Three siblings are dead and a fourth was hospitalized in critical condition after their SUV rear-ended a tractor trailer parked on the shoulder of a highway. The trucker says he was parked there because he couldn’t find a parking spot and his hours of service were up.
It was around 1 a.m. on Thursday, February 28th, when the accident occurred. Eli, Sarah, Eva, and Aaron Villareal were driving west on I-80 in Emeryville, California in the San Francisco metro area. The siblings were headed to the hospital to see their terminally ill father.
Investigators don’t yet know why the SUV drifted onto the shoulder, but say the conditions and speed could have been factors.
“The roadway was slick,” CHP spokesman Officer Herman Baza said. “The car did lose control, so we will see if that was part of it. When it’s wet or inclement weather, what we tell people is slow down, slow down, slow down.”
Whatever the reason, their vehicle slammed into the back of a parked truck, and was wedged underneath the trailer. The three older siblings all died in the crash, but 17-year-old Aaron survived with serious injuries.
According to police, the truck driver was asleep inside of his truck at the time and was uninjured. The unnamed driver was ticketed for parking illegally on the shoulder of the highway. CHP says that the driver told them that he had parked there because he hadn’t been able to find a legal place to park before his hours were up.
The trucker did not immediately face any charges other than illegal parking, but authorities say that the investigation is ongoing. CHP says that they still may decide to issue additional charges.
“That truck was in the wrong place– it was in the wrong place,” said bereaved mother Yanira Villareal according to ABC7.
“Maybe it would have been a different story, maybe I would’ve had my siblings or at least some of them still,” said Dan Villareal. “I don’t know. Only God knows, but we want answers. I want an answer– I want to know why.”
Source: mercurynews, sanfraciscocbslocal, abc7, kron4, abc7
My husband was killed by a trucker because his car died on the road and he didn’t make it all. The way to the shoulder. And the truck hit him without hitting his breaks said the car behind the truck that slowed down and moved over to let the truck get in front of her . And state patrol determined it was my husband’s fault he wouldn’t be dead if the trucker was watching the road but I lost because the trusted state patrol always wins and I had alot of hate in me at first and I wished it would happen to that state patrols wife and I am very mad still I don’t wish it to happen to anyone for any reason. I wish my husband was still here and that’s all. They is always victims and it sucks when state patrol gets to play God .
Ma’am..your going on he said she said..u don’t know for sure what happened cause you were not there….and because your husband died doesn’t make it the truck drivers fault.
Sorry for your lost but there isn’t a trucker out here who does not pay attention for what’s in front of him. Maybe he tried to get over but couldn’t? Or he hit his brakes but could not stop n time? Not many people will give truckers room much less back out to allow trucker to avoid a situation. I think it should be a law when u renew or get your license, u must watch a video on What a truck can and can’t do and how to share the road
” it sucks when state patrol gets to play God .” I agree. The Ohio Police played “politics” to cover up for an Ohio driver’s neglect of running a red light into the side of my truck, killing HIS passenger. I lost my CDL,and the truck I had just bought. And got a “vehicular manslaughter ” charge on my record. You can’t fight ” dishonest cops” there are way too many of them. Sorry for your loss.
I have been told not to park on the shoulder, all truck drivers are tasked to be the last reasonable person to prevent an accident. In Texas a few years back, a granddad with his grandson and granddaughter lost control of his pickup, crossed the medium and hit a truck head on killing himself and his grandson. The trucking company paid out 24 million to the family of the paraplegic 13 year old granddaughter. It happens all the time, so be aware.
if u drive for blue star u would be fired ,sitting duck.policy
Stupid …cause I’m sure people running blue star probably never drove..blue star sucks ..
What’s your point?
Exactly point on point! Sands California had very limited truck parking. That’s one reason paper logs are better!
Electronic or paper, either way if drive ran LEGAL, he would still be at the same place at the same time. The real problem is inadequate parking along many major routes for trucks at night.
Very true!
How about weather, accidents, traffic, maintenance issues, shipper/receiver delays, which all change your entire hours game plan. Obviously you must be an extremely lucky driver to always have everything go as planned!
But u always know the response, oh driver u should’ve planned ur trip better lol
thats a big problem in some states absolutely no where to park and that’s sad that incident happened and you know the trucker will get screwed on that deal we always do I’ve had to stop up to 2 hours before my time run out because of ELD just to park the government needs to put truck parking spots all throughout states with limited parking or rout your trip better.
…unfortunate that 3 lives were lost, but as I recall it: hitting a stationary vehicle is a huge “no no”.
Teeennnnnnnnnn four!
So again the big truck driver is at fault for doing all he could to remain in compliance and still catches flack.
Yes, because we are professionals you know when your hours are going to run out instead of waiting until the last hour you are allowed to drive before you look for a spot to park. Start looking sooner. Better to be late then to cause an accident. That being said the government needs to start building more rest stops now.
Well said Captain Obvious!
This is why the FMCSA made the “SAFE HAVEN RULE” You are allowed to drive to the nearest safe place to park and shut down if you hours fun out due to unforeseen conditions. With that being said CHP has started to ticket drivers that are parked in large vacant areas that we have been able to park at for years. You have to plan you route and WORK YOUR PLAN
Yes the safe haven rule exists but there is a catch if you hit someone or someone hits you you are liable for the accident. You also can only go a certain distance. All of this comes down to proper trip planning. How many truckers can say that they still use a mapbook and a truck stop guide?
“SAFE HAVEN RULE” is for hazmat loads only. Many use it but they do so illegally.
As ure dispatcher would,say u didn’t utilize ure hours properly
As a driver would say…where do u park the truck when the truck stop is full??
Well you could at least get off on a ramp! You would have to be a total idiot to park on the shoulder of a interstate.
Try shutting down early dummy!!!!!
Wrong. I have started looking for a place to park before with 2 hours left on clock in AR and still couldn’t find a place before time wad out. East Coast and West Coast in the major city areas worse. And the New England states you might as well forget it. Most places that there would be legal parking the local cities enact ordinances that you cannot. And even in the rest areas where tractor trailers are supposed to park you’ll find people in cars taking up our spots. Parking is a major problem with trucks. Everybody wants their stuff delivered but nobody wants them to park in their town. And FYI. My great-uncle almost died when he ran up under a broke down tractor trailer on the side of the interstate. No one on our family ever blame the truck for breaking down. It was an accident caused by his taking his eyes off the road for a moment
Absolutely right; on all points.
Did you see where this driver was? I-80 in California. I’m sure he tried earlier to park but parking is VERY limited. This is NOT the drivers fault at all. It’s whoever was driving the car that killed their families fault. The SUV lost control and hit a vehicle on the shoulder… If that SUV slowed down and got in opposite lane, they all would be alive right now.
