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Giving honest truckers a bad name


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     Fortunately for the Biker he survived, but at what cost?As for the trucker??? This will most likely cost him time in prison and loss of his  CDL/ drivers license  .

 Not to mention having to pay damages!

 

 

       Be Well

          Gator

Edited by gatorincebu
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Now, from what I could see from the low res video, the driver is going WAY too fast #1. The driver was obviously not paying attention #2. Not knowing the driver, but it's pretty safe to say he's a total jackass, who should not be driving a go-cart, nevermind a truck and 53'er. Fortunately, this time, the biker is ok. The bike can be replaced. The driver needs to be locked up, and not be allowed to drive ever again. Maybe in time a car. Stuff like this happens WAY to much. Sometimes with the worse outcomes, sometimes like this instance. 

Im not saying im perfect, cause im not. But, i would never allow something like this or like what that Walmart driver did happen. With the findings of the Tracy Morgan accident out. The driver in gross excess, 20 over posted construction limit, then admitted to being up 28 hours with no sleep because he couldn't sleep! I see a serious shake up coming in the trucking industry. Just as we were makin head way towards more practical regulations. Then morons like this and the driver in the Tracy Morgan deal, really take us down. 

It's really too bad the only way the government can look at things is all or nothing. The faults of a few, ruin it for those who do things right. The old saying, when they raid the cat house, they take the piano player too. 

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There really needs to be a shakeup in the industry. A few years ago, less than a mile from my house, a truck hauling ice plowed into the back of an SUV that had stopped because the car in front of them was turning. The SUV contained three kids and two adults(an ex coworker of mine). One of the boys is paralyzed, the other has permanent brain damage and will never mature past the age of two and has constant seizures. It turned out that the driver was texting and hit them at full speed of 65mph. 

In the case of this link I posted, let's not forget this was not just reckless driving, the guy was drunk and high! No one should ever get behind the wheel of anything, much less a truck in that condition. These fleets really need to crack down on who they hire. This could have been my family or your family sitting there in a car. I don't know how the guy survived, but. I'm sure he won't be 100% again. This kind of thing makes me furious, being that I come from 3 generations of truckers. My family has been involved with trucking since the 1940s. To see it digress into this kind of thing is appalling. 

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Im not saying im perfect, cause im not. But, i would never allow something like this or like what that Walmart driver did happen. With the findings of the Tracy Morgan accident out. 

I'm not saying the driver was not wrong by any measure, but I know that section of the New Jersey Turnpike and I'm very surprised that no news account mentioned the road conditions that contributed to the accident.  That section of road,  which was 2 sets of three lanes (cars & truck lanes) separated by a divider, total of six lanes going North....  for no known reason just comes to a dead stop at any time of day or night.  Traffic crawls for a few miles and then you are back up to speed again.  That accident happened at something like 1am on a Sunday morning, and being on a Turnpike at highway speed and it suddenly coming to a complete stop surprises everyone. There were always accidents there.  Never mind a drowsy driver.  

The news reports went nuts to slander Walmart when the truth is that they run one of the safest fleets in the country.  After listening to NJ rant radio talking about Walmart's fleet being responsible for 9 deaths in the last two years.   OMG, these clowns on the radio wanted to shut Walmart down for that!   But...

Wal-Mart is consistently recognized as having one of the safest private fleets in the country, with an accident frequency of 0.342 per million miles traveled, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Wal-Mart trucks have been involved in 380 crashes in the last 24 months, according to data compiled by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Nine people have been killed in those crashes; 129 have been injured.

That record is over 6500 trucks and 8500 drivers.  Actually an incredible safety record.  And the news also sensationalized that the driver may have been going 65mph... but never mentioned that is the speed limit.  In fact if you're going 65 on the NJ Turnpike you are in the way!

Since then that area of the  Turnpike has been expanded to I believe six lanes times two.  So that road condition shouldn't exist there any more.  And again the irony is that this accident hit the national news because it involved a celebrity and Walmart.   About a week later there was a much worse accident on the PA Turnpike, where a truck ran into the back of another truck stopped on the shoulder resulting in a fireball that killed several people. That was barely a mention on the local evening news.

 

Edited by Tom Geiger
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see that makes it even hard on the new guys trying to get in to driving truck or even those who need just a cdl and in turn makes it harder on the guys who are doing what they are suppost to be doing because there is going to be so much work that needs to be done and not enough drivers to go around. 

