There is perhaps no greater feeling of anger and frustration than getting cut off on an expressway. To have your pleasant cruising speed shattered by some jerk-off who can’t tilt their head an extra inch or position their mirrors properly is usually an unforgivable act in the driving world.
However, this one truck driver in particular has earned the acclaim of everyone who watched the harrowing video of it cutting off a car as they both drove along at high speeds on a rainy highway. After watching the video we’re pretty sure you’ll understand why.
The whole incident goes by pretty quickly and those not familiar with this kind of driving might not quite get it on the first watch, so let’s break it down a bit.
First, the video is taken by the dashboard cam of a regular car driving along the highway during a rain shower.
To the left of the car we see a small truck just ahead. This positioning might make it tricky for the truck driver to see the car with its mirrors if not alert. The two vehicles begin to go around a very wide curve in the highway.
As they go around the curve, the truck slightly encroaches into the driver’s lane causing them to begin decelerating so they can drop further behind the truck. It’s about this time most motorists would be hurling four-letter expletives at the truck driver for his apparent stupidity.
However, very soon afterwards, the car’s driver and we viewers realize that there was a stopped vehicle in the car’s lane, possibly as a result of an accident. Thankfully, since the car’s driver had already decelerated due to being cut off by the truck, they were able to come to a complete stop without hitting the stranded vehicle, which would otherwise have appeared in front of them as if out of nowhere.
The truck driver had used his vehicle’s height advantage to spot the accident up ahead and relied on some quick thinking and skillful maneuvering to prevent an event worse outcome. The trucker earned a lot of praise online such as “now there’s a real man” (assuming it was a man driving).
On the other hand there were those who suggested that the truck driver could have potentially made things worse with their actions. “It would have been safer if they just hit the horn” wrote one commenter. Still, judging from the video, the only vehicle the truck put in jeopardy was itself. It could have just stayed its course and avoided danger altogether but that would have ensured something bad for the others. And by swerving like that it’s more likely the cars further behind would have acted accordingly and slowed down as well.
Even with the gift of hindsight, it certainly looks like the truck driver made the best split-second decision they could have. And for that we thank you…whoever you are.
Source: Twitter via Livedoor News, Itai News (Japanese)
Video: YouTube – c4