This. In the 25+ years I was trucking I NEVER EVER parked on the shoulder or an exit ramp to sleep. Good trip planning should be hammered in to these noobs. I’ve known drivers in the past who faced real charges. Only reason to be on that shoulder is broke down with triangles properly placed.
So Todd, what are you saying, start 3 or 4 hours early? If that truck had broken down those people would be just as dead. We haven’t got the full story yet. The suv driver could have been speeding or looking at the phone.
You can’t base your trips on where you can find parking. If I run out of time looking for a place to park and I’m not too tire I keep driving. If I have to I will pay to park cause that’s better than driving tired.
An quit closing them cause of a storm would help to ,lots of the places next to exits in the triangle spaces would be great places to build parking like in southern states in places.
Not true any other time a person hits a parked vehicle it’s the moving cars fault. If anything the trucker may get an illegal parking ticket, but those deaths are solely on the driver of the car.
He was in a metro area at 1 am. Why was he parked on the side of the highway?
Yes if he doesn’t have his triangles out. He is not supposed to be sitting on shoulder.. he could have called a cop and cop could have told him what to do or escort him to safe haven
If this accident happened the other way around
And the suv was parked on the shoulder and got rear ended by a sleepy truck driver
Would the opinions in the media coverage and cops be the same ?
Or would they be blaming the person who fell asleep and ran off the road ?
True
The truck driver did the safe thing, he got off the road because he was out of hours and was tired. The lines on the road are there for everyone to drive between, that truck driver didn’t make that women speed.
really he killed 3 people,, being so stupid as to park on a highway shoulder and going to bed,,
While I would not blame the truck driver for the accident, I do wonder why so many truckers park illegally and blame lack of parking. As a truck driver, I have never had to park like that. It’s called planning ahead and leaving yourself room for error in case plan A does not work. No, the trucker should not be charged, but he damn sure could have found a safer place to park.
Truckers should stand for this driver and make sure nothing happens to him… they made the law which forces us to park at unsafe places and it was a big concern for us from day one. but now they want to blame us and accuse of wrong doing… i am sorry that people died and the family should sue FMCSA, so should the driver… He was forced by LAW to stop and sleep not by choice…
I agree and the driver of the SUV “failed too maintain their lane” by going off the road hitting the parked TT.
If you loose control of your vehicle its just like doing the Jack knife thing.You can’t control it because your out of control so if you’re out of control you must have been going to fast for conditions . Therefore the acident is your fault .The driver of this four wheeler should be charged as so .
Absolutely!
Have you stopped to think that the driver is one of the dead?
Try to find any place in that area at that time, don’t blame truck driver, blame the rules that was implemented by not compitent rulers
I believe there isxslot of debate on this. But the fact is that the elog or law did not force him to drive. Or force him to park on the shoulder. I know some states allow you to park on the side of the road as long as you are behind the white line. But once again the law does allow you to find the nearest safe place to park. And driving the extra hour looking for a place to park doesn’t mean you are gonna be on time for delivery. Once you set your trip in motion there us no way to speed it up unless you are speeding or cheating your log. While I also agree parking is an issue and may have been the issue here, proper planning and proper training is an issue out there these days. God bless the family for there loss and Hopefully all works out for the truck driver.
I to agree. The government has started this problem and hasn’t done anything to make places for drivers to go.
I driven through many states that rest areas have been closed down, places that are used by the government for random weight stations are closed off for parking even though there’s plenty of room so a driver can shut down.
Many of you know that there are things we can not control, we can plan trips and have time to get where we need to go but it only takes one construction site, one accident or a change of weather to mess up a well planned trip.
E-logs haven’t made the roads any safer and this driver was doing what needed to be done to comply with the terms the government has laid out for truckers.
Shoulders both on and off ramps are made sometimes where a semi can be off the highway but some States have it where a truck less lone a car can pull off.
I agree with that.
How do you know? You dont! There is no parking all across America,because of your stupid elogs. If the roads was that bad the stupid ass car should have pulled over. Atleast the truck driver followed the stupid elog rules.
You are right, if he had planned his day he would not have been on the side of the road. So while he was charged by the police, the law also needs to charge the 5 nearest truck stops more harshly than the truck driver. After all they refuse to add parking space so they can increase profit, and road safety. Thus they should be hit equally as hard, or harder than the truck driver.
Everytyme you go into a trkstop find no parking and get back on the hwy could take upto a half hour . 3 parking lots are full 1.5 hours out of your day now you are out of hours.point .we have no way of knowing if the lot is going to be full when we start our day
Why were they driving oñ the shoulder anyway
Probably texting and ran right! In 35 years I’ve been guilty of speeding a couple of times but never had a incident nor accident! But in the past 6 months have had a incident due to a texter with no damage to a vehicle but, put me out of work for 3 months. Then had an accident due to a texter that looked up and saw the traffic stop in his lane and whipped over in front of me 10 feet off of my front bumper and hit his brakes. Bobtails don’t stop on a dime especially on a wet road. This time I didn’t have anywhere to go because we were on that 18 mile bridge in Louisiana. I was charged with improper following. Before that car cut over the nearest vehicle in my lane was at least 100 yards ahead! What part of improper is tha
How can you plan ahead.when there a traffic accident which cause a 3hrs delay or something went wrong on were they was a big delay at the customer shipping
Well said !!!
Well say.
If these states are so concerned why do they not carve out parking areas at regular intervals and if they are so concerned about pee bottles install trash containers and or porta potties. I started driving in 1968 at that time we were allowed to park in small cutouts in California then they changed the law and now they blame us for poor planning. What about the guy just starting? How is he going to plan if he has never been that route. Its easy to blame others for mistakes you make. Blame the trucker for you running into him. Maybe you shoul have slowed down on a slick road or pulled into a gas station and got a cup of coffee of you were drowsey.
Read the story I-80 in California
Where are all of the truck stops at, I can only think of one that has parking and it sure is not going to hold all the trucks that are doing business in the area.
Plan for all your worth, the day almost always goes different than planned. I’ve been through there in a truck, had delays in deliveries, ran short on time, had to drive over time to find parking. I was in older truck on paper logs and could adjust the timing on the log to make it look ok. But electronic log would have had me on the side of the road just like he was. One government entity says “stop right now,” another government entity says, “no you can’t stop right now, keep moving” The truck driver is caught between the two and has no way out of the bind. Then a deadly accident happens because the driver had no option but to stop on the roadside in order to obey his primary rule, and they want to blame the motionless driver for the accident.
