Quoting @Sagemind:

"Though the little car shouldn't have forced this… the trucker is at fault for not preventing a collision that was avoidable.

The National Safety Council, defines a preventable collision as one in which the driver failed to do everything that they reasonably could have done to avoid it.

The American Trucking Association, uses the following rule to determine the preventability of a collision: “Was the vehicle driven in such a way to make due allowance for the conditions of the road, weather, and traffic and to also assure that the mistakes of other drivers did not involve the driver in a collision?”

Here on this video you can see that the trucker didn't back off, allow the car in, and prevent the collision.

I bet everyone knows that the most important rule in every US state is that you are guilty if you could have reasonably done something to prevent a collision, and didn't.

That's the law. You are at fault anytime you could have prevented a collsion and didn't."

Likely YOU don't realize how much YOU suck at driving. ;-)

Found on another site:

"Though the little car shouldn't have forced this… the trucker is at fault for not preventing a collision that was avoidable.

The National Safety Council, defines a preventable collision as one in which the driver failed to do everything that they reasonably could have done to avoid it.

The American Trucking Association, uses the following rule to determine the preventability of a collision: “Was the vehicle driven in such a way to make due allowance for the conditions of the road, weather, and traffic and to also assure that the mistakes of other drivers did not involve the driver in a collision?”

Here on this video you can see that the trucker didn't back off, allow the car in, and prevent the collision.

I bet everyone knows that the most important rule in every US state is that you are guilty if you could have reasonably done something to prevent a collision, and didn't.

That's the law. You are at fault anytime you could have prevented a collsion and didn't."

Okay, what everyone else typed, sorry, but TLDR for the most part.

The sedan did absolutely nothing wrong at all. There was plenty of room. It was clearly visible to the trucker, and it signaled its intention to change lanes before doing so. No problem. It would have been wiser to pull in behind the truck (presumably, who knows what's going on back there) because trucks don't stop on a dime, but in heavy traffic, I wouldn't fault the sedan's maneuver at all.

The truck driver should have his license revoked. Anyone who would deliberately risk a road accident as a matter of pride shouldn't be driving.

Is anyone actually debating if the car made an unsafe lane change? I think not . It's kinda a given. Its what the trucker did or did not do in response that is in question. Did he intentionally hold his ground in defiance? Did he not see the car until it was to late? Could the truck even slow down in the situation?

and the thing with the speed up slow down thing is this.

The trucker had his cruise control on, and the vehicle in front did not, the vehicle in front slowed down by not accelerating, but everything else is relative to the camera, the only fuck up is by the driver on the right trying to squeeze in and the trucker going " woa wtf "

It is not about how the trucker did not allow the other car to merge, it is the fact the stupid fuck tried to merge and continued to try and merge, the onus is not on the truck to move over, it is on the other driver to merge and change lane properly.

Reign downvotes on me, Babe

TLDR, but I'm on board with @newtboy. The trucker really seems to be intentionally closing the gap only after the VW starts to enter the lane (I'd assume to teach "this blonde" a lesson). Before then he is maintaining a steady distance from the Nissan.

Also, really interesting sight at 0:30 to 0:33 is you can see that only the front tires on the other truck have completely stopped spinning but continue travelling forward as if they're still turning.

wow,this video is getting way more comments than expected.

some are saying the semi sped up.
i do not see any evidence of this.if this trucker shifted and hit the gas..you would know it,i am partially deaf and i would know it.
i do,however,see conditions further up that precipitate the lane slowing down,which of course will give the illusion the trucker is speeding up.

i am not that interested in the legalese as some of you are,considering that lawful right or wrong are meaningless when people can die.

i am far more concerned with safety.
maybe if the trucker was not on the phone he would have noticed captain retard inching in and could have responded appropriately i.e:downshift..let off the gas.(NOT jam the brakes,unless you want a scene from the A-team).

conclusion=fail

maybe if speedy gonzales didn't treat a 40 ton big rig as a normal 2 ton car that had the ability to defy the laws of physics and just assumed that he/she would be let in by mr nice rig master,maybe they would not have 5k worth of body work on their car.

conclusion=fail

this could have gone so much worse than it did,and for that i am glad.

it still bothers me how some drivers deal with semi big-rigs.they truly are clueless and endanger not only themselves but everybody on the highway around them by their impatient and selfish driving.

I put "safe" in quotation marks, indicating it was safe to the extent that there was room, with a car length behind and ahead, not actually safe. That is how most people drive in town, or with less room, and would have been safe if the truck had not sped up to try to block her.
You have no idea what kind of driver I am, that's not me in the car. I would not have tried to pass, and if I did you better believe it would have been faster and more complete than the driver here. I have consistently said she was unsafe to do what she did. You can drop the ad hom for me too, I've been driving for over 28 years including 5 years of delivery service, with one accident due to black ice (no one else involved) and I did off road racing for years as well. I'm almost a professional driver, how about you?
Not having a cell phone law making it illegal, and it being the reason you lose a civil suit have little to do with each other. It's proven that it's unsafe to do, no matter what your state law is on the subject.
Once again, she was unsafe, as was the trucker. The trucker intentionally made it more unsafe and caused an accident he could and should have easily avoided. No matter what else you argue, that makes it 100% his fault in my state.

