Don’t stand in the middle of the road, people!
March 25, 2024 at 18:04
- A BMW driver narrowly avoided hitting pedestrians who were gathered on a blind corner to look at a previous crash.
- The incident highlights the dangers of rubbernecking and the importance of staying alert on the road.
“Don’t stand in the middle of the road” is one of those warning that seems so obvious that it should need to be repeated, but apparently that’s not true. That’s what the owner of a BMW M3 driver recently learned while entering a blind corner in California.
Joe, the self-described car guy and BMW enthusiast behind the JbP Garage YouTube channel, recently filmed himself driving through the canyons around Azusa, California, in the northern part of Los Angeles County, when he was forced to jump hard on the brakes in order to avoid a crowd of pedestrians.
The people were standing in the middle of the road, looking at an accident that had already occurred just ahead of the corner. Joe was driving his F80 BMW M3 at around 60 mph when he slowed down slightly for the sweeping right-hander.
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Although the BMW driver appears to have been traveling at high speed, fortunately, his speed wasn’t excessive, and he reacted quickly by slamming on the brakes to come to a complete stop before striking any of the people darting off the road and onto the shoulders. Thank goodness he wasn’t driving a Mustang.
Despite avoiding any damage, the driver was understandably shaken by the incident, and had to catch his breath before being able to continue on his drive. To do that, he pulled over for a moment, to inspect the scene.
Once stopped, we can see that the accident the people were inspecting looks pretty bad. The crash appears to have involved an Audi TT that careened off the road and overturned, and a VW Golf Wagon drove into the back of it. Fortunately, Joe reports that everyone involved in the incident came out alright.
While it’s worth noting that we should all slow down, it’s also worth remembering that despite what you might have heard, lightning actually strikes twice all the time. When a car has gone flying off the road, it’s often because the corner it was trying to go around is difficult, and another car may soon follow it off, so it’s wise to spend as little time as possible standing there, or to at least send someone up the road to warn people of the coming danger.
