While we usually try not to make assumptions, judging by this Toyota driver’s actions prior to the crash we’d say that they were definitely not paying attention to the road.
This could be for a number of reasons; fiddling with a smartphone, searching for something in the cubbyholes, falling asleep; whatever what happened, the footage shows that the RAV4’s driver was oblivious to the presence of a parked car.
This is supported by the fact that they hit the brakes just a second or two before impact, but unfortunately, by then it was too late.
The accident took place late last month at Willowdale Rd in Toronto, Canada. As for the car that was hit, it seems to be a previous-generation BMW X3.
Since the video description doesn’t specify what happened to the driver and/or passengers of the RAV4, we can only hope that they were wearing their seat belt, the safety systems worked as they should and they didn’t suffer any serious injuries.
In the end, this was a case of driver error – nothing more, nothing less. Sure, that particular road wasn’t extremely well lit, but, unless the Toyota’s headlights weren’t working, the driver should have seen the parked Bimmer had they been paying attention, as they should.
Goes to show that you must not relax too much behind the steering wheel and never, ever let anything (or anyone) distract you.