Driving instructor 'horrified' by hydroplaning dashcam footage

The latest locally recorded dashcam video being shared around online is "just horrendous," according to Safety NL driving safety instructor Rudy Singleton.

"I was horrified actually," he said when asked his first thoughts.

• Rainy near-miss latest dashcam video showing dangerous driving

The video shows a black sedan hydroplaning, whipping around 180 degrees on the Outer Ring Road in St. John's.

It was recorded Sunday when the roads were wet and the visibility was low.

That was really a recipe for disaster.- Rudy Singleton

"That was really a recipe for disaster." Singleton said, adding that it was "pure luck" the car didn't flip or hit a guardrail.

"The level of personal injury is probably unthinkable," he said, speculating on what could have been. "Permanent injuries unnecessarily inflicted."

'Driving with abandon'

The black sedan came to stop, facing thevehicle with an in-car camera.

At the end of the recording, the driver with the dash camcan be heard telling the driver who lost control to slow down, to which that driver responded saying she was going 110 km/h.

Singleton called that "driving with abandon," given the conditions.

He said when wipers go on, speed should go down.

"There's enough things that will find us without going looking for them," he said.

Recklessness behind the wheel is increasing along with traffic volume, according to Singleton.

• 2 dangerous drivers caught on dashcam within a single week

And, increasingly, that dangerous driving is being caught on dashcam.However,Singleton saidthe threat of being recorded doesn't seem to be slowing people down.

"It should, but again, there's this air of invincibility creeping inand this air of fatalism that 'it is what it is' and that's more troubling than anything."

Defensive driving is the best way to stay safe, according to Singleton.

He recommends giving yourself space, should you come across a driver who isn't adjusting for the conditions.

"The only road you can control is the road ahead of you so you increase your time and space between that vehicle," he said. "That's the only thing that's going to save you.

"That was purely providential that that person wasn't killed or didn't kill somebody else."

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