of a vehicle on each side, near the back bumper. This area might not be visible to a driver in any of his mirrors. Many people are not aware of this and commit this error several times per day. The driver of the gold car crosses the line and almost collides with the front of the blue one. The driver of the blue car brakes and swerves, but he cannot move far out of his lane without hitting another car that is on his right side. The gold car has boxed him in.

The driver of the gold car seems to hear the horn and returns to his proper lane prior to collision. He continues on as if nothing has happened and then he makes a second attempt to move right. He signals this time, but does so to indicate a LEFT lane change. Traffic around him is now confused. He turns his signal completely off and then makes another lane change, moving one more lane to his right. He is now catching up to congested traffic in front of him and has to brake.

Many of us make dozens of lane changes on a daily basis. It is also likely that we occasionally miss the traffic around us and unintentionally affect traffic. But this driver seems to be unaware of how to safely make a lane change at all.

Almost anybody who drives has encountered this type of driver. Most of us have experienced something like this that makes your heart pound as you stomp on the brake and narrowly miss being involved in a collision. These are the drivers who endanger us with their carelessness.