If ya have to blame anyone for the accident you can blame the regulators who think they can put mandatory fixed timing on a totally random business, or blame the highway department for not providing adequate truck parking every so far to accommodate the fixed timing requirement. Surely we can’t blame the SUV driver for driving too fast in slippery conditions, or getting sleepy and weaving into the shoulder. That just wouldn’t do, after all the driver was perfect, or at least the family wants to think so. Many accidents just happen at random, can’t actually find anyone or anything to account for it. Afterwards we think, “could have been avoided if ??” But can’t back up time and do it different. And next time something else “causes” an accident. It’s impossible to make life 100% safe. If you don’t like risk, don’t be born. All we can do is manage risk to an acceptable level, and we have lots of government mandated risk management happening, some of it miss judged having zero effect or even backlash of more risk. And in this case two risk management rules clashing and causing an impass for the truck drivers. I do not like the big mess out there, even though I made a lot more money in much shorter time than working at home, I decided to quit and go back to farming where it’s peaceful and work on developing a fruit orchard to make a living. Yah, I lived on 3 weeks truck driving wages for 6 months at home, and that included $1000 lost for a random damage claim and a transmission/clutch rebuild I did later on another truck. But I live dirt cheap at home, cut off cell phone, eat out of the garden etc. Busy clearing land of fiber trees and planting fruit trees. I can do people more good growing good food for them than hauling around their gods, even though I got very well paid for god hauling I don’t need the stress.
Automated OTR tractors are on way. . .
Knowing this, why would truck parking be added?
HOS/ELOGS are mandated to –force drivers to compete- over
Parking.
The better drivers will survive to
Receive the future of trucking: Local driving/hourly pay.
How do you know he didn’t plan to stop further down the road but ran out of hours due to a number of things? Don’t apply your routine to everyone else because many have it wayyyyy different than you. Not all drivers have the luxury of pre planning their route, especially in California!!
See next comments
Agreed
I want your job if it’s that easy for you to plan on we’re you are going to be 10hrs from now wish it was that easy on my end
I gree
ONE of the problems, is waiting until the last possible moment to find a place to park.
When I get down to an hour, on the ELD, I start looking continuously for a place to park.
I usually find a place, somewhere, somehow, before I get to less than 30 mins left to drive.
So when your down to your last hour of driving time you look for a spot are you parked or are you still driving? As it is illegal to take your attention off the road to find a parking spot I can only assume your parked, so if your already parked why do you need to find a spot? Unless of course your parked on the side of the road. Also what do you do when the nearest open spot is an hour away and you only have a half an hour left to drive? Maybe you should start looking for a spot 2 hours prior and then pray the spot is still open when you get there.
You must not drive California very much. or maybe you drive California all the time and you just know where all the parking is but for the drivers that don’t know it’s very easy to get stuck out in the middle because of HOS.
Even if everyone plans ahead,
but there are more trucks than parking spots,
then someone is still going to be left without a parking spot.
No, I am very sure that you are just the perfect driver out here…
If California would allow more truckstops being built , it would be safer. But California is a hostile state towards truckers. It takes 8 to 10 years to build a shopping center there. And over 10 years to build housing development. They are anti-truck so nothing gets built, not even reststops. I hate going into California.. it feels like going into another country. Because of crap like this, I tell broker or dispatcher I need an extra day to enter California alone.
For 3 young adults to be killed, it would be obvious that speed was a major factor. It is a terrible tragedy for the family. In all honesty, cali drivers are all raging speeders.. they driver 20 to 30 miles over posted speed limit daily. Sometimes i cant evenpass a heavy truck for 30, 40 miles , they are going so fast.
It’s nation wide shortage of parking and the states keep closing rest areas and no parking on off ramps but they keep saying safety, safety, safety. If you ain’t in a truck stop by 4. or 5 pm you’re not finding parking
And why would I want to be a truck driver????
For the fame glory and excitement and chance to pick up waitresses and fat chicks
Great point because its 4 closed rest areas in illinois 2 on interstate 55 and 2 on 57 and its boggles my mind why anyone would EVER close a rest area we need more not less
What if the truck was broke down?
Safety triangles, anyone?
Yea, details are not told as far as what is the “shoulder”, how wide is the road? 2 lane? or Interstate with a wide enough shoulder lane beyond the solid paint?
I’ve seen plenty of those triangles get run over thank you.
That would be different, but it WASN’T broke down.
Tommy it’s not about the truck being parked. How many cars passed him without rearending him. Its sad but it was him that got hit. Just because he was parked illegally doesn’t negate the responsibility of the automobile to maitain control of their vehicle. If the car had been parked and the trucker had hit them would we be having this conversation? I think not.
Julio soylio and Maria, not good drivers and not prepared for night driving ,prob didn’t have a,monster energy drink
Exactly
Witch hunt for money, Exactly
Looking for money and a reason the kids are dead. It could never be the car drivers fault. No one will look at a passenger vehicle driving to fast for conditions.
Only a trucker would get that charge.
Tragic though it may be, it’s just bad luck.
Truckers should stand for this driver and make sure nothing happens to him… they made the law which forces us to park at unsafe places and it was a big concern for us from day one. but now they want to blame us and accuse of wrong doing… i am sorry that people died and the family should sue FMCSA, so should the driver… He was forced by LAW to stop and sleep not by choice…
Exactly!
So if I hit a civilian vehicle parked in the breakdown lane then they are in the bad? Of course not. I feel bad that anyone got hurt or killed but you have to stop treating drivers like piggy banks.
DEEEEEEP pockets ! ! ! ! !
The trucker is partially at fault for improper parking on the roadway. The shoulder is not for sleeping! I don’t care what that stupid ELD says, I won’t risk my life or the lives of others because of an ill-conceived ELD mandate. Select “personal conveyance,” put a comment in “for safe parking,” and go find a place to park.
“Grow a pair,” people! You will live under the exact amount of tyranny you will accept.
ELD is *not* the problem…Hours of Service, lack of available parking, and poor planning are the problems.
Exactly!
I’d say it’s the SUV that’s at fault for driving too fast for conditions. The median is for emergency use only.
Wow, plain and simple. The shoulder of ANY highway is for EMERGENCY PARKING only. I have been driving for 37 years and it blows my mind that a truck driver would park on the shoulder of a busy interstate to take a 10 hour break. As for the ELD’s causing parking problems well truckers have to blame something for their inability to properly plan their trips. I was doing paper logs till the enforcement date some 3-4 months after December 2017 roll out date. If an old hand like me can adjust to the changes of the trucking industry then others shouldn’t have a problem either or go back to flipping burgers or whatever you were doing before you decided to start driving trucks. To many winey a$$ truckers out here…TRUCKIN ISN’T FOR SISSIES!! I hope they run his ass up the flagpole, somewhere in that brain of his he knew that parking there was illegal and most of all extremely dangerous. Truckers are their own worse enemies and the main cause for over regulation.