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Tom, I really hate to say this (but it's true).  The only reason why the Tracy Morgan story was on the news for so long is because he is a celebrity (and possibly a couple of other reasons, too).  If he had been a "Regular Joe", it might have been a one evening story on the news, then they would have moved on to the Kardashians!

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Tom, I really hate to say this (but it's true).  The only reason why the Tracy Morgan story was on the news for so long is because he is a celebrity (and possibly a couple of other reasons, too).  If he had been a "Regular Joe", it might have been a one evening story on the news, then they would have moved on to the Kardashians!

My point. And for the media to find a reason to bash Walmart.  That's why Walmart settled that case quickly for big money.  To get out of the friggin news!  Like I had said earlier, there was an accident on the PA Turnpike the next week where a sleepy trucker hit the back of a truck sitting in the shoulder. That trucker had stopped to help a family who had a breakdown in a car.  Big fireball, killed them all!  It was 5 or 6 people dead. Barely made the news.

Edited by Tom Geiger
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I have to say, the biggest thing I hate about driving truck, is the sccidents. It gets to me sometimes when I see a bad accident. Especially when a major factor is the cause is distracted drivers, cars or trucks. The worst I seen was a few years ago. A moving van, a Penske van, a family moving. The rental was stopped on the shoulder, with what I would guess, the family Suburban on its right with a flat. A big truck, came along, speeding, totally destroyed the rental. All I could make out was the color and rear roll up frame. Everything else was scattered all over. The biggest thing that's burned into my memory is that yellow tarp. That is one I truely, to my core, DO NOT want to see. To be honest I pulled over a few miles down the road. Made a few phone calls to tell people I loved them, because you never know what is going to happen. I trust myself on the road, it's the other person who isn't watching what they're doing that will ruin someone's world, to core. 

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     Someone said here earlier"distracted driver" .I rode a motorcycle when I was in the States.And anyone that rides can attest to this.It is not a comfortable feeling to be on the Interstate cruising along in the middle or right lane.When someone passes you on the right or possibly the left going way over the speed limit while texting, or the soccer Mom reaching over the back seat to do something with one of the rugs rats.I  even had people try to take pictures of me while driving.

   The other side of that coin is the bikers that drink and ride! And I knew a bunch of them. I would not ride with a lot of them.

    Hey it is illegal to drink while driving, that means coffee or any other beverage.

     That this Professional driver was under the influence is a sad state of affairs.  Some of the laws we have today are the result of drivers using drugs to stay awake!!! You don't need more laws! You need responsible people!!!

 

 

    Be Well

    Gator

 

Edited by gatorincebu
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Motorcycles... about 2 weeks ago I was on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on a Saturday. Traffic was not extreme, but busy and moving at high speeds... but with weekend drivers anything is possible.  One minute you're going 80 and the next minute everyone jams their brakes and you are sitting still. The traffic around me was going maybe 75mph and suddenly a big Harley with a couple on it is along side me.  Neither of them has a helmet on and the woman rider is wearing flip flops. Talk about a death wish! 

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All I can say is WOW!!!! Being a rider and a driver I hate to see stuff like this. Happens a lot though where drivers make bad decisions. I had a Fed Ex driver pull out into an intersection in front of me a couple days ago.  Fortunately I ride an extremely maneuverable crotch rocket. Drivers making poor choices is killing those of us who drive responsibly.  

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Tom, I really hate to say this (but it's true).  The only reason why the Tracy Morgan story was on the news for so long is because he is a celebrity (and possibly a couple of other reasons, too).  If he had been a "Regular Joe", it might have been a one evening story on the news, then they would have moved on to the Kardashians!

More likely because it involved the "evil wal mart" being sarcastic. Either way what happened to professionalism?

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  • 2 weeks later...

There are good and bad drivers in every mode of transportation....  I have had truckers stop to help me when stranded with breakdown or flat before knowing that they get paid by the mile and time is an issue.  I also have had one truck driver nearly run me off the road hitting the side of a car I once owned coming at me in the other lane.  On the same note I use to ride bikes and seen many that should not be allowed to ride due to their driving like idiots....but being a past bike rider there is danger from others on the road that just do not pay attention to what there doing.  My accident in 1996 was from a 18 year old kid with his stepmoms car running at least 60mph in a 30 zone playing with the radio.  He hit my car from behind at about 60mph while I was stopped at a red light.  There are good and bad drivers in all modes or transportation and ages other there. Glad the rider is ok hes blessed.

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