Dec 27th 2021, 8:41:25
Having driven a big truck for a number of years, I can agree that the accident was entirely avoidable, providing the driver had adequate training and supervision, which is hardly provable from these three clips.
There were lots of things that could have led up to this from the driver's perspective.
1st would be the required inspection of the entire vehicle prior to putting it into service, there are a mandated 108 checks on an 18 wheeler that must be done, and logged into the driver's log prior to operation. If there was an issue with the brakes, it should have been detected then.
2nd would be the grade of the hills, when you're hauling with the weight of a semi, you cannot rely on mechanical brakes alone to slow the truck. Prior to going down the grade you must downshift to a gear which will provide the engine braking system with enough leverage to slow the truck down the grade, relying solely on mechanical friction brakes results in over heating of those brakes.
3rd would be the runaway truck ramp which the driver allegedly didn't take. This last would have been the last opportunity to prevent this tragedy.
But we must really look deeper into this to understand it. Let's look at some facts. I know you leftists hate looking at facts, but we really must.
The driver's English speaking ability was lacking. This is not uncommon, but the reason for it is important. The questions involved are, "Was the driver a legal immigrant? If he was an illegal, then we have to find out how he got a job with such critical safety issues at stake. Was he properly trained? Most state licensing requirements can be met simply by studying the book that each state issues for the purpose of passing the test. A good truck driving school will require that you do some roadwork to prove your competence. Most legal companies will provide a driver trainer system where a new driver is paired with an experienced driver to learn those things you can only learn through experience.
So, did this company with a lackluster safety record hire an illegal, who was poorly trained and equipped to do this job at a discount so that they might make more money? This seems likely to me, and that company needs to be fully audited prior to recertification, and all it's driver's tested and evaluated.
As far as that goes, it doesn't correct all the potential accident issues. After driving a big truck for several years, I learned the following things which are a large contributing factor in motor vehicle accidents involving big trucks.
1. The car drivers are suicidal.
Car drivers routinely ignore safety issues surrounding the fact that they must share the road with large heavy vehicles who have little ability to stop on a dime. For example, I was hauling a load of Pepsi from their plant in Baltimore, to a distributorship in Northern Jersey, my rig was right up to the limit of 80,000 lbs. So, in accord with that, I would leave ample distance between my truck and the vehicle i was following, yet invariably some idiot in a car would swoop into that space like I reserved it for their convenience, and never even consider the safety issues. Around exits and onramps, it gets worse by a lot.
The traffic laws are twisted in favor of lack of understanding and finding ways to increase revenue by writing tickets for various and sundry infractions. The list is endless, and primarily falls upon the professional drivers.
The freak out by that weirdo who thought he was going to die by being passed by a big truck means nothing, there is no proof that the driver of that truck was the same one in fact.
I don't need anger management, people need to stop pissing me off!