Weather decisions - Driving in inclament weather

Never had the pleasure. But, I know he was my kind of peep. He had sense enough keep a safe distance from old salty, hippo, lion, etc... while letting his flunky do the heavy lifting. That showed some smarts!

 

Get your ### out there and make me look good , chop chop .

 

@MACK E-6 it is circular logic, but the heart of the case was the driver didn't shut sown when he could have. They made a big deal of the potential for a service failure on a just in time load and that the Werner driver was brand new, fresh CDL holder still in his finishing training.

What they found was the driver was the professional and should have anticipated a lesser expierenced driver losing control and should have not been trying to push through the storm. He was going well under the speed limit but ultimately the guilt was innsimply being there when he "should have known better", at least according to the verdict handed down.

The case relied heavily on language in the Texas CDL manual calling for trucks to come to a crawl in icy weather and park as soon as possible. The problem is this driver had just started driving shortly before the crash and had passed several truckstops where he could have shut down.

I am not saying if this is right or wrong, but that is the logic we are facing today.

 

i appreciate what you're saying but i can not see how the driver is implicated in any wrong by just being there . He broke no law , speeding or otherwise that made what the drunk speeder did any less responsible for himself getting killed . Hope it gets appealed to supreme ct.

 

It has become a common argument in court, had the truck driver not been there for the other driver to hit their injury would have been less severe. The driver doesn't need to break a law to be liable, they just need to do something that a "reasonable and prudent" person would not do. Apparently the court decided that it is nit reasonable and prudent to drive an 18 wheeler in an ice storm. It is clear that professional truck drivers are held to a higher standard than other drivers, as should be, but to what extent? That is the question.

Again, just saying what they found to be true in court. I am very interested in the outcome of the TX Supreme Court appeal as this will have huge impacts on trucking litigation nationwide.

Just loom at other recent cases, nearly $500 million for a driver that rearended a tractor trailer because the ICC bumper wasn't updated to modern standards, yet it met the standard in effect when built. They won against the trailer manufacturer, Wabash. There are many other examples of similar verdicts.

 

I am not a trucker, just someone looking at entering the industry in the future. No CDL yet. Can I ask a hypothetical question please?

If you are a new driver with only a year or less under your belt and you start to have ice or snow start coming down and you really don't want to get in a wreck your first year driving and decide it is best to park and wait it out until the ground has cleared. What happens if it takes longer to wait out the weather than when the load is scheduled for delivery? Will your manager or dispatcher attempt to make you start driving again? If they do and you refuse can you get in trouble, or lose your job? If you do lose your job will it affect your ability to get other jobs?

 

And if the wreckers are driving 35 mph you probably shouldn't be going 70. Just sayin'.

 

if the interstate had been closed i 'd see some fault . I reckon im too dam simple , hot is on left cold on right and #### flows downhill.

 

Not all companies are the same.

Where I work, I decide if it is safe to drive. I have always been supported in my decisions, 100%.
They would rather reschedule a load than lose it, the truck and possibly me or someone else, due to an accident.