So the driver looses a week's income with all the stuff he now has to go through to get back to normal to prove a point, foolish. Most people nowadays are complete self centered morons behind the wheel and a lot of pro drivers are getting that way too. I've lost count of the number of people trying to commit suicide by big truck when I drove. But I do miss driving, my last rig was a 95, emerald green 379 Peterbilt with all the chrome trimmings. N-14 Cummins, 500 hp, 1850 ft.lbs torques, 15 double over Eaton and 3.27 gears, she was a sight and a pleasure to drive. Hauled swinging out of slaughter houses. In all the years only had one collision in Chicago when some dink behind me decided I was turning left on to a six lane divided road from a parking lot too slowly through a median and tried to pass the trailer through the turn and ended up with the trailer tires rolling over her hood crushing the car from the drivers door to the center of her hood and just missing her mom in the passenger seat. The cop could not believe it and ticketed her but the mom was mad at me. Mikey
The truck has the right of way. Should he have been a nice guy and let the olds in? Sure. Does he have to be? Nope. Such is life.
Truckers fault. As a class B trucker this guy who drove the truck is an arrogant ass and intitled too. This is a daily situation for me.. you let the car go and have a great work day then go home SAFELY.. The trucker seen this coming 53 feet away.. this trucker is burned out from his job. I will ONLY drive like this on my last day of work. When i know im quitting, have another job lined up that is better than trucking... On my last day everybody better move
The situation I was in was probably somewhat unique, but damn if that advice wouldn't have worked perfectly and I actually considered it but instead I came darn close to being involved in it. It's hard to do, just like flooring it instead of locking up the brakes as you see race drivers often do - Had I had that reaction it may have very well have saved my '72 GS when I was 18 and rolled it. Thought for sure it was going to come out of a high speed spin heading the right direction, but the rear bumper caught the embankment @ 270 degrees. Had I had the mindset to floor it prior to 270 deg. it may have kept it off the embankment. Will never know...Wound up hanging upside down by the lap belt.
The Oldsmobile driver is a moron. He did not have the right-of-way yet merged without yielding to the truck that was there. But the truck also has the responsibility to maintain control of his vehicle, and he did not. Primary fault is with the Olds, but the truck driver would also receive a ticket. Those blaming the trucker are all wet.
But one is much more at fault, and that is the Oldsmobile's driver. Personally, I never turn into lanes that already have the merge sign, and I always signal when merging. Bugs the @#$ out of me when folks just assume I know they're going to cut me off.
Erik, bring those tires to my house. My daughter will put them on her lifted 4x4. Ha, ha, ha... Drive like your life depended on it dude! Mikey
It bugs me that the truck driver actively accelerated and closed the gap when the left lane was ending. But what I don't understand is how after the first impact happened, the truck didn't seem to lose any speed until the car was sideways under his nose. I'm sure this has no legal weight, but the driver of the 442 had the truck at his 5 o'clock and had no passenger side mirror. As negligent as he was, it was out of his normal field of view and it's very possible that he didn't see the truck - Who on this site would knowingly ram a semi, or play chicken with one with his beloved antique car? But the whole thing was happening under the nose and eyes of the truck driver, who I don't see how he could not have seen this happen in fairly slow motion, yet did NOTHING to avoid the accident while it was happening. To me the problem lies in that one party likely didn't see what was happening and the other had a privileged vantage point, which puts the inaction to avoid the accident in different perspectives.
It's immaterial whether the Olds had a passenger side mirror or not – it's still his responsibility to merge safely. He prob was a typical passive nabob behind the wheel.
I'm with you on that. He likely paid no attention to all of the signs stating that the lane would end. Also, he likely had the ability to out accelerate the truck had he been paying attention. If there is other available real estate, he should never find himself in that situation to start with. Personally, I'm tired of other drivers that don't pay attention, and think the other drivers should accommodate them.
No doubt, I'm sure we all are BUT that still doesn't shake the need for clear thinking and slowing down to let said "nabob" in regardless if he is wrong for his actions. If you're not thinking about yours or his best interests at least consider all the other interests of those around you also sharing the road. Two "nabobs" = bad results and that's exactly what this was - both drivers being asshats and having little to no consideration for the safety of others around them regardless of who is right and who is wrong. They both are liable, morally for sure, and according to the state laws governing the road they were on, legally as well.
So everyone brakes, The doink ends up stopping. All of the traffic for miles behind must stop so that this person can enter the traffic flow. YAY. Makes me want t drive over them an eliminate the pool..
^^^ And the length of time of that the flow would be stopped, vs the amount of time the rubberneckers slowed to a crawl to look at the crash and the flashing lights far exceeded the inconvenience that the stop would have caused. And, yes, jackwagons irritate the crap out of me twice a day, every day in my commute, so I agree with your last statement. Passed by a multivehicle mess that no vehicles, nor emergency vehicles were blocking the road, yet bumper to bumper for over a mile and for nearly 2 hours (according to the road reports) as people slowed to turtle ramming speed to look at cars with mild to moderate dentage and distribution of plastic components. Slowing to a crawl to rubberneck has always red lined my frustration clock.
There seems to be a habit of wanting the guy with the old car to be the one not at fault. The truth is that he shares most of the blame. It's how the truck driver responded that made it bigger than it had to be. Another truth? The hoops we must jump through in order to obtain the privilege of a driver's license in the U.S. is quite laughable. Each state can do better, but it's unlikely they will.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1983066218442563 Another four wheeler who doesn't read well. Or look and plan ahead.
