We’ve all done risky things behind the wheel, but I like to believe brake checking wasn’t one of them. Doing it on a highway is exceptionally dangerous, as higher speeds increase the possibility of life-threatening repercussions. Fortunately, everyone in the dashcam footage recorded in Queensland, Australia lived to tell the story, but it could have gone much worse.
A camera mounted on a truck captured a dispute between a Subaru Outback and a Mazda3 in the right lane. For clarity, that’s the fast/passing lane Down Under. The wagon brake checked the hatchback around the 0:10 mark, forcing the Mazda driver to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. It happened again 34 seconds into the video, but the outcome was entirely different.
In an attempt to avoid a rear-end collision while traveling at around 62 mph, the Mazda3 driver swerved left but lost control of the car. The vehicle nearly crashed into a Land Rover Discovery Sport before slamming into a truck traveling in the second lane. It then ricocheted into another truck that was minding its own business. The out-of-control Mazda eventually came to a halt after hitting the guardrails.
The beef between the Subaru and Mazda drivers had clearly started long before the truck caught the shenanigans on camera. Who is at fault here? Well, both. The Outback shouldn’t have brake-checked the Mazda3 once, let alone twice. The Mazda driver shouldn’t have lost their temper by deciding to tailgate after being brake-checked the first time.
It should be noted that Australian law says, “keep left unless overtaking,” so the Subaru shouldn’t have stayed in the right lane after overtaking the truck. Granted, the Outback wasn’t going to pull in front of the truck immediately after overtaking it, but it looks like the driver was more focused on keeping the Mazda behind.
It’s worth mentioning that the Mazda3 driver was on a provisional license, which is not a good sign for future behavior.