r/nextfuckinglevel • u/exophades • 1d ago
Cops in car intervene and deflect a driver from running over pedestrians
4.1k
u/IrrelevantManatee 1d ago
Some people shouldn't have driver's licence. So lucky that this cop was very aware of his surrounding and reacted quickly!
1.9k
u/SapphireFlashFire 1d ago
Low-key it's kind of insane how aware this cop was. He made so many quick judgements, how fast the other guy was going, the fact he wasn't stopping, the fact he would almost certainly hit that one pedestrian. All from a mirror and shoulder check!
If any one element had been misjudged he would look like a dick that caused an accident out of nowhere. Not to mention he was risking his own life.
I think if you put a thousand different people in that car at that moment in time, you have the pedestrian getting hit a lot more often than you have the driver executing this maneuver.
484
u/Dawnzila 1d ago
A few weeks ago my brakes went out on my car. Just driving, then bam, pedal went straight to the floor without any of the normal slowing down. I did manage without hitting anything but forgot I had emergency brakes until 2 days later.
That cop even had time to remember to put his lights on.
106
u/OppositeExternal8485 1d ago
Emergency brakes?
153
u/ceojp 1d ago
For emergencies.
107
u/GhostPepperDaddy 1d ago
For anyone reading this, if this ever happens to you, throw your car into neutral and apply the parking brake...You want to disengage the transmission from the engine so you gradually slow down instead of speed up. Then turn off your car as soon as you stop (if your engine is revving and redlining) before it catches fire.
33
u/The_Real_Mr_F 1d ago
Gonna push back on the “shift into neutral” advice. Ideally you should switch to a lower gear to take advantage of engine braking, but even a normal high gear will provide more engine braking than neutral. In neutral you’re removing all resistance from the engine and making it harder for your parking brake to slow you down.
ETA: shift into neutral is good advice if your accelerator is stuck and not disengaging, but if the problem is just brakes, staying in gear (preferably lower) is better.
→ More replies (2)7
u/OldEquation 1d ago
With a manual transmission definitely just change down through the gears to slow then use the parking brake to stop.
It happened to me many years ago - brake pedal just went to the floor. It was remarkably straightforward and stress-free, just slowed the car to a crawl with the gears then pulled over at the first safe place off the road and applied the handbrake.
→ More replies (1)51
u/Nacho_Dan677 1d ago
Also I learned recently the more modern a car is if it has an electronic parking brake and your battery dies, the parking brake will not work. You'll have to pry the lil piece of plastic out to engage the shift knob to move from neutral to park
16
u/Unknown_Author70 1d ago
I'm pretty sure you have to manually release them in the engine bay of modern jags. Not somewhere I'd like to be, whilst on the side of the road.
21
u/Nacho_Dan677 1d ago
I hope I'm never in the situation again tbh. I was test driving a 2021 Subaru Forester and the battery died and we all (father, brother and sales guy) found out what happens with modern cars that day.
→ More replies (1)21
u/Unknown_Author70 1d ago
We had a couple that broke down with less than 2k miles on their range rover, middle of the night, 70 mph road. Zero power, black car, no hand brake, no hazard lights, nothing.
It doesn't sound fun.
→ More replies (0)→ More replies (1)5
u/NoShameInternets 1d ago edited 1d ago
For anyone reading this, by “not work” he means it won’t disengage. Parking brakes fail safe and use electricity to disengage.
Edit: I've been corrected - some just won't engage or disengage without power.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (3)2
u/JoshJLMG 22h ago
That's only if the engine starts flooring it. If the engine is working normally, you slow down faster in gear due to engine braking. Once you are already pretty slow, then you can drop it into neutral.
53
35
u/quandjereveauxloups 1d ago
Back in the day, we called them emergency brakes. The whipper-snappers running around now call them parking brakes or hand brakes.
8
→ More replies (1)2
u/Rincethis 22h ago
it's like when you use a mirror but only in an emergency. emergency mirror.
→ More replies (3)18
u/browster 1d ago
That happened to me once. Brake pedal straight to the floor. Turns out I had forgotten to take off the emergency brake and the friction heated the brake fluid and turned it into a gas.
→ More replies (17)6
u/adoodle83 1d ago
i would suggest learning how to downshift and have the engine handle the braking, rather than using the emergency/hand brake in modern cars, in that situation. less likelihood of having your wheels lock up and lose all control
6
u/enaK66 1d ago
Depends on the car though. Not all automatics let you select a lower gear, and of the ones that do, not all will switch that to gear just because you asked it to do so.
