Have you ever been "that guy?" We're talking about that motorist who causes a massive traffic jam on account of a flat tire, blown engine or other unfortunate event out of his control. Most of the time it's not as if "that guy" sets out to break down and snarl the afternoon rush.
But then there's the advanced-level "That Guy." That Guy has generally done something completely stupid, which ultimately causes this whole mess. Based on this video clip sent in by a reader, That Guy was recently seen in Romania. A traffic cam caught him driving his SUV on the train tracks (always a good idea) that split a Bucharest highway. A little fishtailing action is seen, and then... he's stopped. Trains can only pass in one direction, and you can watch as the crowd around him grows over time. At one point, it looks as if the passengers from a train he's blocking are all let off, as a swarm of people walk past him and continue up the tracks. Full "That Guyness" is achieved when a flatbed shows up to pull him out of his predicament, which manages to stop both train and road traffic. There was probably a lot of cursing in Romanian. The video's after the jump. Thanks, Mircea!
UPDATE: The vehicle in question is a Hyundai Santa Fe, photos of which can be seen at Autolatest.com. Its soft-roading abilities apparently do not include railroad tracks. Thanks to Lucian for the heads-up!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
SPG @ Mar 14th 2008 1:09PM
Haha, that's awesome.
I'd pray for death if I was "that guy" though.
JMC 3 @ Mar 14th 2008 1:15PM
I was almost "that guy' when my VW GTI decided to break down halfway through the Queens/Midtown tunnel ,she started up again after 10 mins.
Dinger @ Mar 14th 2008 2:06PM
I saw that guy on the Whitestone bridge once. He was broken down in the northbound lane, past the halfway point, so he could have coasted to the toll plaza at the bottom of the bridge and gotten out of the way. But no.
falloutagain @ Mar 14th 2008 1:34PM
having a car stall/break down on a road is part of life and has pretty much happened to everyone.
but this guy is a true jakas for driving on the tracks.
but then again, this may be some Romainian custom or something
Nuieve @ Mar 14th 2008 2:29PM
where else would you go in that traffic?
BirdmanSTX @ Mar 14th 2008 1:38PM
I like how in parts of it, the cars are three-wide when the lane markings are for 2 lanes... LOL
CEMan @ Mar 14th 2008 1:49PM
We think traffic here is bad. It never even slowed down for the entire video. Just keeps going and going and going...
Pat @ Mar 14th 2008 1:53PM
Speaking of the regular "that guy"
Yesterday morning the Champlain Bridge (Montreal) was jammed really good and the signs said that there was a car stalled in the left lane.
As my bus (unaffected) rode over the kilometre long bridge I couldn't help wonder where "that guy" was ...
He, and his Mercedes ML, were 20 feet away from the emergency lane.
As the radio announcer put it, c'mon get out and push the damn thing.
Quattrofan @ Mar 14th 2008 2:15PM
Wanna get away?
Nuieve @ Mar 14th 2008 2:24PM
Why is this video even posted? This is a regular city situation. The guy's car started breaking down, and he probably was at the left lane at the time and couldn't reach over to the right to go to the empty field. So he pulled onto the tracks so as not to cause jam. There wasn't really anywhere else he could go in that tight of a traffic. I also assume, in Europe people just don't stop and let you out like in most smaller American cities. Apparently something was wrong with his car (you can see him coming out of the car several times). He decided to put his car in between the tracks, not on them, which probably had enough space for a car not to pevent trains from passing. If you can see the train sopped because of the crowd, not because the car itself was on the tracks.
And the jam he caused lasted only a few minutes... big deal. It is lame to call him stupid. To sum up situation for those with ADD: guy's car breaks down, he has nowhere to go but to the space in between the railroad tracks. He calls towing. Towing truck arrives, and maneuvring it in the middle of dense traffic causes a jam, which eventually gathers a crowd which eventually stalls the traffic. The guy gets towed within a few minutes, which makes this jam, situation, video and autoblog comment about 2/10 on a scale of big-dealness.
carmaniac @ Mar 14th 2008 3:10PM
Did you even WATCH the video before commenting?
It's obvious that his car was fine BEFORE he stopped on the tracks. You can see him try to keep going before beaching it on the track.
He was trying to skip traffic...plain and simple, by being an idiot.
Moose @ Mar 14th 2008 4:03PM
A few minutes? An 8 minute video... Even speeded up I'll bet that was more like 45 minutes to an hour...
I have to go with carmaniac here and assume you didn't actually watch the video, let alone read the entire post. Your posit of a broken down car doesn't fly either: he clearly had forward motion in the car, whilst on the tracks.
"guy's car breaks down, he has nowhere to go but to the space in between the railroad tracks". Seriously? Nowhere to go but in the path of trains is better than blocking one lane of a two lane road?
And look again, he is NOT in the space between the tracks, he is stuck straddling a rail, making this statement even more ludicrous, "He decided to put his car in between the tracks, not on them, which probably had enough space for a car not to pevent trains from passing. If you can see the train sopped because of the crowd, not because the car itself was on the tracks.". There are TWO tracks. Sure one direction is not stopped, but the other quite clearly is, and you can even see the train stopped in the later frames.
I certainly hope you show better judgment on the road than your statement would imply.
Eyad @ Mar 14th 2008 4:17PM
Preach on, fool. Have you lived in Europe to know so much? FYI that happened 10mins from my apartment. The guy was an idiot pure 'n simple. There's no easy way to get on the tracks from where he was (and consequently no easy way off either). He had to have came from earlier on and decided to "cheat" traffic.
Alex @ Mar 14th 2008 5:04PM
You are so freaking arrogant for obviously having no idea what you are talking about. The only part of this that is lame is your response in defending a total nincompoop. Honestly in what world is parking your car on or close enough to train tracks that you get yourself lodged on them the best idea?
geekmorgan @ Mar 14th 2008 5:16PM
If you watch the clock in the top right corner you can see this happened of 55 minutes! Notice all the a-holes going two cars wide in the on-ramp.
BowserUSC @ Mar 15th 2008 7:42PM
I think the evidence from the posts above clearly show that you were the idiot on the tracks! HA HA HA
Xcountryflyer @ Mar 14th 2008 2:26PM
I've never been the guy who is actually stuck in traffic lanes broken down, but I think everyone has had a flat or some sort of road hazard incident off to the side.
Nuieve @ Mar 14th 2008 2:27PM
I just looked again, and it looks like the reason he was coming out of his car was probably to ensure that his car was parked so that was enough space for trains to pass. Hence a few movements forward. Which is not that "stupid" if you ask me,
tpp @ Mar 14th 2008 2:30PM
That sure was advanced level that guyness.
Even when he was driving ok on the tracks, he was still going slower than the congested traffic right next to him. What a tard.
Sly @ Mar 14th 2008 7:57PM
Guys,you wont believe,but that's the everyday reality of the romanian traffic.
Unfortunately not always there is someone with a camera.
I lived ther till a year ago when I moved here in Toronto and even at its worse Toronto traffic is a blessing compared to Bucharest.