I am not a trucker. My son is. It seems that if an absolute rule on hours of service is in force then it should include a like wise rule that any company receiving loads by truck should be required to offer over night parking for trucks in their lots.
And so it sometimes if not always takes a day or two to get to any company maybe I have 20 drops before I ever see my company again now where will I park? Sometimes 3or4months. Before I’m back to the company so since I’m going in circles and most often drop n hook just where am I parking?
I’ve been on elogs since 2010 and have never took a break parked on the shoulder. It all come down to planning. If you know your going to end up in a location after 11 hrs of driving that has limited parking, stop short split your berth. Remember FMCSR says you must be parked legally in order to be on a break. The unprofessional driver is at fault and has several Fatalities now on his record.
So if he was broke down in the same spot it would have been a differant storey
Well obviously the road conditions and rate of speed of the SUV are main factors here. The driver just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t know the area well but as stated by another commenter here the driver should of planned better. There is no way I would ever park on the shoulder of any road on purpose. If the truck was broken down different story.
With that said yes the SUV driver should be held accountable they failed to maintain control of the vehicle. I’m sure the driver in both cases are feeling the anguish of this tragedy.
Plan your trip accordingly and professionally, you end up parked on the side of the road. That’s just plain stupid. If you see you’re not going to make your destination for the day which can clearly be determined by Common Sense, stop early. 25 years of driving taught me that.
I agree with Jeremy in the first place. Lack of planning could forestall most of these parking on the side of the road issues.
But that being said, I have seen shipper/receivers take hours and hours to load/unload and burn the driver’s clock. No penalty to Walmart, Target, Safeway, Amazon and the list goes on.
Add one cent to diesel and mandate that for expanded parking within 50 miles of the collection point. Cities don’t need to get into the parking business. They can use that money to pay existing truck stops to expand or entice other operators to open parking lots for trucks only.
Why not have the government force those large distribution centers provide truck parking in their massive lots? I drove for over 41 years and never saw a DC, of any company, full. Every one of them do not allow parking for the drivers of the forced HOS regulations that the trucking industry has to abide by. If the government can force the drivers to abide by dumb regulations why can’t they force the mega corporations to provide a place for a 10 hour break?
Great idea….for that reason alone, the bureaucrats wont do it.
While I do not believe the driver should face additional charges, this was the result of poor trip planning. If I know I’m parking past 6:00 PM, I’m calling ahead and reserving a spot so I have somewhere to park. I’ve never had to park on an exit ramp and definitely wouldnt park on the side of the interstate. That in and of itself is extremely stupid. I’d literally violate HOS before I just pulled over on the side of the interstate.
You can plan til the cows come home and your odds of finding a parking spot at any given time are only 50/50 at best.
Anybody else notice how many Canadian trucks are on US highways? They plug up traffic and jam up truck stops, but that couldn’t possibly be part of the problem, could it?
Trk is a trk canadian american . Just as i said before we dont know the stops are gunna be full when we plan our day .
I’m a Canadian truck driver, unfortunately your country keeps buying my country’s goods. Now if you would like to see less trucks from Canada on your roads you need to tell your businesses to QUIT BUYING GOODS FROM CANADA. Then we will gladly not come down.
Oh you guys love coming down here yo get away from those cold CDN winters. 🤣
Actually I used to love coming down and hammering down (at the speed limit) on your beautiful interstates! Can’t make mileage in Canada like you can in the US. But got tired of fighting my way through the border after 9/11 and gave up us hauling.
We get away from Canadian cold winters as opposed to American…cold winters? I live in the southern part of Ontario where winters are shorter and milder than winters in most of your northern States ( Montana, the Dakotas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, northern Michigan) and some of the central ones like Wyoming and Colorado.
Get rid of NAFTA.
There you go Einstein, you’ve got it all figured out! Bravo!!!!
-Blame the lack of adequate truck parking in the USA on those few Canadian trucks that serve the international trade.
-Blame all the ills of the American economy and the ills of the trucking industry on the immigrants.
-Blame all the wars that the US engages allover the world on the darn “commies”, while the elites use US’s huge armed forces only in places where there are vast amounts natural/mineral resources to be exploited. (Wonder why?)
One thing that Americans seem to be really good at is blaming evrything and anything on evryione else in this world and even blame the ETs when they run out of subjects to blame all their ills on, right?
“This is M’urika dam’it, and that’s all there is!”
Canadian trucks bring freight from Canada and take American freight back to Canada. It’s called international commerce. American companies and worjers bebefit as well as Canadian. You could shut it down abd build a wall all around America if you want, but for now we trade and that’s how most of tge trade is shipped, genius. Uf you see a lot of Cabadian trucks that would only mean one thing: the trade is going strong. If you don’t want our trucks on your road than you can replace them with yours abd take over the cross border shipment. But that still would not reduce the number of trucks on yiur road, genius. It wiuld just replace Canadian trucks with American trucks. The number would still remain the same. Not too smart, are you?
The answer is the SUV should not have been driving on the shoulder
Right on! There is only one thing worse than the authorities, the media and the public always blaming the truckers. It’s the truckers always blaming the truckers. This is a result of an inferiority complex on steroids. And it’s disgusting.
It sounds like they were headed off the road anyway. No winners in this situation.
They didnt drink a monster energy drink
So, lets say im on an icy road and have a u joint let loose, im forced to park on the shoulder.
Some idiot whos speeding, texting, and sipping starbucks looses control (even with AWD, whoda thought?), and asspacks me, and its my fault?
Yeah. Sounds legit.
Yes,because,u were there and,u a truck driver, get the picture
But WHY the side of the highway, why not at least an exit/entrance ramp, I try like hell not to stop on the shoulder for anything, would even rather limp a flat and buy a wheel to an exit, it simply isn’t worth it or wise with all of the distracted drivers out there, I can feel for the mother, but here anger is misplaced.
Distracted driver….says it all ! ! !
Driver probably wedging off
I know the area fairly well the exit ramps are short no room to park. The rest Area at Gold run is woefully inadequate. After you leave Truckee there are precious few truck parking spots.
All the driver had to do was go off duty hit drive mode change it to pc add remarks find safe haven then drive until he found a place. Driver you need to learn how to use eld to your advantage. Sorry that the family has lost loved ones. Prayers to them. But parking on the side of the interstate is so dam stupid. Parking like that is asking for trouble
Your exactly correct. Out of hours isn’t a valid excuse.
Bill Smith if there is no excuse for being out of hours what are we supposed to do? Drive fatigued till we run over everyone. Are you even a truck driver?
