It is ridiculous, when it becomes a pattern of conduct. Insurance fraudsters do get caught when a pattern emerges. Is this an insurance fraud? Check to see if there is a pattern with this driver.

I read the transcript of the driver interviews. The Tesla driver (or FSD, whatever) both changed lanes and braked. The officer who interviewed hime cited him under the California code for improper stopping. I suspect that it had a lot to do with the lane change occurring simultaneously with the braking.

Would you feel the same if there was a legitimate reason for your stopping (like a person on the road)? The outcome is the same.

"Having a legitimate reason" is different from not. That's the difference between murder, manslaughter, negligent homicide, and good Samaritan protection.

Perhaps you just had a legitimate reason to cause a crash, doesn't mean the person driving behind you truly deserves any blame.

100%. yes.

People slam on the breaks for any number of reasons, both valid and invalid.

Failure to leave enough space to stop is 100% your fault.

You were supposed to learn this in driving school.

brake-checking is generally illegal. for a reason.

What about when a deer runs out onto the highway?

don't think that qualifies as a brake check.

Break check is not the only reason one slams on the breaks

> Break check is not the only reason one slams on the breaks

No, but it is a reason that is illegal, which is the point. If you brake check someone (and they have a dashcam to prove it), you'll be paying the fines and the repairs.

Braking for no reason is definitely not a 100% yes.

Leave a gap, then there's no problem.

Change the situation: car on the other lane swerves and hits the car in front of you. so now there's a stationary hunk of metal suddenly infront of you, which you collide with.

Is it the think of metal's fault for being stationary on a highway or your fault for following too close?

i'll state the obvious - you can try to leave a gap, but it will be quickly filled, and you'll have a bunch of angry tailgaters and put yourself in danger very quickly.

Common sense isn't so common on the Internet... So many comments repeating this pleasant fiction told to students in drivers' ed to set a good baseline, seemingly because people want to believe in the just world fallacy.

Legally yes, you want to be damn sure you leave plenty room in front of you, regardless of how people cut in, because if you rear end someone it will most likely be considered your fault, regardless of the circumstances, especially if you don't have a dash cam. This goes doubly if you're driving a heavy vehicle with a longer stopping distance.

But there are plenty of cases where it can certainly be the fault (morally, and legally if you can prove it) of the person who gets rear ended - intentionally "brake checking", insurance fraud "boxing", changing lanes from a stopped lane into a moving lane, or changing lanes with insufficient room behind you and then braking hard (as we seem to have here).

People say that a lot, but it's not true in my experience. You can spend a large fraction of your driving this way, and it's a much better experience than you'd think.

Considering some tail-gaters I know who drive less than 4 feet from the car infront of them, I want as many facts as possible.

You should always be prepared that any vehicle in front of you can emergency brake at any time. If you don't leave enough room for this then you are at fault.

The new story here is about a car that changed lanes. If you don't get when you don't have room, you are at fault.

If the cars where following at a safe distance then only one or two other cars should have collided but that doesn't explain 8 cars crashing.

yes absolutely it is the fault of the person behind you.

that is the law in the United States, as well.

following distance is controllable only by the following car. failure to maintain adequate following distance then rear ending the car you are following, no matter what reason they stopped, is always the fault of the following car, and never the followed car.

stopping for no reason on a busy interstate is an offence, but it will cause zero crashes if people are following at safe distances.

the number of people who have forgotten what they probably didn't learn to begin with in Driver's Ed is really scaring me right now.

> yes absolutely it is the fault of the person behind you.

> that is the law in the United States, as well.

No, this is incorrect.

First of all, vehicle code is different for each state so there's no "law in the United States" as a whole.

For California, this is the section which makes brake checking illegal:

https://california.public.law/codes/ca_veh_code_section_2210...

It's your responsibility to remain in control of your vehicle and maintain proper stopping distance for the speed you're traveling.

The "no reason" part means you were intentionally doing something dangerous. But if you slammed on your breaks for any reason at all and the person behind you hits you, that's absolutely their fault.

The crash - yes, but if you indeed did it for no reason you will get fined for creating dangerous road condition.