During the May Day holiday, I hadn’t planned on traveling far, but my mother-in-law urgently needed to return to her hometown, so we had to make a rushed trip. To avoid heavy traffic, my wife suggested leaving early in the morning. Unexpectedly, my mom called at 3 a.m., asking if we could leave then—she wanted to tag along for a visit too.

But to my surprise, we still ran into massive traffic jams as soon as we hit the road. The Zhaoqing section of the Erguang Expressway was congested for dozens of kilometers, and the Guangqing and Guanglian routes weren’t much better. I followed the navigation’s recommended route and set off.

However, as soon as we left Foshan, things went awry. At the first interchange from the Guangzhou Ring Expressway to the Xuguang Expressway, the two right lanes were packed with large trucks parked and sleeping for nearly five kilometers, making it impossible to merge.

I had no choice but to keep driving forward, hoping to find another entry point further ahead. But the second and third interchanges were exactly the same.

Frustrated and stubborn, I continued on the Ring Expressway until the Beicun Interchange, where I finally managed to merge onto the northbound expressway.

Once on the Guanglian Expressway, traffic jams persisted, lasting from 4:30 a.m. until around 10 a.m.

The Traffic Jam

After daybreak, I snapped a photo while stuck in traffic.

At first glance, it was just an ordinary picture. But as I revisited it while writing this blog post, a chill ran down my spine—it felt like fate had left a clue.

Because just an hour later, I was about to have a close encounter with the large truck on the right.

Note: Upon closer inspection, the truck involved in the accident wasn’t the same one. Only the trailer had the same “Shentong” branding; the license plates were different.

The Accident

I passed Baiyun Airport around 4:10 a.m. and soon hit severe traffic as we entered the mountainous area.

Fatigue

Having slept poorly the night before, I was exhausted. The endless traffic jam was maddening—service areas were inaccessible, and we inched forward at a snail’s pace, sometimes covering just a kilometer or two in an hour.

There was no place to rest unless, like the truckers, I parked on the emergency lane. But that wasn’t an option for me.

Assisted Driving

To ease the strain, I relied on my car’s basic Level 2 (L2) assisted driving system to free up my feet.

However, this five-year-old L2 system was far from the advanced L2.9 or L2.99 features in modern electric vehicles. Equipped with only one radar and a camera for distance and lane detection, it could only handle adaptive cruise control or follow-the-car mode within a single lane.

It worked fine for daily use, and I often enabled it on highways. Still, I had to keep my eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.

The Collision

By 8 a.m., after half a night of grueling traffic, I was mentally drained. I could barely focus, relying mostly on the assisted driving to keep the car in its lane and follow the vehicle ahead.

Especially in tunnels with solid white lines, the system could reliably keep the car centered while the front radar prevented rear-end collisions.

But then, out of nowhere, the large truck to my right started merging into my lane—inside the tunnel.

Already dazed from the traffic, the sight of the truck crossing solid lines left me momentarily stunned.

If I braked manually, the assisted driving would disengage, requiring a restart.

If I didn’t brake, it seemed fine—most of my car had already passed the truck’s rear, and there was enough space in the lane to proceed.

But bizarrely, the truck driver later admitted he’d been looking at his phone and hadn’t noticed the road. His vehicle kept drifting left.

And just like that, my side mirror scraped against his door.

Handling the Accident

This wasn’t my first side mirror scrape. In the past, I’d just snap it back into place, usually with only minor paint damage—no big deal.

This time, though, the electric folding mechanism malfunctioned after I adjusted it.

The truck driver was honest and suggested reporting it to the police.

I warned him, “If we involve the police, you could get fined and penalized for crossing solid lines in a tunnel.”

He hesitated but eventually dialed 122 (China’s traffic accident hotline).

They instructed us to handle it at the next expressway exit since there were no injuries.

After crawling through two more hours of traffic, we finally exited to resolve the matter.

Dozens of cars were already parked roadside, all waiting for accident processing.

After a two-hour wait, we settled it—the truck driver agreed to file an insurance claim.

The real shock came when the 4S shop quoted 3,500 RMB for a new mirror, plus 300 RMB labor. If both the mirror and base were damaged, it’d cost 6,000 RMB—an absurd “parts-to-labor ratio.” The truck driver offered 1,000 RMB at most, scaring me off from a private settlement.

Finally, we used the 12123 app to file an online report and obtained an accident certificate.

Repairs

Yesterday, I took the car to the 4S shop for assessment. They glanced at it and said only the mirror casing needed replacement—but the part had to be ordered.

I was dumbfounded.

Initially, I’d sympathized with the truck driver. His lane change was unavoidable—a stalled vehicle ahead forced his hand.

Truck insurance is expensive, and a claim could spike his premiums. A payout of thousands would’ve hit him hard.

But if it’s just a casing replacement, his compulsory insurance (交强险) would cover it.

Not a bad outcome, all things considered.

Reflection

This was my second highway accident.

The first was in 2016. With all three lanes moving at 120+ km/h, the car ahead suddenly stopped. Misjudging whether it was stationary or slowing, I braked too late and lightly scraped its rear bumper, costing a few hundred RMB.

This time, while the truck driver was fully at fault, I still felt guilty.

Had I been more alert, the collision could’ve been avoided—whether by braking earlier or steering slightly left.

The scariest part? The driver admitted he’d been distracted by his phone. If he’d turned sharper, my entire front could’ve slammed into his truck. Even at under 3 km/h, the damage could’ve been far worse.

Highways are littered with warnings against fatigue driving.

But for traffic jams that drag on for hours—or even a dozen—there seems to be no good solution.

It feels like a paradox.