Drive all day all night zombie out on monster energy drinks, thats,what ure,company wants
Not all company’s have pc
U can’t use PC if ur under load
Depends on the company. Burned 7hrs in Chicago getting unloaded at a small business. Unstacking and restacking pallets to count pieces. Not even a loading dock. Business on a street so packed with parked cars they had 2 people help to get me into (and out of) their chained in business. Asked if I could stay 1 more hour for a 8/2 split. Told “no, we’re closing” Our company allows 1 hr PC. Used 56 minutes of that to go 10 miles during rush hour to find parking was packed. Another 47 minutes in violation to go 8 more miles and pay $25 for parking. A call to the log dept and they extended my PC for the time because of where I was at- so no violation.
Since I am ranting, wish everyone was aware of the 3MPH DOT rules. A trucks speedometer only has to be accurate within + or – 3mph at 50mph. So if you are running 62 in a 55, in the eyes of the law you’re going 58 or 59. They’ll throw it out. They have to allow for speed variance because of weight and grades. I constantly run 63 in 55 zones past cops running radar (even been followed for MILES) and have never even been pulled over. 10+ years. Only once did I get a cheery flash from a cop sitting the same time I started jaking down a grade 12 mph over. Just his warning to watch my roll. Not many cops are a**holes, they realize we are just trying to make a living.
Yes you can, Fed changed the laws last year!
I was pulled over and ticketed in California, for doing precisely what you say you’d never be pulled over for. I was going 62 in 55 on I5. So your advice is wrong. Stop spreading misinformation.
U must be blue star millionaire
I agree and the driver of the SUV “failed to maintain their lane” by going off the road hitting the parked TT.
So who do you sue when you slam into the divider????
What’s the difference if he was on the side of the road for a mechanical problem? Would fingers still be pointed at him?
On paper he would keep going till find space mabe for next 30min or so and he would be safe. ELD KILLS !!!! GET IT FINALLY!!!!!
Another forum circular firing squad aimed at the driver.
This industry is an absolute joke.. treating hard working, law abiding citizens like criminals and trash. The dot is robbing from the poor to give to the rich. flat out crooks!
I have never parked on the shoulder, apart from a couple of breakdowns where I had no choice, the truck would not move another inch. They say trip plan trip plan but I have, as I’m sure many of you have, run from truck stop to rest area to truck stop in a desperate search for parking only to end up on the on ramp side of a ramp, never the off ramp side. It’s only getting worse and as they fill this driver shortage it’s only going to get worsererer!
Bill Smith if there is no excuse for being out of hours what are we supposed to do? Drive fatigued till we run over everyone. Are you even a truck driver?
One last question. Did they ticket the 4 wheeler for failing to maintain control???
I lived in NJ. I caught a blowout rear tire which i lost control.and ran on grassy side of the shoulder and i was stuck there. The state police issue me a ticket for careless driving even with a mechanical fault. The state police said to me you.should have full control of your car at all time i agree with that but with mehanical or god forbid serious heath issue which you cant control. But with this case this driver drive like a maniac and crash into a truck and blame it on the truck driver it was your mistake you live with it
If doesn’t matter legal or not the commercial driver will always be at fault, in any other situation the vehicle that rear ends another is at fault so why is the truck
driver be held accountable for someone else’s stupidity it doesn’t matter if he
was parked illegally the other party put himself in that position, it’s more about
hated trucks then justis
It does matter. Shoulders are for emergency stopping only. Running out of hours is not an emergency, its post poor planning. I have never parked on a shoulder for anything but for a breakdown that truck couldn’t go any farther. The driver/company will end up being charged with this because pure and simple if he wasn’t parked illegally that SUV wouldn’t have rear ended him then it would have been just a story of a 4 wheeler losing control of their vehicle. Not to long ago a team driving for CRST in Wyoming pulled into shoulder to switch up drivers when a 4 wheeler slammed into back of them killing the 4 wheeler driver. That driver was even drunk and CRST and the drivers were charged at fault.
Listen to big Joe real man not a phony fake steering week holder
I agree with the poor planning, sometimes circumstances dictates, as far
as rear ending another vehicle in the lowest form of driving which your
most likely involved in law enforcement will tell you your in control of
what’s in front of you, even if your not you have the big picture, so
explain to me why your ticketed even though your not at fault.
This is the real world results of the ELD mandate
No this is the real world results of drivers not knowing how to correctly manage safe haven/PC time.
Driver is at fault should have been in a legal parking spot
Your are the one that has to make the right decision when parking
at no time is it right for you to park on an interstate shoulder or off ramp
You shouldn’t need to be baby sat
I wonder if the CDL driver even HAD his safety triangles out???
Well u really dont wana park on the side of the road. I see idiots do it all the time to take a piss or adjust a load. I witnesed driver park on shoulder jump out without lookin n he got plowed died right on thespot. I pulled over jumped over the median to go check him out but he was long gone had called 911 .police report etc But havin done all this do u know the guys wife was trying to sue the called me later to do some fab. I refused. Bottom line try alil harder to park on ramp. Dont park on highway shoulder swift dont even do that anymore after some lady ran in the back of their truck with no safety belt n her neck got chopped off literary they had to pick it up 30 ft from the scene. With elds if you are within any big city limit when u got 1.5 hrs left on clock u start lookin for parking. It life easier.
He undoubtedly had his lights on. I’m sorry guys but anyone who can’t see a 70’ by 9’ truck parked on the shoulder wasn’t paying attention when driving. I have managed to miss thousands of broke down vehicles in my 32 years on the road. The fault rests with the 4 wheeler not using proper care and attention.
Well u really dont wana park on the side of the road. I see idiots do it all the time to take a piss or adjust a load. I witnesed driver park on shoulder jump out without lookin n he got plowed died right on thespot. I pulled over jumped over the median to go check him out but he was long gone had called 911 .police report etc But havin done all this do u know the guys wife was trying to sue the called me later to do some fab. I refused. Bottom line try alil harder to park on ramp. Dont park on highway shoulder swift dont even do that anymore after some lady ran in the back of their truck with no safety belt n her neck got chopped off literary they had to pick it up 30 ft from the scene. With elds if you are within any big city limit when u got 1.5 hrs left on clock u start lookin for parking. It makes life easier.
