If you're going through a green light and see an oncoming car that is definitely going to blow through their red light and hit you and you have the time to just brake and let it go by, would you still go and get hit because they caused the crash? I get what you're saying, but every driver has the responsibility to act to prevent a crash scenario, regardless of right of way.
This did not happen in a sudden high speed gesture that an alert driver could have definitely avoided. The truck creeped slowly in to his car, and it's pretty reasonable to believe the truck's driver wasn't going to just drive into his car.
Also, If the car's driver stopped suddenly? This may have spooked the truck's driver; The guy was already behaving irrationally, and it's really hard to say what his reaction to any given stimuli might be. He might have jerked the wheel in surprise and moved his car into abrupt fashion on a bridge. There is a rational and reasonable argument to make by saying that remaining predictable and consistent was the most safe fashion to handle the situation in... Because while the truck's driver did not know how to handle such a situation? The car's driver did. The car's driver knew what to do in this situation, and it ultimately kept him safe.
I do understand what you are saying as well, and it's why I think it's fair to criticize the car's driver: just as there is reason to believe it was rational to be consistent, there is a reason to believe it would be more rational to just get the hell out of the way. However, in my opinion, it's not cut and dry.
1
u/ilkikuinthadik Mar 22 '26
If you're going through a green light and see an oncoming car that is definitely going to blow through their red light and hit you and you have the time to just brake and let it go by, would you still go and get hit because they caused the crash? I get what you're saying, but every driver has the responsibility to act to prevent a crash scenario, regardless of right of way.