Dashcam video shows car collision, but who should have given way?

A right of way dispute has sparked intense online debate after two drivers who had a minor collision argue their case against each other.

Dashcam footage has captured the moment a ute merges into the hood of another car on the mid-north coast of NSW, but opinions are split on who is at fault.

Dashcam Owners Australia shared the submitted footage, and even the popular page’s admin admitted they were torn.

“Normally we go into bat for most dashcam owners, but it’s fair game with the comments on this one …” they wrote on the post for the video, simply named “Entitled”.

Normally we go into bat for most dash cam owners, but it's fair game with the comments on this one... Send us a video: https://dashcamownersaus.wetransfer.com/ Our store: https://www.dashcamownersaus.com.au/

Posted by Dash Cam Owners Australia on Sunday, 6 September 2020

In the video, two lanes merge into one, with a sign telling drivers to form one lane.

A woman driving a black Volkswagen Amarok in the left lane flicks on her indicator to merge as instructed, but as the lane starts to disappear, the car fitted with the dashcam, an Alfa Romeo 147 GTA, continues on their way.

Rather than slowing down to let the car in the merging lane in ahead of them, the Alfa driver speeds up instead.

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The Amarok driver begins indicating to merge. Picture: Dashcam Owners Australia

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According to data from the dashcam, their speed increases from 50km/h to 56km/h as the ute rapidly runs out of road.

The driver of the Amarok then turns to the driver, gesturing for them to let her in, before she eventually has to cut the dashcam driver off, clipping the front of their car.

“Oh my god,” the Alfa driver says incredulously.

In a description submitted alongside the video, the Alfa driver states their case.

“The woman beside me wanted to get in front of me despite there being no one behind me and it being her responsibility to yield.

“She even had room to merge into the left lane,” the Alfa driver claims, although in the video it appears there is a grass dividing strip between the lane the ute driver occupies and the other lane that eventually runs alongside the Alfa driver’s lane.

The Alfa driver goes on to allege the woman tried to get her police officer husband to “try to give me a hard time even though it was completely her fault”.

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The Amarok driver gestures for the other car to let her in. Picture: Dashcam Owners Australia

Things got spicier when the driver of the Amarok got in touch with the Facebook page admins to speak her case.

She said she did get in touch with her husband and confirmed he “is a cop”, but argued she only did so because the other driver didn’t have their licence.

She admitted she should have slowed down and merged behind the other driver, but said she drives “that roundabout every day”.

“It’s a nightmare and everyone is usually courteous and we all let each other in – me included.”

While she was the one branded “entitled” in the video, she alleges that, having met the other driver, “he is always right”.

The ute clips the front of the Alfa Romeo. Picture: Dashcam Owners Australia

The video has been viewed more than 230,000 times since being posted on Monday and commenters have had plenty to say about it.

By the letter of the law, the Alfa Romeo driver is technically in the right, but as the old adage goes you can be right and still dead.

Many of the commenters thought he should have just slowed down slightly to let the other driver in.

“I hope being right was worth the hassle … I personally like to avoid collisions where possible, but that’s just me I guess,” a Facebook user named Hayley said.

A woman named Catherine disagreed.

“As a sedan driver, I absolutely despise letting a larger vehicle in front of me that I can‘t see through, under, over, or around.”

“If it is safe to do so, I will defend my spot and they can get behind me, larger vehicles are definitely a hazard and are becoming more of a bully item on the roads instead of them being equally cautious and courteous too.”

“I am curious to see what the insurance company would say in this instance,” a man named Ryan said.

“Yes the dashcam owner has right of way but he didn‘t make any attempt at all to avoid an accident, if anything he drove into it intentionally.”

Pending further contact to the page from the two drivers for an update on what the insurance companies thought, it appears we’ll have to be content to speculate wildly on who should have backed off.