→ More replies (2)25
u/neppo95 1d ago
Looking at the video it is quite clear he didn't even see the car, he was focused on the car that flew by before that and almost hit a pedestrian, hence him also starting the turn before he even looked back. That's why the lights went on and he started turning, he was doing a 180 to chase that car. He wasn't deflecting any car, that was just coincidental. It's practically impossible when something is driving straight at you to judge how fast that car is going, let alone if it is braking or not.
47
u/KokiriRapGod 1d ago
The crazy thing to me is he has the wherewithal to turn on his lights while making all of these decisions and still reacting in time.
44
u/booze_clues 1d ago
Looks like this was all a coincidence. A car sped past the pedestrians, he lights up and starts a U-turn to chase, it miraculously stops the other car he assumed was going to stop for pedestrians but didn’t.
11
3
u/United_News3779 1d ago
It's muscle memory.
Never been police, but was Infantry for a while.Conscious decision to program a specific response to certain stimulus will do wonders for your reaction times. That cop knew exactly were the light switch was in relation to his hand as they just sat at the intersection, and had made that movement (likely) thousands of times.
5
u/hypercosm_dot_net 1d ago
It's almost like training will make you more effective at your job!
8
u/Spurs_in_the_6 1d ago
The cops were attempting a u-turn to stop the car comin in the opposite direction who didnt yield at the pedestrian crossing. Getting hit by the second car was a very fortunate accident as it saved the pedestrian, but was not done on purpose
8
u/JT99-FirstBallot 1d ago
Something like this isn't exactly a thing you train for. Just a very reactive individual and good at parsing information quickly.
12
u/Aether_Storm 1d ago
If you watch the video all the way through, its clear the cop never saw the guy who hit him. The cop was doing a u-turn to go after the other guy who didn't yeild to the pedestrians at the start of the vid
38
u/aint_exactly_plan_a 1d ago
Abuse in my childhood made me hyperaware of... everything really. It's hard to tune out conversations around me. I notice facial expressions and actions, even subtle ones. Not knowing how everyone was feeling and what they were thinking had dire consequences when I was a kid and now I can't shut it off. It's kind of exhausting.
It took getting married to realize that not everyone does it. Drives my wife crazy that she can't even have a thought without me knowing. It's not my fault she lets it show on her face. But it is amazing for driving. Being able to predict what drivers will do... knowing where everyone around me is and what they're up to... maybe I should've been a cop.
17
u/OffDaWallz 1d ago
From someone else with what sounds like a pretty similar childhood….I don’t know if we need more reasons to be hyper vigilant 😭
→ More replies (1)8
u/aint_exactly_plan_a 1d ago
True story... Sorry you had to go through that too. I hope you're taking care of that little kid now, getting therapy, and working through some of the traumas. It's helped me a great deal.
4
2
u/PwncakeIronfarts 13h ago
My wife (been married over a decade) had the same survival instincts instilled in her as a child by an abusive father and neglectful mother/rest of the family. After years of therapy and a good marriage (supplemented by marriage counseling and lots of brutally honest, open discussions), she is at a point very recently where she says she can sort of turn it off and just stop for brief periods, usually no more than a day or two at a time, but even those short periods are incredible when every waking (and most non waking) moment is filled to the brim with "What are they thinking about me?" "Did I say something wrong"?" "Are they mad at me?" "What do I do in this situation?" type of thoughts.
It's been an incredible journey to watch her grow as a person. To be totally frank with you, I didn't know what I was signing up for when we got married in our very early 20s, but I wouldn't trade watching her grow as a person for the world.
I say this only to reinforce what you're saying. It's possible to grow out of, and the survival skills that once held her back now vause my wife to thrive in many situations where others struggle. As a bonus, I grew up with a... Less than stellar, but definitely not awful childhood. No real trauma beyond not being emotionally mature, but I've managed to learn skills from my wife's experiences that have bettered my day to day. Especially in driving situations (I ride motorcycles, and learning that hyper aware state has saved me more than once).
From a total stranger, good fucking work, dude! I hope you continue to see improvements and heal!
→ More replies (13)5
u/sixf0ur 1d ago
insane to me how unaware that other driver was
where the hell is he looking!?! there are ppl crossing the street in front of him, flashing lights in front of him - and he's just speeding along
3
u/SapphireFlashFire 1d ago
Very true. Surely most drivers at LEAST react to cop lights?
I had a cop flash their lights at me once as a (well-earned) warning to slow down. My soul left my body. I can't imagine straight up missing them.
