Yahoo Autos How Ironic: Red Light Runner Takes Out Traffic Control Box
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There’s no debating that driver distraction is a real problem on America’s roads these days. Cell phones, infotainment screens, even doing makeup, shaving, and eating can all take a driver’s attention off the road, leading to accidents like running a red light. And as you can see in the video we’ve included, that might come with big consequences and maybe an ironic twist.
Drunk driver using autonomous assistance tech charged with homicide.
This crash recorded on a traffic camera happened in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. What appears to be a Jeep Grand Cherokee (the video image quality is too grainy to say that with complete certainty) runs a solid red light.
Immediately, a work truck that has the green hits the Jeep hard in the rear quarter panel. Some say this is a T-bone even though the hit is a little more glancing, so we wouldn’t call it one.
In some ways that glancing blow is more damaging. The collision sends the Grand Cherokee careening and spinning across the intersection, which thankfully is free of more cross traffic or other crashes might have resulted.
Instead, the Jeep spins off the road and hits the traffic light control box. You can see the precise second this happens as the green lights all go out at once. That ironic result leaves everyone who comes along to the intersection struggling to figure out what to do, exposing that most drivers don’t understand how in this situation the intersection is treated as a four-way stop.
Even more shocking is how people just drive by both crashed vehicles, not bothering to stop and check on the people inside.
What’s even more ironic is the billboard visible in the top right corner of the video’s frame. It’s for a local personal injury attorney, just the kind of person someone involved in this sort of crash might want to call. Talk about knowing where to place advertisements.
Image via Traffic Cam Watch/YouTube
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