A Crash-Filled Crash Course in Why Overtaking in Corners Is a Bad Idea

Others, though, are so obvious that we would actually be offended if somebody felt the need to mention anything about them. Sticking out fingers in a wall socket, for example. Or poking a lion with a stick. The same goes for eating nails. Do you tend to see a pattern here? Maybe not a pattern, but something all of these activities have in common?

They tend to bring our fragile little lives to an abrupt end. Overtaking in corners (or just before them) is something that can proudly sit alongside trying to swim with your hands and feet tied or holding your breath for one hour in a top of stupid things to do right before you die. And it doesn't take a genius to realize why.

Forgive me for explaining this, but there might be some among us who frequently overtake before a bend so I just want to make sure we're on the same page. The reason we're allowed to pass the car in front of us only on straight bits of the road isn't because somebody doubts your ability to corner at speed, but because it's in everyone's interest to have a clear view of the opposite lane as far in front as possible. Unless you've devised a way of bending your vision, a corner makes that impossible and so it's advisable to stick to your side of the road. Simple.

Behold this clip that shows a very violent head-on crash in Russia involving two cars that overtook slower cars just before the bend. Ironically enough, both of them manage to pull back in time, only one is too energetic about it and loses control swerving in front of the oncoming Lada. A more unusual thing about this video is that it shows the incident from both perspectives - there's a car with a dashcam on both sides of the road.