Smile, You're on Dash Cam

A few years ago I was brake checked by an SUV in Waterbury with a high school team on my bus. Certainly not the first time I have endured road rage, whether in a bus or my personal vehicle. What really stood out to me was it was the first time where it was truly unprovoked. What’s worse is it happened right in front of 2 Connecticut State Troopers, but since they were on extra shift watching a road work site they did nothing about it. But that’s a rant for another blog! Naturally the driver of the SUV went about his life feeling superior because he put the lives of 25 high school kids in danger because he couldn’t cut me off when his lane ended.

It was then I decided I needed a Dash Cam in my bus. I also created a YouTube channel and started posting my videos. I only posted videos of incidents where another driver road raged or otherwise deliberately did something that endangered my bus. Over the years that library has sadly grown quite large. While of course I want people to see what these drivers are doing with the utopian dream that people would learn from them, but it was also about making sure I could get the video to the people that needed them such as my bosses, lawyers or police.

Recently I posted yet another video on my channel you can watch it here:

https://youtu.be/jB1uQOtWzb0?si=eOHiyS1mVJLeFT8F

This one, unfortunately, came with a lot of negative comments. Subsequently, these same posters decided to leave negative comments on some of my other videos. I deleted those rather than engage with these people. But for a moment I wondered was I wrong? Was I blowing this out of proportion? So I went back and analyzed the video. I looked at when the car pulled out, where I was when he pulled out, my speed, etc.

I  can say with even greater confidence that “NO I WAS NOT WRONG”. As I wrote in the video description:

“Dash-Cams use panoramic lenses as to cover more of the road. This has the effect of making it appear that the car was further away than it actually was. At the moment the car pulled out there was 245 feet between us (yes I measured it). It can take up to 300 feet to stop a bus from 55mph. Additionally any vehicle pulling into traffic must yield the right of way to any vehicle on the roadway and is responsible for making sure it is safe to pull out into traffic.

While I acknowledge that I was doing 55mph that does NOT relieve the driver of that car from the responsibility of making sure it is safe to pull out.

SO THE CAR DID IN FACT DO SOMETHING WRONG AND THEN DOUBLED DOWN WHEN THEY DELIBERATELY CUT ME OFF AFTER THE LIGHT!!!

And what people far too often fail to realize is that there are people on those buses, they are not just big boxes in the way of you getting to your latte. And this car ultimately achieved NOTHING by pulling out ahead of me as there were no cars behind me and their position at the light would not have changed.”

Stop road raging with Trucks & Buses, there is too much at risk. For you, for them and for innocent other cars on the road.