Fatal hit and run - help needed

Discussion in 'Questions To Truckers From The General Public' started by lookingforanswers, Apr 22, 2021.

  1. roundhouse

    roundhouse Road Train Member

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    I’m sorry for your loss.
    I know someone who was killed while changing a tire on the side of a road.

    It’s possible some license plate readers could provide clues , but it would take a lot of detective work, trying to match license plates to VINs and VINs to repairs paid by insurance companies and still have almost no chance of success.



    Did this occur at night ?
    it’s very possible the driver thought it was an animal like a deer .

    And that’s if they saw or felt something at all.
    I was once in stop and go traffic and had to hit the brakes pretty hard.
    When I started off again I glanced in the mirror and noticed someone getting out of their vehicle . And then noticed the front of his pickup was totally smashed.

    i pulled over and walked back and turned out he had rear ended me hard enough to total his pickup. And I never felt it at all, not even a little bit.

    I’ve hit deer and never felt it. Heard the noise , but depending on how rough the road is, a driver might not think the noise is anything other than a bumpy road.



    what were the conditions or circumstances?
    Was the person in the roadway? Or on the shoulder ?
    Walking ?
    Or changing a tire?

    And I hate to ask this one , did the investigation indicate if they had possibly been disoriented or impaired or drunk etc?
     
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  3. wis bang

    wis bang Road Train Member

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    Crowded conditions and drivers out of trucks when not supposed to be. guy waiting for his bud to search for a synflex connection to fix an air leak next to our bare container chassis. Those frame rails are close together, Driver has his mirrors to see down the side of the mounted container...to see traffic, not watch for people standing where they shouldn't be.

    The terminal video shows the scene and the bud who's looking for the fitting is head first over his seat looking on the passenger side with driver's door wide open.

    Second man walks across the front of the truck and just as the chassis moves, is tackled by the man running from the chassis wheels. they go down out of sight and you see the side of the chassis raise up and drop twice...makes your stomach turn over...then a unseen third guy runs up and returns with our guy showing him what occurred before running off to his truck to get his reflective vest.

    One fatal and one crushed pelvis neither wearing hi viz vests as required.

    Our guy had been sitting there, static for hours, possibly without locking the brakes, and grabs a gear and goes when the security guy waves him forward. He didn't feel a thing,

    Empty 40 ft, chassis goes 6600# or more. Worst fatality I've handled.

    Chemical tankers with that curbside access ladder hanging down often collect deer the driver thought he missed until the next stop and he sees the evidence.
     
  4. Brandt

    Brandt Road Train Member

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    Here is something it probably a long shot in finding the truck but may possibly. If you know about time of accident and the direction say north bound side of highway. Lots of state have web cams looking at roadway for road conditions like ice and stuff. The cameras also can see the traffic. Look at Wyoming

    WYDOT Travel Information Service (Laramie)

    How long, if any is their back up copy of old traffic cameras the state keep ? I would have no clue. Could you see a truck with front end damage, I don't know
     
  5. CrappieJunkie

    CrappieJunkie Wishin' I was fishin'

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    As others have said each truck, by law, has to have an onboard recorder that records date, time and location. You won't have access to it as just being a member of the general public, but the detectives can get that. The thing is, as @ZVar pointed out it is only accurate to with in a radius. Cell phone data for the trucmer might be able to put him or her at the scene of the accident do to the minute they were there, but again, being John Q. Public youhh won't get that info. The cops can.

    If it was at night they might get lucky as fewer trucks on the road.

    Your best bet might be to make a poster and hang it at every truck stop, or rest area, of they allow, with an email address to reach you if someone has info. Research trucking radio shows, most are on XM and call and see if they will let you give details too. That might be your best bet. Sorry for your loss. Good luck on your search.
     
  6. feldsforever

    feldsforever Road Train Member

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    Wow good luck. This thread has me thinking bout some close calls I almost caused. Sad listening to the family's side. Good luck on your search
     
  7. Accidental Trucker

    Accidental Trucker Road Train Member

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    Couple of observations.

    1) Not all truck run electronic logs. Older and local trucks are exempt, for example.
    2) not 10 miles from where I’m sitting, a truck hit an intoxicated person walking on the side of the road at night in inclement weather. The driver never noticed it.
    3) it’s not at all unusual for pedestrians to walk into the side of a truck or under the trailer. As mentioned, trialed impacts do not transfer well to the tractor.
    4) Damage of such an impact can vary from none to severe. I’ve hit several deer with a truck and so far never had more damage than a broken fog light. Many trucks, especially those who routinely drive in rural areas, have “deer guards”, essentially external bumper frames to catch critters before they hit and damage the truck.
    5) if a driver notices such damage, he’s going to assume it was an animal strike. Fixing it would likely happen at the company shop or at a shop on the road if the damage was severe. Typically the driver will schedule a repair after his load is delivered, unless it is severe. That can be 1,000 miles or more down the road.
    6) Many weigh stations have cameras and systems that log every truck that passes by. If this happened near a weigh station, chances are that truck was logged in the system.
    7) Like phone records, ELD records are private, so you have to identify the truck first before you would be able to subpoena the data.

    I’m sorry for your loss, hopefully we’ve given you some ideas.
     
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  8. gear616

    gear616 Bobtail Member

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    Sorry for your loss .
     
  9. Just a rookie

    Just a rookie Light Load Member

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    Technically there are 3 companies that could possibly maybe (5% chance id say) be able to track down the location of anyone who would have been on that road at that specific time. Facebook, Apple and Google. (depending on what phone the driver had) The problem is iif the person had a phone with location services to begin with. if you have a window of 2-4 hours and an approximate speed given you said its a generally quiet road try and get location data there. If they say they don't track location data at all, they're lying. BUT they may not have any location data for anyone on that road at that time. its been a year it could be gone or that person could have had their phone configured not to be tracked by the big 3. If you have a lawyer working on this, have them put the pressure.
     
  10. Espressolane

    Espressolane Road Train Member

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    Not going to get anything from those companies. The request would be to vague. No judge would sign that.
     
  11. Just a rookie

    Just a rookie Light Load Member

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    canuckdia
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    dont need one, google and facebook are both known to co-operate with law enforcement when it comes to things like this.
     
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