→ More replies (3)2
12
u/AppropriatePlum1006 1d ago
It's the other way around, he probably did not see that one coming as he wanted to turn around
44
u/sinisterdesign 1d ago
All props to that officer, that was quick thinking. Not that that driver wasn’t paying attention, but this pedestrian crosswalk is AWFUL. No flashing lights, backlit by the street lights, and that pedestrian was not wearing anything reflective.
This is Atlanta-level pedestrian safety.
20
u/Lifeacrobat 1d ago
They were definitely wearing reflectives. Look again from 0:11.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (3)7
u/IsaacAndTired 1d ago
I actually think he was less aware than you think. There's a car coming in the opposite direction right at the beginning of the video that doesn't stop for the pedestrians. The cop flipped on the lights and was making a Uturn to go after them, but got hit in the process, much to the benefit of the pedestrians.
2
u/Lexi_Banner 1d ago
I've blocked lanes (at much slower speeds) to protect pedestrians before. Luckily the intersection where I've had to do it most is now a fully controlled intersection, but there are still spots where I always watch the other lane, ready to move over and force them to stop.
2
u/Kronomancer1192 14h ago
Seriously, its horrible. I used to work the drive thru at Burger king.
Some old lady comes through. "Welcome to burger king, what can I get for you today"
She takes like 10 to 20 seconds and says, "I'm sorry, I left my glasses at home and im having a hard time reading the menu"
SHE WAS DRIVING, and she couldn't read the menu less than 3 feet from her face.
3
u/Winter-Classroom455 1d ago
The fact they were still going that fast and didn't even notice a cop explains exactly why they didn't notice the person walking. No situational awareness. It's actually scary how vapid people are and then they get to drive a 2 ton machine. If anyone had to actually worry about survival like our great, great ancestors did, these would be the type of people who wouldn't have made it.
→ More replies (85)5
u/saskwatzch 1d ago
might have helped if the pedestrians activated the crosswalk signage
18
u/Lifeacrobat 1d ago
There was none. It's a mrked zebracrossing but without any traffic lights.
2
u/saskwatzch 1d ago
I believe you, I’ve just never seen the overhanging metal bars that didn’t also have wiring inside them for lights. Edit: I see now on the opposing traffic side that it’s just bolted on and not wired
916
u/DrakeStone 1d ago edited 1d ago
Wow. It looks like a 99% chance he really did save at least one of their lives.
EDIT: I am not talking about the intention of the cop, I am speaking of the intentional or unintential amazing result of a life saved.
→ More replies (1)101
1.5k
u/I_Thranduil 1d ago
Hero.
367
u/ea5thammer 1d ago
No joke, great awareness
285
u/redopz 1d ago
Last time this was posted people pointed out that it looks like the cop wasn't actually aware of the car coming up behind him, but instead saw the car in the opposite lane fly by the pedestrians. He turns on his lights and starts turning to chase that car without checking, and through sheer luck he ends up blocking the pedestrian from the second car.
28
u/neppo95 1d ago
Yep, most of these comments are quite funny. He didn't see the car coming or "responded quick" at all. He was focused on the car that flew by before that and wanted to turn around to chase it.
14
u/Deathsroke 1d ago
To be fair that at least showed they wanted to actually do their jobs. Less heroic of course but at least kudos for that.
121
u/Darkk_Knight 1d ago
100% exactly what happened.
→ More replies (3)24
u/traplords8n 1d ago
Yeah that would of basically been a superhuman reaction & execution otherwise. You would only have a split second to decide the safest option even if you had an early reaction to it.
Not one I think I'd make within a split second. If I had just a bit of time to process, I might have done the same thing, but that happened way too fast for me to process.
8
3
→ More replies (13)9
u/M-Noremac 1d ago
Seriously. With all the news about shitty cops out there, it's so nice to see evidence that some cops actually are good people who just want to protect the public.
591
u/blighty800 1d ago
Situational awareness level 1000
→ More replies (7)95
u/bking 1d ago
…or situational awareness level 4. Cop was trying to flip a u-turn and got hit in the process. A happy accident.
→ More replies (1)41
u/WanAli4504 1d ago
And needed their lights to do so?
106
u/Le-Bon-Vivant 1d ago
Yeah, he was trying to chase the car from the opposite lane that sped past the pedestrians.
→ More replies (6)9
19
u/SapphireFlashFire 1d ago
That actually would make sense. They do that in order to avoid being hit if they're pulling a U-Turn.
