There are 26-lane highways and alternate side parking rules in this country, but somehow we haven’t quite figured out the roundabout. A driver in Dallas launched their car off the center of a roundabout last Thursday, sending the crashing car rolling before it, burst into flames and smashed into a condo. Thankfully, no one was injured. The Dallas Police Department cited the CCTV stunt star for driving without a license.
The video footage looks ripped from an early “Fast & Furious” knockoff. The car comes into shot, hurdling down a street and blasting past another vehicle. At this point, the sedan is going far too fast to make the roundabout. You can hear the tires screech just before the car plows into the landscaped center island and launches into the air. The landing was rough. The car came down at an angle on the opposite curb and pitched into a roll. Most of the destruction happens at the edge or out of frame. You can see the car burst into flames as it rolls out of the shot. Then, the CCTV camera shakes as the car hits the building. Nearby resident Sydney Richard told KDFW:
“You’re not going to end up in a house if you’re just slowing down to figure out where you’re going. I think it’s people that are just being absolutely reckless that are ending up in those situations.”
This was the second crash at the roundabout this year
There was another incident at the roundabout while first responders were at the scene. Another driver left the road and nearly struck Richard and another neighbor. The police arrested that driver at the scene and charged her with driving while intoxicated. The fire department is pretty familiar with this roundabout because an SUV had a similar crash there in February. The vehicle took the same path over the center island, but plowed into the home next door.
Right now, the average American driver is being put to shame by software. An empty Waymo robotaxi went on a dizzying trip last year, looping a roundabout like a professional. Sure, it’s not the most efficient way of reaching its next customer, but the driverless taxi didn’t create a doorless French window in the side of someone’s home. We need to step up our game as a nation. New Zealand is literally running rings around us with a railroad crossing through one of its roundabouts.
