had a near miss and i wanted your guys input

It depends on the scenario. Blind corner on a twisty mountain road one should hold their lane. Bald-### prairie where you can see for miles in every direction I'd take my chances on avoiding.

 

And will do it again as there was no reasion to stoop his bad behavior and the next time kills a family in a minivan...

Never swerve!!! Ever!!! Never Ever!!!!

Swerving is the most natural reaction, I agree, but it's always the wrong one. Way too much momentum in a truck and that momentum doesn't swerve, it continues moving in the direction it's going.

Quickly changing lanes is fine, but never make an abrupt change of direction (the definition of swerve, btw.)

 

Tankers Don't Swerve. Yes, you were empty but what happens next time when you're not? You might end up killing them anyway when you roll it on top of them. We drive the same whether empty, partial, or fully loaded.

 

You did good - everyone went home safely.

My only suggestion - I do this on undivided or 2-lane - treat every vehicle on a side road as a potential accident. Look for eye contact. Slow down if you get an inkling or bad feeling.

You described the situation as if you’re familiar with the road - I’d approach it with caution every time.

Drive assertively on the big road, defensively on the little ones.

 

You did right by doing whatever you had to do to SAFELY avoid an accident.
And understand that cagers (auto) have been known to DELIBERATELY pull stuff stunts like this in hopes of a big insurance settlement.
YES, some people are both crazy and that desperate and cunning.................
I've experienced several types of these encounters in my years of driving.
One in particular, which the insurance companies actually have a name for it is: "Swoop and Stop".
Driver pulls in front of you, hits the brakes, (or pulls the parking brake SO YOU DON"T SEE BRAKE LIGHTS) and you rear-end them. Automatically your fault...
Cameras are now a big help. I wouldn't drive 50" feet without dash-cam, even in my own private vehicle.

 

You sure drive in a bad area .. Or every day occurrences are bigger than most

 

On this the ends justify the means. It is not what we have done wrong that defines us, rather how we recover from something wrong. Whether this was wrong or right is subjective so I congratulate you for saving both lives and property. What will be done next time? How has this changed your driving for the future?

My wife and I have a saying, "What have we done different to be better than Yesterday?" It is what defines people. IF you are known for quick lane changes or fast driving on gravel roads it is hard to get rid of that reputation. I am in farm country and cruise in a tiny Fiat 500 with the wife. We see blind spots on roads entering all the time. My little car can stop fast but we still take it slow. Garmin shows us roads we cannot see all the time. Just like a blind RR Track we slow it down. Some get irritated and fly past us blaring on the horn. Just another accident to avoid.

What happened is past, but the companies I am looking at would record the lane departure. For some the same action would be reviewed. All though it avoided an accident company policy may be ruled as wrong. Each case will be different and each company has its own rules. Cameras can be helpful yet Swift found them too much liability.

Be blessed you are safe and did well this time. I pray none of us ever have to deal with a collision let alone a life situation collision. Seen way too many. This post shows me it is not just the troopers, companies and other drivers with different opinions. Use this to grow and become a better driver the next time someone comes out of no where. Always play the game, "What would I do IF?' while driving. Preparation is mandatory when driving with 80,000 pounds.

 

This is true, but most tanker drivers do a better job at not out driving there vision. This whole situation happened because the driver was out driving his vision, or he would have simply applied his brakes, stopped , honked, cussed and drove on. Tankers (liquid) will punish you for bad driving habits.....

 

I cases like that you are gonna crash and total out everything anyway so the choices are
1) swerve and miss the other guy and wreck it. If you live you just get fired by a cold hearted company for destroying there truck and load. So what you are alive. Get another job and let the good times roll. If you are o/o you get another truck and keep on trucking and let the good times roll.
2) don’t swerve and plow into the guy and whether he lives or dies you better not live because you are gonna be paying for that the rest of your life in all kinds of ways. You will also be fired anyway by a cold hearted company that will put the blame on you and throw you under the bus and make you responsible for the accident during the decade long lawsuits. You will be financially and mentally destroyed for the rest of your life. BUT you will have one hell of a story and a great example of why not trying to avoid is better.