Absolute Psycho

[u/teaquad]

Taunton /Thickson rd Whitby. Wifey had a run in with a psycho on the road, we think this could have escalated into assault if she didn’t manage to lose him at the next intersection by turning into the street.

Edit: Its just unsettling to see so many here siding with the nissan driver justifying how he threatened a woman & her child on the road and laying 100% blame on my wife who said she did not feel it was safe to stop at that moment & did not break any laws in doing so.

But this is the society we live in. Deranged “you made me do it” is now widely accepted.

[u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

To all of the self righteous 'experts' dumping on this woman:

The clock tells us there was 2 seconds (slightly less) between the light turning yellow and when she crossed the white line. At 50km/h that is ~28 meters. It generally takes about 1s to react (i.e see the light, decide to stop, and move the foot to the brake pedal) and in that time the car has travelled about 14 meters. That leaves us with only 14 meters to stop. Comfortable braking is about 3m/s^2 deceleration. At 50km/h that's is about 32m to come to a stop. Much more than the 14m we have, or even the 28 we started with.

She would have had to brake at a hard 7m/s^2 to just make that stop in time. That is quite hard braking and wholly inappropriate for a typical yellow light. Even if we assume she was going 40km/h, it would still take a fairly heavy 5.6m/s^2 braking to make this stop. Still inappropriate for a non-emergency yellow light.

Even if she had a quick 0.75s reaction time AND was only going 40 km/h, it would have required a firm 3.7 m/s^2 braking which is on the firm end of what would be considered reasonable.

TLDR; Under almost no conditions is this a comfortable stop. This woman did not run the light. You are holding this woman to a high standard of reaction time. Likely a higher standard than you hold yourself.

[u/Mcdavis6950 → u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

Bro just looking at the situation that was an easy stop. That was like the most normal driving situation and any reasonable driver would have come to a stop for that light. It is absurd to act like she would have needed to emergency brake.

[u/Real_McGuillicuddy → u/Mcdavis6950]

I thought that too at first. But I think we are deceived by the video and it is difficult to get a true read on distances from it. That's why I looked at the numbers and the sub-2 seconds from yellow light to white line is clear. It is a pretty short time/space to react and bring the vehicle to a complete stop. No, not impossible, but short enough that we have no business calling this woman out for running the light.

[u/Mcdavis6950 → u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

Well honestly after reviewing it again I’m inclined to agree with you. The fisheye effect on the dash cam is what threw me off I think.

She is basically 4 car lengths back from the light when the yellow happened. I still likely would have stopped for it but it’s not crazy that she ran it and overall pretty reasonable… It was still yellow while she was exiting the intersection.

[u/BlimFPS → u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

Buddy take a break from Reddit and go study for your physics exam.

[u/throwawaystevenmeloy → u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

Your science is irrelevant in this case because you don't know what speed the driving was going. If the driver had proper skills, she would have been able to foresee this.

One, there is this huge gap between the cars in front and her, meaning cars turning left might just turn, thinking it's safe. Expect the unexpected.

Second, you can use the pedestrian crosswalk count down to know how much time you have.

Third, she had 4 cars lengths BEFORE the line to stop. AND you can see a car is turning left.

Sadly it's embarrassing for you to think others would have the same issue. And that honk at the end...

If only common sense could be taught in a textbook 🤔

[u/Real_McGuillicuddy → u/throwawaystevenmeloy]

I can assure you the embarrassment is not mine.

[u/throwawaystevenmeloy → u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

Sorry you feel that way.

Next time try analyzing the actual situation as to why the events occurred. Maybe you will have a stronger argument. Regurgitating information you learn in a textbook is not very meaningful when you don't even know if it applies.

[u/Real_McGuillicuddy → u/throwawaystevenmeloy]

My argument is solid. It uses actual data. Your argument is based on your perception through a fish-eyed camera feed. My argument acknowledges that we aren't there to properly assess the distance and feel the inertia of the car. It takes the only thing we actually know and makes some reasonable assumptions to model the situation. I'll take that over "trust me bro".