My point is, if the cars are cutting around the truck, it's "slower traffic" and "slower traffic must keep right" is the law. I understand that following that law would make it near impossible for trucks to ever leave the slow lane. That doesn't change the fact that it IS the law, even if most people ignore it.
Where I am, if you have the space when you START the lane change, and get hit from behind, unless you are moving slower than the flow of traffic or slam on your brakes, the one behind is ALWAYS at fault, because they have the best opportunity to see and avoid the collision. If they decide to cause a collision because they think they have the right of way, it's their fault, even if they DID have the right of way. I think that's what happened here, he insisted on 'right of way' and caused an accident. Truck's fault.
I don't disagree the car made a poor decision, one people make a thousand times a day without accident though.

What it seems to me is that, 3/4 of the way into the lane change the car sees the semi truck has pushed it's way up into the slot it was moving into, and panics. Until then she might have thought it was changing lanes to the third lane that doesn't exist, if she saw it coming up at all. The right thing for her to do right then would be hit the brakes and move back and right, but faced with what seemed a semi truck on both door handles, planes trains and automobiles style, I might panic too. By the time she saw the problem, there was an unavoidable truck on both sides, no where to go except where she had been going and hope the trucker acts like a human being and brakes to lets her in...he doesn't.

At the 10 second mark, note that the truck, car, and semi truck are all going the same speed, not closing. At the 13 second mark, the trucker says 'what the hell? You are not going to pass me' and starts to accelerate. (EDIT: listening closely, that might have been part of the story he was telling the guy on the phone). At the 15 second mark, you can see the car start it's lane change with enough room (granted not much, but a car length ahead and behind) and the truck still not closing the gap, but you hear the throttle open up to full. At 19 seconds you can see the entire 1/2 side of the car in the lane in front of the truck, with the truck's throttle pushed to wide open and the truck now closing the gap fast. At 20 seconds the truck passes the car and drives on the shoulder, and there is now less than 1 car length between it and the first car. At 23 seconds the truck moves back to the right (slightly, watch the hood ornament) and at 24 the car panics and turns into the semi truck to try to avoid the sandwich.

To me, that means the truck knew she was coming, saw her change lanes, and just floored it around and then into her. When he realized she hadn't backed off, it was too late. He never backed off.

Being on the phone may end up being the determining legal factor, no matter what professional accident investigators say about the bad driving of both parties.

I think truck's fault because....
First, the truck should not be in the fast lane, it's being passed by traffic, not passing traffic. He's too impatient.
Second, the truck intentionally speeds up to block the car. When it started the lane change, there was room. When you change lanes, you look sideways to be sure there's room, then you move over while looking forward. If someone speeds into the space and hits you from behind after you start the lane change, it's THEIR fault unless you slam on your brakes to make them hit you.
Third, the truck, trying to block the car, moves WAY too close to the next car, tailgating insanely. Watch the black car speed away terrified.
Fourth, the truck passes the car on the shoulder, them moves back into the lane slightly squashing it. The truck knew the car was there the whole time but just refused to brake.
Fifth, the truck was speeding. The truck speed limit is 10mph below the car speed limit on freeways, and the truck was going faster than the speeding cars, so almost certainly speeding by over 10mph.
Sixth, and indisputable, the trucker was on the phone, making him at fault as much as if he was drunk, no matter what he did driving.

As I see it, the car was less than safe, but the truck was an intentional dickhead that STARTED the film by driving badly, and ended with an accident he'll pay for. It's on film, he saw the car changing lanes and sped up to block it refusing to let her merge, passed it on the shoulder after it had passed him and entered the lane, and hit the car on purpose because he refused to hit his brakes/didn't want to be passed again. If I was on the jury, I would put it (EDIT)98% on the truck. He had every opportunity to avoid the accident by hitting the middle pedal just a little, but instead stood on the little pedal and seemingly thought to himself "Ramming speed!".

this drives me crazy seeing drivers who ignore the fact that a truck is NOT a car!
that driver put everybody in jeopardy just because he/she wished to be a few feet ahead and tried to squeeze into a spot that barely could accommodate their vehicle.

the trucker may have pushed the point a tad and,possibly,could have just downshifted and let off but that car was totally in the wrong...and dangerous to boot.

Trucker was fine not to yield.
It was the car's responsibility to find a spot.
The car did not.
Not the trucker's fault. I'd do the same thing in my sedan.

Ya the truckers should be driving like 30mph with their flashers on. Even if it is too slow for conditions everyone would slow it up when they do. 40% of accidents in these conditions involving a semi kills someone and rarely is it the truck driver.

It's so sad. People who live that weather, and I used to---they should know better. The truckers, the professionals, most of all, right?