Well u really dont wana park on the side of the road. I see idiots do it all the time to take a piss or adjust a load. I witnesed driver park on shoulder jump out without lookin n he got plowed died right on thespot. I pulled over jumped over the median to go check him out but he was long gone had called 911 .police report etc But havin done all this do u know the guys wife was trying to sue the called me later to do some fab. I refused. Bottom line try alil harder to park on ramp. Dont park on highway shoulder swift dont even do that anymore after some lady ran in the back of their truck with no safety belt n her neck got chopped off literary they had to pick it up 30 ft from the scene. (In CA. again ..)With elds if you are within any big city limit when u got 1.5 hrs left on clock u start lookin for parking. It makes life easier. We all know we got atm marked on our foreheads more than likely theyl try to get some outa you. Iwont take a chance
Well for me, I TRY to be compliant but I’m not parking anywhere that is illegal or unsafe. I just keep right on driving until I find a place. You can plan your trips all you want, but you or nobody else has any idea what’s going to happen between point A and point B. That’s why we will never achieve 100% compliance out here. Because hos only applies to truck drivers and trucking companies. Nobody else cares. You have a right to get to a safe haven.
Who is at fault….. according to the NEW ELD mandate law…. the government is at fault! Plus… if California would start building Truck stops or safe parking havens within city limits, this accident wouldn’t have happen!! This driver was only going by the laws that the government had placed!!
Kansas is the BEST with rest areas at regular intervals. They arent BIG rest areas like Southern Missouri, but Kansas has a lot of them along I-70.
I wonder if his 4ways were on or if his triangles were out.
Did he have triangles out only way u can b on shoulder even if walking puppy or relieving ur self.
He should have just taken the violation (on the elog) and kept on driving, untill he reached a better place to park, instead of parking on the highway shoulder.
No matter what the reason if your parked on the side of the road or a on or off ramp more than 10 minutes your required to place your triangles so I’m pretty sure this driver will face criminal charges. I see this more and more every single day and its ridiculous why would anyone park on the side of the highway to sleep. You either park sooner get up earlier to make your pickup or delivery it’s that simple Why would anyone set themselves up as a target for a lawsuit and its not just the driver the company will also take the hit.
Bottom line, simply too many trucks for capable drivers, highways and parking. Lucifer’s city dimmercraps and lawyers have mangled responsibility/blame for EVERYTHING! Burglars have more rights than residents.
Totally agree!!
He would be in legal trouble in new Jersey. It’s illegal to park on the shoulder or on ramps..
He,would be fired,if he were bluestar millionare
He would be in legal trouble in new Jersey. It’s illegal to park on the shoulder or on ramps..
Some of the closest truck stops to Emeryville with parking aren’t close: Sacramento, Lodi, Santa Nella, Gilroy. Rest Area in Vallejo can park maybe a half dozen trucks, brake check area on top of the Altamont maybe a dozen, drivers been shot in Oakland. Trucking California’s big cities is similar to trucking New York or other Northeast cities; it requires load planning and dispatching different from a typical route elsewhere in the US. Duck the ELD, and get your truck someplace safe. Then when the Safety Department calls the next morning about your HOS violation, tell them to ‘Duck Off’ too.
Wait, a car full of kids crashed? Why were they out past their bedtimes? What hospital allows visitation after 8pm? Was the driver tired? Texting? Or possibly on drugs? How fast were they going? And if the truck wasn’t there what else was there, a cliff? Trees? A guard rail? These kids could have died regardless and could have killed someone else.
I kept going once thrue 3 truckstops and 2 rest areas to find the place and DOT officer just told me that i should look for parking 3h before if have to or plan better. Some of them are really dont care is just scoring for them.
Here in nj it’s a common problem. Not one truck stop across 287, it’s littered with trucks on the shoulder but they addressed it and can’t do anything about it. The state realizes that there aren’t enough parking and let them be. 99% of all trucks sleeping mostly have lights on, you really have to be dead not to see them.
I drive a truck and I know that even if he ran out of hours he could have still drove to the nearest off ramp and parked, there is no reason for parking where he did and now he has to live with the deaths of 3 innocent children that died because he parked his truck there.
Either way this truck drivers insurance or company insurance will be loosing alot of money…Any other drivers find themselves in the same situation,but on your 4 ways and toss out those triangles,and your breakdown story ready,save your company or your own insurance some money….Come on ,typical Americans,,,screw up and blame everyone else for it……..The family is already licking there lips on this one
– Roadside pullout truck parking places for every 40 to 50 miles of interstate highway that would accomodate at least 25 tractor-trailers in addition to the normal rest areas should be a must required by law.
– In addition, all industrial parks should be required by federal law to contain a truck staging area within its limits which would accomodate at leasy 50% of the truck traffic volume that seves the companies inside that industrial park.
– In addition, the HoS rules must be changed and have introduced flexibility provision at the end of each cycle for moving to a safe haven. Micromanaging the truck driver to the second increments is an abysmal situation created only to generate infractions, thus generating reasons to finantially penalize and create revenue for the state.
– “the cost of doing business” should be applied on every business and every community which has business enterprises which require the services of the transpirtation industry. The transportation industry eats the dehead miles to and from the customers they serve as a “cost of doing business”, but the customers of the trucking industry are not expected to eat their “cost of doing business” when it comes to accommodating the transportation convenience which serves them. Wonder why!!!?
– It’s easy to always blame the lowest common denominator, in this care the truck driver, but why is it that these is absolutely no logic applied when it comes to finding reasonable solutions across the board in order to fix these shortcomings involving the road transportation industry?
– Why is it that there is this enormous amount of subjectivity and emotionality applied on every issue that requires objectivity and logic? You convict based on subjective arguments and emotionally charged verdicts and call that abomination “justice”?
Is that it, you only get the “justice” your money can buy in America?
– The cold objective and logical assesmemt of this accident is the fact that the driver of the passenger vehicle that collided with the parked tractor-trailer failed to maintain control of the vehicle he/she was driving and collided with an object outside of the lane of travel causing lose of life, injuries and property damage. (Period)
– Secondary to that, the truck was parked on the shoulder because:
a: extremly indadequate availability of tractor-trailer safe parking in the area.
b: inflexible HoS rules that rederes a commercial driver in violation of the rules if going over the mandated cycle period in search of safe haven at the end of the shift.
c: the combination of “a” and “b” creates an imposibility for the driver to “plan ahead” compounding on the vast amount of variables of other unpredictable events which usually occur during “a day’s work”.
Folks, it all comes down to “ye that have no sin pick up the stone and throw!”
Stupid truck drivers are the problem. They start looking for a spot an hour or 30 minutes before they’re 11 hours of drive time or done. They should hang this guy he was in the wrong place.
I agree parking on the side of the road or exit ramp is WRONG!!! The truck driver is only guilty of illegal parking. Often I wish & predict entrance ramp shoulders should & will be legal parking some day & DC’s should have overnight parking. Until then I don’t chance it. I’m parked by 7pm.
