A careless driver was caught in the act after lying to cover up the cause of a crash in a rental car.
A viral dashcam video from Aug. 25 has social media in an uproar after it captured a nurse practitioner crashing a rented Turo vehicle while texting with both hands off the wheel.
The crash, which happened near Arlington, Washington, highlighted the risks of distracted driving and left the car totaled.
For nearly 20 seconds while speeding, the driverâs eyes stayed locked on her phone. With both hands busy texting, she drifted off the rural two-lane road and smashed into someoneâs property. She walked away without serious injury, but the car was declared a total loss, according to the owner.
The renter initially told the carâs owner that another driver ran her off the road. The footage told a very different story. It shows her completely glued to her phone until impact.
That false claim only intensified outrage.
âPutting her on blast because what the hell were you thinking to lie to me when you knew there was a dashcam that captured the entire thing. I put my car on Turo to make extra money and trusted that the renter wouldnât destroy it. That trust is gone,â the owner wrote.
The owner also vowed to pursue the strongest legal action possible.
Texting is a factor in about 1 in 5 distracted driving deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). A 2023 AAA Foundation study found that texters are six times more likely to cause crashes than drunk drivers.
âIt is terrifying knowing that there are people like that on the roads,â wrote an Instagram viewer. “And she screams and cries like she wasnât on her phone the whole damn time honestly rarely looking at the road. Sheâs lucky she didnât kill someone,” another viewer wrote.
The Arlington crash, now spreading widely online, serves as a stark reminder of those risks and a poignant lesson about accountability.
âNice one, Karen,â one viewer quipped.
