Though not exactly a dash cam video, this particular hit-and-run is a perfect example of why one can be important, or at least capture some interesting footage (and thankfully he did so in landscape mode). In today's example, a driver who decided to flee after rear-ending another car ends up causing another accident when she runs a red light.
In this familiar scenario, Alan Wang happened to be driving when he came across a woman in a black Acura TSX. The car had pretty severe front end damage and its airbags freshly deployed, but was still driving down the road. It was pretty clear to him that the woman had fled an accident, so he began to film the details of the events on his phone. Shortly after, an Audi Q5 passed by the camera car showing damage to its rear bumper and suggesting that it had been the victim in a rear-end collision with the Acura.
The driver of Acura then comes to a stop in the center of an intersection and puts her car in reverse, but doesn't move. Wang decides to pull up beside the Audi and quickly chats with the driver who was identified by local news station KPIX as Ira Schaffer. He was already on the phone with police, who then chirped their sirens at the vehicles impeding traffic. For the woman driving the Acura, this was the cue to take off again.
She continues up the road ahead of Wang with the Audi in chase, blowing through a red light in the process. This time, she wasn't lucky enough to drive away after t-boning a van, nearly causing it to flip over. The driver finally comes to a stop after jumping a curb.
"She almost hit oncoming traffic on Pleasant Hill Road a couple times," Schaffer told the KPIX, "Then I just watched her in slow motion as she went through a red light and broadsided the van."
Police report that the only injury sustained in the accidents was head trauma to the driver of the Acura. Police have also confirmed that although the Audi driver accused the woman of being under the influence, she instead experienced "an undisclosed medical emergency". Fortunately, this chase wasn't as drastic as some of the ones which have occurred in the past. No charges of criminal hit and run have been filed at this time, however this may change depending on the decision of the local district attorney's office.