Semi hits cop car, speeds off

Well what it looks like to me, is that you have two folks who made mistakes here. That trucker, should he ever be found is gonna have a problem with hit and run. I can't buy that he didn't realize that there was contact there. If he really didn't realize it, WHY didn't he.

Now I'm thinking that the cop involved, is going to be looking at some time off without pay for this little fiasco. He flatly should not have been trying to pass where he was.

What a lot of you folks don't realize, is that there are internal investigations within law enforcement agencies. Unless there are some type of criminal charges brought, it is never made public. Being as how it is a "personnel matter," it is not public record.

However, department administrators DO NO LIKE HAVING TO PUT COP CARS BACK TOGETHER AGAIN. It is expensive, and frankly embarrassing. You become an embarrassment to your department, you are going to see some "beach time."

And I see a lot of posts talking about how the media always jumps on the trucker? Oh yeah, they just love to have us to pick on.

But they also do that with law enforcement. Even more so.

Which makes this story become a reporter's "wet dream come true!" They can bash both trucking and LE in the same story!

WOW!

 

Totally agreed. The cop appears to be trying to beat the truck on the right and failed. In Germany it is illegal to pass on the right!

 

I can't honestly say who is more at fault, but I did notice how the media LOVES reporting about trucking incidents. "....left a trail of destruction..........driver RACES on down the highway...." I've felt a rear trailer tire blow...so I'm sure he felt the impact of the police car.
The do love to sensationalize everything.

 

The cop was impatient. The truck driver was unfamiliar with the construction zone as he moved to the left lane. Once he realized his mistake he moved back to the right lane. He probably thought his right lane was merging into the left lane. But if you notice, he never gave up possession of the right lane. The cop was just being impatient.

I believe the driver never saw the cop due to the fact he had no front mirror on the hood of his truck. The question now is, did he feel the hit. Being in a construction zone, its possible the 'disturbance' he felt could be attributed to uneven pavement in the construction zone.

And by the way, i dont believe there is a law that says you cant pass on the right, but there are laws that say you should drive to the right. If someone is passing you on the right, YOU're probably wrong, cause you should be driving to the right.

 

...and I just love it when you hear some driver griping on the radio about having other drivers pass him on the right. My suggestion to him is to move over to the slow lane and let the faster traffic by. That will eliminate getting passed on the right.

 

I think about that when I am driving by em. You have a truck in the left lane who can obviously go right, but doesnt. And he is putt-ing along at whatever speed he is doing, I am not going to sit behind him because he doesnt want me passing on his right. Dont like it? Move.

 

On its face it looks like they're in a construction zone where possibly one of the lanes was closing, thus truncating the roadway - without further footage it's hard to say. Nonetheless, we can see the truck encroaches into the path of the patrol car for unknown reasons, and thus if this single movement were not to have happened there wouldn't have been an accident, despite possible poor judgement on the cop's part. Therefore, given what we can see in the video, the primary collision factor (PCF) would probably be an "unsafe lane change" or something similar depending on NM law, and the "associated factor" of not properly signaling his/her intentions to change lanes.


However, this doesn't mean that the officer's actions didn't contribute to the accident. If the officer failed to obey a traffic sign that directed him/her to merge or yield to other approaching traffic, the officer may be partially at fault, which would also be an "other associated factor" - failing to obey an official sign. But not having anymore evidence it's hard to say definitively what actually happened or who's at fault.

Just a little Sunday morning quarterbacking...lol

 

As a cop(26 years) and CDL holder for (26 years), it's my opinion that it wouldn't have mattered if the officer was in violation of not obeying signs, passing on the right, or any number of things. The one action (truck changing lanes), that if removed from the scenario, the accident wouldn't have occurred. Not to say the officer's actions didn't contribute to the accident, but it wasn't the cause or "primary collision factor," it would be classified as "other associated factor."

 

If you want to go that route, (in bold larger type in your quoted post,) there are a LOT of things there that would work. You could say, "the one action, (officer trying to pass on right) was removed from the scenario, the accident wouldn't have occurred.

Or how about if the construction zone was not there? The accident couldn't have occurred.

And if your Aunt was plumbed differently, she'd be your Uncle. . .

 

Big Don, I fully understand what you're saying and I often had trouble finding fault when there were errors committed by both parties. I also know that cops are far from perfect and often not as savvy a driver as most truckers...and think their stuff doesn't stink. Bottom line when both parties are culpable, one is going to be found more at fault - even if it's a 51-49 split. Due to the minimal amout of evidence here, I am just spit balling.

It's obvious that the officer was in a big hurry and used poor judgement, even if he had his lights and siren activated. Notwithstanding the issue of hit and run, the truck moved into the officer's path apparently without checking his mirrors or signaling his intention to move right. The question of whether the officer should have been there or not didn't cause the accident, but would have been a contributing factor. Again, this is just a little Monday morning quarterbacking with limited facts, which is always dangerous and I don't usually get involved - I know better because I hate when folks do it to me.