It’s the truckers fault and I’m a current trucker… No professional trucker should ever have to park on side of the road… It’s called trip planning… That means you know where your at… You know where your going… You know how much time you have to legally get there so you pick a spot on your route to stop before your time runs out… There is an app called truckers path these shows you every truck stop Walmart parking area etc etc… No every now and then there is an extreme case .. And to be honest even in those situations you just have to stop earlier than expected… Again truckers fault … Then if they review his logs and they find any moving infractions … Say one day he drove over his clock… Then he is truly screwed bc the law will say if he hadn’t drove 20 extra miles yesterday then he wouldn’t be at this spot today to cause the accident…
There isn’t room to ramp park in some states. Other states it’s illegal- some enforce it, some don’t. Regardless, if you have to park on a ramp- do it on the onramp side. Better chance of not getting hit. People going on are probably awake going somewhere and not going fast yet. On the off ramp, you’re more likely to get hit by a tired driver going to fast for the ramp. Maybe even another tired trucker racing the clock to find parking.
If the truck were disabled for whatever reason, and the driver had placed warning triangles at the correct distances, then there would be no negligence on his/her part.
But I suspect he shut his lights off, parked within 10 feet of the lane of travel, no triangles. Well I can see him being found at least partially at fault.
Also, just go into violation and find SAFE parking. If you can show you were attempting to find parking prior to the violation it is very unlikely you will be cited for it.
I’ve had to take videos of 3 full truck stops over 1.5 hours before I ran out of time to show that I in fact could not find safe parking within the hours of service.
I got lucky however and found an old lot that WYDOT had used as a staging point for some maintenance that was safe to shut down in with about 30 seconds left before violation.
Doubt I would have gotten ticketed though even if I had continued on until I found a parking spot because I was making a good faith effort to plan ahead for parking.
Need to help get change this ridiculous hours of service. Forces trucker to park anywhere to avoid violating the stupid policy
Were triangles out? Flashers on? If not, drivers fault. And I’ve been parking on ramp shoulders since March 5, 1995. Safer there then in any Truckstop
Why is it in the USA the one who lost control never at fault ..there always has to be someone else responsible for the quilty parties inability to operate a vehicle properly according to conditions…perhaps they all be alive today had the drive slowed down and stayed in its lane…had the truck not been there the SUV would have left the road and rolled over/slammed into a tree/hit a barracade or possibly the drive might have hit the shoulder then tried to reccoreect losing control and killing another family while they all walked away…. ENOUGH with what if…. cars need to slow down ..PERIOD …cars need to maintain their lane PERIOD …car drivers will live longer that way
Of course a billboard lawyer will twist a tangled tail of how the negligent driver maliciously parked…and went to sleep.
Not caring that a motorist being on his phone…who happened to be texting or dialing in bad weather at night would come along and wipe out his entire family.
The outcome being the lawyers billboard really paid off for him.
Ambulance chaser best lawyers ever
This incident happened, because the driver of the SUV wasn’t driving where he was supposed to drive. Irrisponsible, too fast for conditions, or not paying attention. Tgat’s where the blame for the death of these kids is. What if instead of the truck parking there, you had a person walking, because their car broke down? Would the pedestrian be blamed for being on the shoulder? We all know that wouldn’t happen. The SUV driver would be blamed. What if it was a police cruiser parked there? They sit on the shoulder all the time! You bet your behind the cop would not be blamed for this accident. But when it comes to incidents involving trucks, all rationality, logic and sanity disappears. I once had a cop in MO tell me that a car rear ending me in stop abd go traffic was my fault, because….”the truck, uh duh, is just too big”! Yeah, he said that. My jaw dropped. I thank my lucky stars I don’t have to drive to USA anymore. In Canada if you lose control of yoyr vehicle, it’s on you! Not on the victim of your stupidity.
Every time the four wheeler either lost control was distracted didn’t see that big Hugh truck there way off the road. Or managed to skip across the highways to the other side and hit a truck. All times the family member win a lawsuit . All accidents are paid for by insurance company of a settlement. So to speak solving the even higher fee they may have to put out. Injured or not the one who caused the accident is not only at fault but paid off to shut up. But if it’s a trucker who gets hit it’s the drivers fault he gets nothing but points scores and tickets and may be unemployed. Perhaps jailed.
Yes parking on the shoulder is not a good idea. But the jist of this story and others like this, is what worries me: If you are a big rig driver it’s your fault if you rear end a car, and it’s your fault if a car rear ends you. It’s your fault if a car coming opposite crosses the median, hits your truck head on and people die ( another true story!). Heck, it’s your fault if a car side swipes you, because he did not see yiur 72 foot vehicle and tried to change labnes! ( True story. Happened to me in Michigan. The State Trooper did not even listen to the driver of the car, who was admitting his mistake!) So the moral of the story is: It’s always your fault. Get used to it, or change jobs.
Been driving over 30 years and have seen this type of accidents too many times. Bottom line shoulders are for Emergency use only. See it all the time, drivers need to make a phone call, use their portable restroom or many other things they will pull over to the shoulder instead of pulling off the road. Main reason…..it may cost them extra few minutes to do it safe.
Truck driver is only guilty of illegal parking.
Car driver is responsible for maintaining control.
The end.
I wouldn’t be surprised if thecdriver ran into the truck on purpose for a payday these four wheelers do some crazy things
If a vehicle any vehicle is on the shoulder whether do to break down or tired or what ever reason is are there legally. Even though if you have a truck over 5 ton gvw is supposed to have triangles or flares out after 15 mins of sitting still. If the car was out of control like the State Police say then how is it the drivers fault. The truck driver was just obaying the Federal Government to stop driving when HOS have expired. The car obviously would have hit something else if the truck wasn’t there. I would hope that the worst they could get the trucker for would be sitting with no emergency warnings placed.
Thank ELogs and computers for this accident. Plus sounds like the car driver fell asleep and lost control.
If you remove the truck from this scenario it does not guarantee the lives of the deceased. The statement has been made that the vehicle lost control and exited the roadway. They could have hit something else or rolled the vehicle.
That was my thought exactly. Good for you to raize this point. The truck driver is a victim of circumstance. The circumstance here is another amateur idiot behind the fourwheeler steering wheel who has a hard enough time keeping his vehicle straight between two lanes, which are some 9 feet, or more, apart.
Dan villareal wanted an answer, why your siblings driving on shoulder, I am sure they must be speeding if they stay in driving line nothing would happen, they hit the solid standing truck and disturb sleeping driver.
Bottom line is if they are not capable of driving condition should have called uber. Driving unconditionally situation and accuse others.