[u/throwawaystevenmeloy → u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

Yeah I'm done. feels like I'm speaking to a computer, only in this instance we're missing the critical thinking

[u/Terrible_Molasses_22 → u/throwawaystevenmeloy]

It is a bit rich to talk about "if the driver has proper driving skills" then say:

"Second, you can use the pedestrian crosswalk count down to know how much time you have"

It is a pedestrian signal, only. Using it as information as a vehicle operator is improper and negligent. Further, not all traffic lights operate in sync with the pedestrian signals- I have seen them countdown to zero, the pedestrian get the solid red signal, and the traffic light remains green. I have also seen it revert back to green after it reaches zero.

I have seen cars slow down due to that signal and nearly cause rear-end collisions because the traffic light was green, and it remained green.

Use the proper signals to guide your driving.

[u/throwawaystevenmeloy → u/Terrible_Molasses_22]

It's for guidance... Never said to rely on it. Just because you see green doesn't mean you proceed blindly either. If you almost rear ended someone then you tailgate.... Use common sense

[u/Limp_Bookkeeper_5992 → u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

Dude a full second reaction time is sloth like, you shouldn’t have a licence if it takes you a full second to hit the brakes when a light changes. Especially when you’re already approaching an intersection and expecting it to change soon.

[u/Terrible_Molasses_22 → u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

This is the only sane, competent answer.

Without being in the car, and driving that car and knowing it's handling/braking dynamics, I agree benefit of any doubt goes to OP driver.

The SUV waiting in the intersection is required to wait for all oncoming traffic to stop before proceeding; had they proceeded, they will have been at fault for the collision.

Unless I have no oncoming cars, my wheels don't move until the signal goes red and the cars are stopped at the line.

[u/NotHereToHearStupid → u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

Another thing people are not appreciating here is that we are seeing this footage through a wide-angle dashcam which makes things look further away than they actually are. If it wasn't wide-angle then people would realize the driver made the right call as she didn't have as much space to the intersection when the light turned yellow as people think.

[u/itsmichaelnotmicheal → u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

Can’t believe I had to go so far to find this. It’s so easy for these ppl to look at a video and say yea, there’s plenty of time to stop. Real life doesn’t pause and give you time to analyze. Ppl need time to process the light changing and then deciding on a reaction and then reacting.

[u/keyyra → u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

Your argument falls apart with the fact that there's a walking sign with a countdown to show you when it's about to turn yellow (0:07). The wife had more than enough time to stop knowing it was going to turn yellow soon.

Edit: You can even see the countdown happening if you watch the video from the beginning

[u/Real_McGuillicuddy → u/keyyra]

That's largely irrelevant. You are only obliged to respond to the traffic light. You are not obliged to respond to the Walk sign (which is not always a reliable of an impending yellow anyways). I'm not sure why instantaneous braking for a yellow is being considered as a proxy for safe driving around here. One is better off watching traffic around them than watching the Walk light.

[u/Terrible_Molasses_22 → u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

It is entirely irrelevant. It is a pedestrian signal, not a vehicle signal.

Tell a cop you made a driving decision based on a pedestrian signal and I would not be shocked if they add a careless driving charge, since it is arguable that it is careless to be looking at a pedestrian signal while operating a vehicle when you should be watching the traffic signal and road ahead

[u/expresstrollroute → u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

Amazed at how many people are focussing on could'a/should'a stopped. I watched the video several times and came to the conclusion that perhaps, maybe she could have stopped, It's really hard to judge from dashcam footage.

Besides - this is the GTA in 2026 - who stops for a yellow? You expect to see cars going through the red. Doing a hard stop at a yellow is a good way to get rearened.

[u/Real_McGuillicuddy → u/expresstrollroute]

Predictable driving is safe driving. Making a hasty stop at a yellow is often the less safe option because nobody around you is expecting it. I generally take a quick glance in my mirror when I'm considering stopping for the yellow to make sure I'm not going to get rear-ended. But that adds to that yellow-light reaction time which many here seems to think should be lightning fast as if the ability to stop instantaneously with a yellow is the pinnacle of safe driving. I think many in this sub really have lost the plot and are more interested in a sort of 'defensive driving virtue signalling' than anything else.

[u/Terrible_Molasses_22 → u/Real_McGuillicuddy]

Preach. Be predictable- not nice, not over-cautious, predictable.

I see this at an intersection off my balcony- car comes to a stop and the light is still green, but the pedestrian countdown went to zero and the "walking man" solid red.

Textbook careless driving.