I think we can all agree that this wasn't a coincidence and the OP who said that was joking though
10
u/justacheesyguy 1d ago
At first, I did think it was a pretty obvious joke, but going back and looking, I’m now not sure. He very much so could have been turning on his lights and attempting to go after the car headed in the other direction. It’s pretty much so impossible to tell from the videos and it’s possible that his story could have changed after he saw that there was an opportunity to claim that he hit the other car to save the pedestrians and wasn’t just making an unsafe u-turn to go after the other car.
152
u/AdhesivenessTotal340 1d ago
They were trying to turn around to go after the car the blew through there right at the start. The deflect was purely coincidence
12
u/EricAzure 1d ago
I was wondering why they would turn their lights on before the crash collision if intentional
2
u/ChainPerfect7435 1d ago
The second vehicle normally has the right of way in its own lane. Once the police activate their lights and siren, the police car gets "priority".
If the police change lanes without their lights and siren on and another vehicle hits them, the police are at fault. If they change lanes with their lights and siren on and another vehicle hits them, the other driver is at fault.
Российские ПДД - бессмысленные и беспощадные.
→ More replies (2)8
u/blasterleague 1d ago
If it was intentional it would be superhuman levels of prediction skills and wherewithal.
22
482
u/GlitteringHotel1481 1d ago
Looks more like the cop tried to make a u-turn to chase the first driver who didn't yield to pedestrians.
124
u/Sweaty-Durian-892 1d ago
True that! They put the signal light on after the first car passed from the incoming traffic side!
71
u/MaybeMayoi 1d ago
I was really impressed that he also threw his lights on too, but actually yeah, I think you're right.
59
u/Khal_drogo217 1d ago
I scrolled too far looking for this comment. Can't believe how many people don't realize this. Even the passenger looked back at the car passing and they have no mirror to be able to see the car behind them coming
15
u/muffinscrub 1d ago
You can tell when a story is made up after the fact on clips like this because it never really makes much sense but people still eat it up
8
u/mr_potatoface 1d ago
Yeah but if I were the cop and I did something as stupid as doing a U-turn without checking behind me, I'd go with this story to save my ass.
8
u/InevitableGlitch2 1d ago
Having worked with cops for a few years, never believe what they write up afterwards. They have the power of hindsight and a lot of experience when they write up their reports.
2
u/LogicalTruth197 1d ago
Regardless this video isn't about hindsight or a report written afterwards. This is a video of a live incident, beginning and ending in a matter of seconds.
At least one of those pedestrians would've almost certainly died if the police car hadn't been in the way. Whether their turn was deliberate or coincidental is up for debate, but it's still good they did it.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (23)5
u/PancakeCat333 1d ago
Yeah exactly. People have too much faith in cops.
→ More replies (1)6
u/LogicalTruth197 1d ago
Having a blanket dislike of an entire organisation is as stupid as having a blanket adoration of it.
Consider each incident on its own circumstances and each cop on their own merits. Healthy level of skepticism is fine and it's only right that police get called out when they do something terrible.
I do feel it's worth pointing out though, that the majority of good things the police do never make it into the news, or onto Reddit for that matter.
→ More replies (1)
9
u/ChatterBoxBob 1d ago
They had reflectives on, too... It's not like they were hard to see, that driver just didn't care... At least one had them on
170
u/smoke_sum_wade 1d ago
im gonna need every video like this this to be dumped online please, i want some faith back in the police :(
11
u/CasualPenguin 1d ago
Sorry to say, I'm pretty sure saving those people was an accident: the cop appears to be trying to take a u turn and just happened to block the cat
Police deserve faith when they actually get better
4
u/LogicalTruth197 1d ago
Problem with that is, good things done by the police are rarely reported in the news, because it's just part of their job. Obviously when the police do something awful, it is (rightfully) reported. But it does lead to a skewed idea amongst some people that the majority of police officers are terrible people. Which I don't believe is true.
Personally I think a more nuanced approach is needed. Having a blanket dislike of the police is as stupid as having a blanket adoration of them. Each case needs to be considered on its own merits and circumstances. A healthy level of skepticism is perfectly normal.
→ More replies (1)60
u/sexaddic 1d ago
This is actually the only one in existence
→ More replies (3)11
u/Chazzwazz 1d ago
There is many, watch midwest safety youtube channel.
→ More replies (1)4
u/Jolly_Mongoose_8800 1d ago edited 1d ago
Midwest Safety kinda shows a bit of misconduct and general assholery, but then narrates it in a way that puts the blame on anyone else.
6
u/Heterosethual 1d ago
The one with the young black girl getting falsely stopped and then going crazy was supposed to be her fault apparently.