I plan my day appropriately and use a TND RAND MCNALLY GPS to help me locate safe spots hours ahead in unfamiliar areas. I also use a COBRA 29 with a 50 watt amp to hear upcoming issues on my route. I use GOOGLE MAPS to check traffic 1 hour away from big traffic areas so I can plan a reroute. I’ve never parked on shoulders unless broke down and I always find safe parking even if I have to pay for it. That said, this entitled frame of mind that EVERYONE has-needs to change. IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU so get some wisdom and plan ahead, for the inconsiderate drivers you should start preparing for a lot of fed up people willing to become vigilantes. As I understand, some drivers carry extra DEF around that finds its way into DIESEL FUEL tanks of discourteous drivers, stopping them from continuing to earn a paycheck and getting the self absorbed off the road.
Like I said one million times before.truck driving sucks.you all complain about everything.get out of trucking cry babies.go get a real job.again.remember.trucking sucks.
The sorry state of california needs to see this as a parking issue its unfortunate for the loss. For the miles of road california has it does not have the capacity to park off duty trucks. I think i can cou t the truckstops in that area on one hand
It’s not easy for a driver to find parking when his rest period is coming up especially if they’re not familiar with the area. In California, it’s always the truckers fault, no matter what happens. If those people would’ve hit a bridge pillar, would it have been the pillars fault for being there? Of course not, that’s just ridiculous, just like blaming a driver for being on the side of the road and someone loses control and runs into him.
I drove local in the Inland Empire for 3 years. I have also driven OTR for 3 years. I live and work out if California. San Francisco area there isn’t any truck stops, let alone fuel! You HAVE to be prepared for trucking there. LA isn’t much better. But other than being stuck in traffic, I stress so bad on 4 wheelers cutting me off! I can’t see there back license plates and they slam on their brakes. Speed bump anyone? I only work when I want to and not with big companies so that I have time off to de-stress. I am OTR now, but drivers are just as bad on the interstates as towns and cities. As for parking, I plan but it almost never works. Too many crashes and road work. It takes longer than 1 hour to find parking. Electronic logs are stressful just like parking at truckstops. As for automatic trucks, driving one with manual option. Pros and cons. Miss my KW 13 speed. As for the crash, sad but all the factors were there. The deaths were tragic and the drivers predicament with the contradictory laws and situation. They say there is a need for 100,000 more drivers cuz of the shortage. Well I just trained 2 drivers and we see newbee’s everywhere. So if more product needs to be distributed may be the customers need some enlightenment in getting there products. Get out of the way, and everyone use driving etiquette. Pay attention, pull off the road if tired and leave room between each other. Mean while, FMCSA, get your #$*& together. Enough stress!!!
Forgot to mention…safe haven for finding a safe place to park can only be utilized one day out of your 70 hr clock. Some electronic devices allow for that and some companies control it. So you might have to call your DM or operations to ok that. Again, off the road or driving with one touch device are your options.
Truck driver’s fault. Failure to plan his trip properly caused this.
He couldn’t find parking, so he parked on the side of the highway….was there something wrong with the side of an on-ramp, where passing traffic wouldn’t be traveling at highway speeds?
Even though that driver should not have been parked there, It would be interesting to find out why the vehicle drifted out of the lane and into the truck- distracted driving perhaps? Social media more important than paying attention while operating a vehicle? Texting while driving? Oh, but I would never do something like that… um hmmm….
His reflectors should have been out if he was parked on the side of the road. Entrance ramps are the safer option when possible
Ok, gonna open a can of worms. Sounds like the folks in the SUV were of Latino decent by the name. My question, are they in this country legally/citizens? If not, then they shouldn’t have been in this country in the first place, thus they wouldn’t have hit the truck. Just sayin’…
Not having a regular route,I’ve been forced to stop early sometimes and sometimes be out of time , trying to find safe parking. I wish I had a better “crystal ball” the one that I have doesn’t let me see delays on down the road, such as shippers – receivers- traffic -accidents -weather and a host of other things that cause delays.nor does it show me a safe parking spot. What is that old saying? “Best laid plans of mice and men often go astray “. All anyone can do is take it as it comes and do the best with it. The driver was in a “damned if you do and damned if you don’t ” situation but, I’ll agree that that was not the best place to park. An on ramp may have been a better choice. Also , l wasn’t there, so I don’t know what happened. However, I can state for a fact , that most drivers of smaller vehicles on the road are just plain stupid! They’ll cut you off and shorten your available stopping distance,change lanes as if they was a pinball, text, have the phone up to their ear, tailgate to where you can’t see them, slam on the brakes to rubber neck and remind you that you’re #1 with a hand signal , should you hold them up for 2 seconds. But, some if not most of our a lustrous law enforcement officials can’t or will not see this going on. Even with all this , I enjoy trucking and overcoming these drawbacks, I appreciate driving with other professional drivers because, you can predict what their going to do in traffic 95% of the time. I did say professional drivers not drivers!
I have been following this story, and have not heard the results of the investigation as to why the driver veered to the right and hit the truck, but the truck was illegally parked. His only reason for being on the shoulder was that he did not plan ahead, or use his personal use, to get to a safe place to park. Many of us are blaming ELDs for our stupid choices. Unless the driver can show an emergency reason for his parking, he and his employer will pay the price for these lost young lives.
Sounds like the 4 wheelers lost control and is at fault truck there or not. I think the driver did the right thing. If no one agrees then I think we should all be provided with free motel rooms courtesy of each state
It never was a problem before when we pulled to the side of the road to sleep you’d think those 4 wheelers would be glad we were out of their way. Not our fault they are reckless drivers. We put lots of money safety and time into our driving as Professional Commercial Truck Drivers. Not to mention the road taxes.
I run an edl for the last year and eight months and I have never slept on a shoulder or a exit / on ramp in 40 yrs much less on edl called time management that driver is responsible for stupid
I have been in the industry for almost 30 years and my Father at the age of 72 still pulls 10 thousand miles a month not because he has to but because thats who he is. I am hearing a bunch of complaining about elogs and let me say this the laws about your hours of service did not change what changed was your ability to alter your book to show it as a legal day when in fact you used a calculator and the miles and the time of day to fill in your book not showing the hours correctly for loading or what ever the delays for that day may have been. So now its becomes the companies responsibilty to educate the customer that the trucks can no longer put the same miles on each day and that the rates are going to have to come up in order to offset this loss and until that happens the drivers are forced to do things they would not normally do to survive. Please stop blaming the laws they are in place to protect us all on the road
What else was he supposed to do? This new system sucks and leaves many drivers in a pinch. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how much the driver plans there is just NO where to park . Parking is either full or closed, and/or traffic can cause drivers to run out of hours leaving them stuck. Not to mention a place they are not familiar with. So some drivers weigh the tickets they are going to get. Park on the side of the road or drive over their hours. The rule makers really didn’t think things through. My heart does go out to both the loved ones of those lost and the driver. He’ll never get over that.
Shoulder=emergency use only. Running out of hours is not emergency