A Typical Crash

On my way home, I witnessed an accident at the intersection of Aurora Boulevard and Dona Juana Street (near the computer shops). It's a blind intersection, devoid of mirrors to warn motorists of oncoming traffic.

The parties involved were a '97 Honda Civic crossing Dona Juana in a crawling pace, and a '98 Ford Expedition speeding along Aurora. From the perspective two meters behind the Civic (I was crossing Dona Juana, too), the Expedition was travelling at least 60 km/h ten meters before the intersection (via headlamp radiance). The Expedition was able to slow down to about 40 km/h before the impact, which caused the Civic to rotate 30 degrees to the left.

Weird thing: Before the impact occurred, I knew it would happen; thus, I wasn't surprised. I honked my horn, and told my mom that the driver of the Expedition was an idiot.

The driver of the Expedition was a girl in the late teens. When the crash occurred, all she did was step down from the SUV and send an SMS to I-don't-know-who. The driver of the Civic remained in the car, perhaps shaken from the impact.

I wasn't able to assess the damage from my point-of-view, but I think the Expedition's damage is minor (steel bumper only; maybe it moved back a bit). If the Civic is unlucky, aside from the shattered headlamps, it may suffer from damaged steering, which may escalate to drivetrain and suspension damage as well.

The way I saw it, the driver of the Expedition should be liable for all the damages.

Moral Lesson: Slow down at intersections, especially blind ones. You're an idiot not to.