Dashcam footage shows a Yaris losing control, shedding parts, and failing to escape police
- A Toyota Yaris racing a motorcycle hits a Yukon on city streets.
- The Yaris shreds bodywork, loses spoiler, then tries to flee.
- Police quickly pursue and arrest the driver after the crash.
Sometimes, one bad decision leads to another, and those can spiral into harsh consequences. This weekend, we’re getting a first-person view of just such a situation.
One Toyota Yaris driver with an aftermarket hood scoop and spoiler thought they could engage in track behavior on a public road. Not only did they get a dose of karma pretty quickly, but probably more than they thought possible.
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Our video comes from Mercury Blvd in Hampton, Virginia. That’s not a highway or interstate but rather a busy multi-lane thoroughfare with traffic lights, cross traffic, and everyday drivers just trying to get to their destination safely.
This is, of course, perhaps the worst place to try and race anyone. On top of that, it was around 2 p.m., the competition was allegedly a motorcycle, and traffic wasn’t exactly light.
That said, our dashcam owner, a Reddit user, sits in lane two of the four-lane road, and we see the Yaris approaching in lane three at a high rate of speed relative to traffic. “I was doing 40-45 mph when they flew by me, so likely 60 mph or more,” says the driver.
As the Yaris approaches our camera car and overtakes it, the Yaris driver cuts it off and drives into lane two, only to begin losing control at that same moment.
The Yaris’ rear end heaves left, the driver corrects, and the tail swings out far to the right before making contact with a GMC Yukon in lane three. The carnage to the Toyota itself is dramatic. The rear glass shatters, the rear bumper cover blows off, the trunk peels back, and the giant spoiler bolted to that trunk bolts off for good.
Reddit /MadiCorax
Then comes the attempted escape. Instead of stopping, the Yaris limps away and ducks down a side street. Unfortunately for the driver, a police officer appears almost immediately in the dashcam’s rearview mirror and follows the same turn. As it turns out, the street was a dead end.
According to the original poster, the driver was apprehended and taken to jail within hours. Charges may include felony eluding, as the officer reportedly entered the roadway with lights activated before the Yaris exited. Even more troubling, there were reportedly two adults and two children inside the Yaris at the time of the crash.
Racing is dangerous enough on real racetracks. Doing it in traffic, in a Toyota Yaris, with kids in the car, and a cop nearby? That’s not confidence. That’s a masterclass in bad judgment. We’re just glad everybody walked away injury-free. Aside from the Yaris itself, that is.
