The Parking Lot...where scooters should stay.

He didn't need to swerve, he just needed to be a little less lackadaisical with the brakes. Unless he had someone right on his ass, he could/should have slammed on the brakes harder.

Does it really appear to you that he did everything he could to stop?

Yes. Look (and listen) to the time it takes him to stop. I don't care how good your brakes are, the laws of physics apply here. From the lane change begins to the time driver is at a dead stop is 2 seconds. 18-20 on video. People have legitimate reaction times and the driver seemed to be acting within in them. Could you have stopped your vehicle (dead stop) in less than 2 seconds?

Yes. Look (and listen) to the time it takes him to stop. I don't care how good your brakes are, the laws of physics apply here. From the lane change begins to the time driver is at a dead stop is 2 seconds. 18-20 on video. People have legitimate reaction times and the driver seemed to be acting within in them. Could you have stopped your vehicle (dead stop) in less than 2 seconds?

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. Seems that he had more than enough time to come to a quicker stop. He didn't brake aggressively enough for me. The scooter doesn't do him any favors by putting on his brakes too, but I know I've been cut off worse than that and been able to avoid hitting someone.

IMO the driver began braking when he realized that the scooter had established himself in the drivers lane. also did the driver slam on the brakes (do everyhting he could to avoid a collision) or did he ease up on the brakes just enough to slow down but still be right up on the scooters ass?

you just conceeded that the scooter guy was in the lane, if he is established in the lane then the car driver behind him must keep a reasonable and safe amount of distance in front of him to avoid striking other vehicles that may brake. the person doing the rear ending are presumed to be at fault b/c you should be keeping a safe distance and look-out for suddenly stopping vehicles in front of you.

this looks like what you see on the roadway all the time minus the collision.

a car has a clear lane ahead of him, driver sees another vehcile attempting to enter into his lane and also enjoy the clear lane, driver doesnt want to concede any ground or have anyone cut in front of him so he tries to close the window and not allow the other driver in. if the other driver does slip thru the window then the driver stays on his ass to prove a point of "hey you almost kinda cut me off".

if that car you riding its ass decides to brake while your doing your best impression of a uhaul trailer, a collision occurs and your insurance company comes a calling.

Sorry, to be clear, I don't think scooter-guy became established in the lane.

And sorry, if that car after cutting me off decides to brake, it's on them. On that one, I did have the exact same thing happen to me. Guy cuts me off, says I was "accelerating too fast". Witness says I was in my lane. Insurance company said too bad so sad to the cutting off guy.

You can't switch lanes into another's right of way. It's that simple. Drivers in an open lane of traffic are entitled to that unobstructed open lane of traffic unless recklessly exceeding the speed limit. He was travelling faster than surrounding traffic but that does not equate to reckless.

nope.. but let's say that he has a "performance" vehicle.. could be a better braking system than your typical ford taurus

was there video of your case?

No video. Doesn't matter if he has a "high performance vehicle".
Can he bring his vehilce to a full stop in two seconds or less? Isn't that the required following time? When presented with an obstacle that gives him less than two seconds to stop, the obstacle presenting driver is at fault.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. Seems that he had more than enough time to come to a quicker stop. He didn't brake aggressively enough for me. The scooter doesn't do him any favors by putting on his brakes too, but I know I've been cut off worse than that and been able to avoid hitting someone.

Fair enough. I just don't think the driver was being reckless. He was accelerating quickly, true enough, but - no matter his speed - brings his car to a dead stop two seconds after scooter guy begins to enter his lane. I just don't see how he could be expected to stop any faster. Especially with no signal from and braking by scooter guy.

Its a freaking different country so maybe the right lane was the fast lane there.

It was either the UK, Belgium or the Netherlands based on the license plates and in those countries the right lane is the passing lane or the fast lane. If you noticed all of the trucks were in the far left and center lanes.

Lucky to be alive indeed. As a motorcycles you have to do everything by the book unless you have a death wish and that guy didn't a) have enough space between him and the car in front of him, b) turn is his signal light on and c) look properly to insure there was no car on the lane he was merging to (he half-assed looked has he was merging mainly because his dumb ass didn't have enough space between him and the car in front of him). Looks to me like it's the motorcycle guy fault.

Ride or Die!

You guys are funny. You bitch about arguing politics but you guys are arguing over a wreck that happened in another country on the internet. OK maybe we now need a section for accidents on youtube.

I'D BE ALL FOR THAT. I'd probably post more accidents than football highlights from then on.

I'm also officially requesting a BACON section...or at least a stickied "Official Bacon Thread".

I give the flip flop flying off his foot a 9.8.

Fellas, fellas, fellas. I think that trying to figure out who was right or wrong is ridiculous. We should concentrate on the fact that this is effing funny ! We should be thanking this guy for taping such an event. One you pass and accident JUST to get into one less than a mile down the road. And Two, it's a freaking scooter !!!! Who HASN'T dreamed of creaming one of those things on the Beltway ? I don't want the person to die, just the scooter itself for infecting the NASCAR like atmosphere that is 495 or 95.

Seriously though. It was the scooters fault. Reason being. If you are driving and we've all been there when you are looking for the best lane you survey which cars are coming up before you change you lane. You can tell if you will cause an issue or if you will be the reason someone tears your bumper to shreds. You can gauge someones speed against what you will be doing wen you get in front of them. He swerved to get from behind a car that apparently wasn't moving fast enough for the scooter when he clearly had a much better option in the left lane.

I bet his knees and palms hurt like hell though !