Braking Distance is No Joke! Understanding the Real Difficulties of Large Vehicle Drivers from a Threads Crane Collision Video

Recently, a video on Threads sparked a heated discussion: a driver waiting at a red light was rear-ended by a large crane. After the video was released, many people expressed their opinions. Some believed the car driver "shouldn't have cut in front of the large crane," while others bluntly stated, "the crane driver didn't maintain a safe distance."

Article Source: @mm.egg.b on Threads

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Comments from Netizens

sin26132024: "Was the large vehicle driver paying attention to the road?"

luke_coffee_5010: "Good thing you were in a car, you saved other motorcyclists."

yongsheng.zhuang: "The large vehicle was clearly slowing down! You cut into his lane and compressed his braking distance! Two unlucky kids 🙄"

leoliu.66: "Damn, it was still so far away. He must have been on his phone."

c_ywn: "The large vehicle wasn't just 'slowing down,' it was 'slowing down too late.' Even with a car's length of difference, it's impossible to keep sliding forward when you're less than 50 meters away, plus many crane drivers are used to extending their booms over other people's heads 🙄"

qshaoyou: "For those saying the large vehicle couldn't stop, please watch the video carefully. It was clearly the large vehicle speeding up to run a yellow light at the previous intersection, and from where the small car started changing lanes to the large vehicle, there were 6-7 lane markings. One marking is 10 meters, so 6 is 60 meters. But the large vehicle only clearly hit the brakes when there were 3 markings left (you can see the brake dip), and then they complain about the long braking distance of large vehicles... 😐😐😐😐 If the small car didn't use its turn signal when changing lanes, then you could say it's the small car's fault, but if not, then it's clearly the large vehicle driver not paying attention to the road ahead and braking too late."

In fact, the takeaway from this incident is simple: small cars shouldn't casually cut in front of large cranes, but crane drivers also need to know how to slow down in advance and anticipate road conditions.

Why Can't Small Cars Casually Cut in Front of Large Cranes?

🚗 Small Car / Motorcycle: Lightweight, can stop quickly when brakes are applied.

🚛 Large Crane: Weighs tens of tons, subject to "gravitational acceleration" and inertia, braking distance is much longer than a small car.

👉 Simply put, a small car can "stop immediately," but a large crane is like a giant ball rushing forward, needing a long distance to stop. If a small car suddenly cuts in, the crane driver, even if they hit the brakes immediately, might not be able to stop in time.

But the Large Crane Driver Also Has a Responsibility!

As a professional driver, a large crane driver must develop the habit of "anticipating and slowing down in advance."

Analyzing from the author's post:

The crane might have sped up to run a yellow light at the previous intersection, carrying too much speed.
As a result, when the next light turned red, they slowed down but it was already too late.

This indicates that the crane driver was also negligent in their operation, failing to anticipate that there might be a car stopping ahead, which led to the rear-end collision.

Two-Way Reminder Checklist

🚗 Small Car Drivers Should Note:

Don't casually cut in front of large vehicles, especially when waiting for a red light or in a traffic jam.
Keep a distance from large vehicles, avoid stopping directly in front of them.
Make it a habit to check your rearview mirror. If there's a large vehicle behind, it's best to leave some extra space.

🚛 Large Crane Drivers Should Note:

Anticipate traffic lights in advance, avoid rushing through yellow lights.
Maintain a safe distance, don't enter intersections with excessive speed.
Treat the possibility of "someone cutting in" as a basic assumption of daily driving, and slow down in advance as a precaution.

Conclusion

Traffic accidents are often not caused by a single reason, but by both parties lacking a bit of caution.

If the small car hadn't cut in directly in front of the large crane, the risk would have been much smaller.

If the large crane driver had been able to slow down in advance and anticipate the situation, this accident might have been avoided.

⚠️ Regardless of how legal responsibility is determined, for small cars and motorcycles, facing a large vehicle always puts them at a disadvantage. The best practice is for both sides to be a little more careful and a little less lucky.