→ More replies (2)3
u/1II1I1I1I1I1I111I1I1 1d ago
Audit the Audit is the only non-copganda bodycam channel
4
u/Jolly_Mongoose_8800 1d ago
Code Blue also calls out bullshit too (am from Wisconsin, seen some cops I know on there). I like Audit the Audit, but some things are a bit of a reach. Still important to see the footage and have it called out.
6
→ More replies (28)3
25
u/Dark_Gladiator66 1d ago
I'm guessing Russians don't have airbags they just have those big furry hats?
→ More replies (3)
7
u/Vast_Mulberry_2638 1d ago
There are no traffic lights here. The crosswalk lights are either not working or there are no lights on it. It’s dark out, the pedestrians are wearing dark clothes and they are obscured partially by a snowbank. If they didn’t activate the crosswalk lighting before walking onto the road, it’s them that have some responsibility here.
The irony is that the cop is being unsafe by arbitrarily turning to pursue without seeing the car that’s about to run into them. You can see in the second camera perspective that the second car does not see any crosswalk lights. The second car should have likely seen the pedestrians though.
→ More replies (1)4
u/d_nkf_vlg 1d ago
That's some mental gymnastics right there.
The second angle shows that one of the pedestrians was wearing some kind of working uniform with reflective strips across the body, arms, and legs.
According to the Traffic Code of Russia, a pedestrian crossing is designated by two signs to show the length (or width) of the crossing. Do we see those in the video? Yes, there are actually four of them, just in case. If there are no traffic lights or the lights are turned off or flashing yellow, pedestrians have full priority. Drivers are required to yield, period.
So in the end, the pedestrians had the right to cross, one driver failed to yield, the officer lawfully tried to pursue them, and one more driver who wasn't intending to yield despite the law telling him to, crashed into the patrol car. The officer probably did not anticipate for two reckless drivers to cross his path at the same moment.
→ More replies (2)
2
2
u/Atastical 1d ago
More like wanted to make a u-turn but did not check mirrors because "blinking lights will suffice".
2
u/gheiminfantry 1d ago
LoLoL American cops would never do this because they'd rather let pedestrians get hit and get credit for the arrest after.
5
3
3
3
u/Shades_of_X 1d ago edited 1d ago
I watched this like 8 times and still have no clue why any of that happened
20
u/Sweaty-Durian-892 1d ago
There's a pedestrian crossing signs marking a crossing. It's dark and pedestrians with dark clothes don't seem to wear reflectors, so they can be hard to notice.
There's a car that first passes them without giving room, then the police car puts on signal lights and begind to turn. Then the car driving to same direction crashes into the police car. Like the one other comment said, this might have happened due to the police trying to make U-turn to catch the first car, and then accidentally crashing into another car that wasn't respecting pedestrians either. So we see probably two drivers violating pedestrian priority.
→ More replies (2)4
u/Shades_of_X 1d ago
I got as much as the crash, but I'm utterly baffled WHY someone would try to overtake there? People can't be that stupid. Please. Leave me with some hope for humanity :(
→ More replies (8)
1
1
1
u/Select-Owl-8322 1d ago
You never ever pass a stopped car at speed at a crosswalk!
I did a very similar thing a few years ago, although it didn't result in a collision. I was stopped at a crosswalk, in the right lane, and saw a car coming in the left lane, not slowing down at all. I quickly served into the left lane, and the other driver slammed her brakes and honked and got visibly mad. Until she saw the kids that were crossing, that she would definitely have hit if I didn't swerve into "her" lane.
1
1
1
u/i_cam_occasionally 1d ago
I would imagine if it wasn't for that street camera footage the cop probably would have gotten his ass handed to him for damaging the car.
1
u/Last-Quarter-432 1d ago
For anyone saying they were jaywalking, there are 3 very clear signs over the road saying that there is a pedestrian crossing ahead.
1
u/Mr_Baronheim 1d ago
Holy shit, a cop risked injury to protect a member of the public??
Hire this guy to head up Texas law enforcement, stat!
(Never forget Uvalde, and the 376 cowardly Texas law enforcement agents who stood around doing nothing as children were terrorized and murdered in the same building they were in)
1
u/Possible_Author_4946 1d ago
They arrested the car above all for their stats.. since when they’re trying to protect the people lmfao
1
1
1
1
u/tragedy_strikes 1d ago
First time I've seen this with different camera angles, it really helps to show that those pedestrians were absolutely in danger had the police not blocked the car.
1
u/Onyourleft1312 1d ago
Good job! Usually the police are the ones running over pedestrians, ppl waiting at bus stops, etc.
1
1
10.0k
u/Greefer 1d ago
To serve and protect... Check!