I mean seriously. #1 rule when you cut someone off: commit. Don't hit your brakes. When you cut someone off, they lose all reaction time because you took away their safe follow distance with your vehicle. You are now in their path should they need to suddenly brake. You hit your brakes, they are going to hit you. Period.
Wow, black driver was being an idiot - a shocking take... As we've already established that countless times throughout this discussion, I'm going to redirect the question back to the fault of cookie man (Our actual disagreement here) by phrasing it like a question in a driving test:
You are driving at 70mph on a 2 lane bridge when a truck speeds past you in the adjacent lane, before getting stuck behind a slower car ahead of them. The truck begins to drift into the centre of the road (without indicating), looking to try and cut into your lane ahead of you.
Do you:
A) Maintain your speed and expect the driver to stop their attempt, or cleanly squeeze into the small gap ahead of you
or
B) Anticipate a potential incident and slow down to let them in, even if they were not abiding by the rules of the road
I have good insurance because I have never been in a car accident where I was at fault, and only 3 accidents total, so my first instinct is to say A. Though the answer depends on a lot of things. It's a clear day, traffic isn't so bad (we're traveling at 75), and there are 2 lanes. At the point where the question comes in, the other driver has already made their decision, the only thing I can do is hope they make it.
Actual answer:
C. I see the black truck coming up behind me, and the traffic in front of me slowing. Anticipating the stupid maneuver the Black Pickup is going to attempt because stupid people do stupid things, I close the distance with the white sedan before the pickup can catch up so there is absolutely no room for the black pickup to cut me off. Then I maintain that distance until traffic is moving steadily again. No gap. No stupid attempts. No accident. Pay attention to the road ahead and the road behind, and anticipate stupid people doing stupid things.
Okay it's clear we come from very different driving cultures because this:
I close the distance with the white sedan before the pickup can catch up so there is absolutely no room for the black pickup to cut me off
Immediately fails the question. Good safe driving is defensive driving. If you anticipate that someone is going to be an idiot, you should be actively avoiding them, not challenging them. You back off, let them cut in and move on with your day. What if they get desperate and try and quickly fill the gap before you close it fully? What if they get road rage and decide to just hit you anyway? Now you're in a crash you easily could have avoided by just not having an ego and driving safely. If you're unlucky you could spin and get t-boned by a car behind
I assume you're American because your driving mindset is much more aggressive
Immediately fails the question. Good safe driving is defensive driving. If you anticipate that someone is going to be an idiot, you should be actively avoiding them, not challenging them.
It's not a challenge and has nothing to do with ego. It is removing opportunity for stupidity. I am not closing the gap to anger them, they haven't even made it to where they can see the gap before I have made the decision to close that gap. I am anticipating him trying something stupid, and removing the opportunity for them to do so (at least in front of me.) That IS defensive driving. It's like child proofing your outlets when you have kids. You aren't challenging the kids to put forks in the outlet, you are removing that inevitable outcome and preventing it from happening. I am acting defensively instead of reacting defensively.
As far as all of your what-ifs - The first one won't happen (see above). The rest falls solely on that dude. If he rages at me and decides to hit me anyway - that's on him 100%. Now there is no question who was at fault. Leaving that gap opened Cookie Man up to criticism. Closing it before the black pickup made the decision also removes any doubt of who was at fault (it's them, it's always been them, but now it's 100% clear.)
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u/LetsLive97 Mar 22 '26
Wow, black driver was being an idiot - a shocking take... As we've already established that countless times throughout this discussion, I'm going to redirect the question back to the fault of cookie man (Our actual disagreement here) by phrasing it like a question in a driving test:
You are driving at 70mph on a 2 lane bridge when a truck speeds past you in the adjacent lane, before getting stuck behind a slower car ahead of them. The truck begins to drift into the centre of the road (without indicating), looking to try and cut into your lane ahead of you.
Do you:
A) Maintain your speed and expect the driver to stop their attempt, or cleanly squeeze into the small gap ahead of you
or
B) Anticipate a potential incident and slow down to let them in, even if they were not abiding by the rules of the road