VIDEO: Teen who failed to merge next to big rig asks ‘Did I do the right thing?’

A teenage driver recently shared a dash cam video and asked the internet if they took the correct action by going onto the shoulder when their lane ended as they were driving next to a semi truck.

The video was captured on July 19, 2023, and shared by Reddit user u/spongAF.

The user posted the video with the caption “17 year old driver here- did I do the right thing?”

[OC] 17 year old driver here- did I do the right thing?
by u/spongAF in IdiotsInCars

The post generated more than 800 comments from users who weighed in on the teen driver’s decision.

See a sample of the comments below:

• “Plan your merge better, if you are on the shoulder you screwed up, he wasn’t stopping or getting over so you gotta get behind smoothly.”
• “Yup. Driver’s lane ended, not trucks. There is a little triangle sign that says yield. It’s not up for interpretation. Just yield.”
• “Another piece of advice for a new driver – focus on being safe/staying alive as opposed to being right/wrong. If it’s me vs big rig – I’m gonna defer to the 18-wheeler 10 times out of 10 times.”
• “Yeah, you either needed to accelerate much faster to enter in front of the truck, or you needed to wait until the truck passed to merge onto the highway, but the shoulder isn’t a smart place to be driving.”
• “Just want to add that (most) truck drivers don’t mind letting you into their lane, but it’s much harder for that truck to speed up/slow down than it is for a car. Just something to keep in mind.” 

As a trucker, what advice would you give this teen driver? Let us know in the comment section on Facebook.