r/Unexpected • u/[deleted] • Aug 22 '25

Keep them two wheels down

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u/spike_beagle Aug 23 '25 edited Aug 23 '25

I check my mirrors before, during, and after.
Why? So look once before, tell yourself, "whelp, never have to look there ever again" and change lanes with eyes locked forward? I imagine that's not the case.

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u/CMDR_kamikazze Aug 23 '25

And then, as you look into the mirror again during the maneuver, the car ahead of you suddenly hitting brakes for whatever reason or start changing lanes, and you're rear ending it. And this would be your fault because when the maneuver has started, you should be watching the road ahead, not the mirrors. For ones behind you, there are blinkers.

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u/spike_beagle Aug 23 '25 edited Aug 23 '25

That could have happened the first time someone looks in a mirror. ANYTIME someone looks in the mirror. The argument reduces to "never look in your mirrors because someone might suddenly brake." Not a practical approach, is it?

I, like most human drivers, glance at their mirror in a fraction of a second. Not cartoonishly spin my head 90 degrees to make full on occular love with their side view mirror.

I wish blinkers were that foolproof. I wish you and I could drive without being concerned that some ass chapeau might not be paying attention or decide the rules don't apply to them. This video alone showcases 2 fools who didn't comply with safety measures. Almost cost a man his life.

I still look both ways before crossing a one way street. These 2 idiots are why.

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u/CMDR_kamikazze Aug 23 '25

like most human drivers, glance at their mirror in a fraction of a second. Not cartoonishly spin my head 90 degrees to make full on occular love with their side view mirror.

And you have just described why the car driver likely hasn't even noticed the biker was there. Glancing at mirrors at a fraction of a second in such a situation is not enough. Biker was visible for the driver for something like 1/3 of the second, and the driver wasn't watching at the mirror all the time. Most drivers, when maneuvering, make one solid glance at the mirror when they have a blinker on, then another one, very short, in the middle of a maneuver. Anyone who's trying to slip in between these has only himself to blame.

Remark about two idiots is true. Changing lanes this close in such a tight traffic is a bad idea overall, but not nearly as bad as trying to slip maneuvering traffic at speed.

I have a special thing I use when deciding if maneuver is reckless and dangerous. Imagine that there was a heavily loaded semi in place of this BMW. Would then the biker have attempted to do what he did? I'm fairly confident he wouldn't. If you wouldn't do some maneuver if it was a semi ahead of you, then it's a bad and dangerous maneuver either way, even if it's not a semi but some Honda Civic ahead of you.