8 Semi chain reaction crash I-70 Indiana

I was a driver involved in this crash..As I was driving the truck in front of me stopped suddenly and there were no brake lights, I assume he rear-ended the truck in front of him. I had my truck just about stopped with plenty of room to spare when I was rear-ended by the truck behind me and shoved into the truck in front of me and my wife and I were pinned in my truck for 45 minutes. I get so sick of people who were NOT there assuming they know what exactly what happened and assuming everyone was tailgaiting. I was NOT speeding, was NOT tailgating, and I WAS a victim in this. After 27 years driving trucks I think I know how to drive so PLEASE before you feel the need to offer your expertise on what happened get the facts and get them right.

 

Sure sounds like Prime to me!

 

My question is why do we always assume it's a newbie who's the product of a CDL mill who causes stuff like this?

Ironpony, you of all people should know better. Yeah, I know. You were being sarcastic. I'll tell ya what the CDL mill I went through said about tailgating. "Leave an 8-second following distance." Yep. 8 seconds. That would hardly be tailgating. Problem lies in when people have that freshly printed CDL, still warm from the laminator, 75% of what they were just taught blows right out their ear...crowded out by the pride in acquiring said CDL.

Then, when they actually get into a truck with a trainer, the first thing the trainer says is, "Forget everything they just taught you. I'm gonna show you my way." What's a newbie to do?

Not all noobs follow doctrine blindly. I, personally, listen to all angles and decide for myself what makes the most sense. Usually, the information I've gotten from the "old-timers" is spot-on. Occasionally, that old-timer is wrong and I'll do it the right way...you know...the one that's not a short-cut.

Why, it was just yesterday, crossing into Utah, that I was passed by an old-timer hauling turnpike doubles. His following trailer had the landing gear down to within 2 inches of the ground. I tried to hail him, but no answer. He apparently didn't want to hear it from a lowly Swiftie. A few minutes later another driver: "Hey, Godfrey! Ya wanna wind up your landing gear before it catches something?" His predictable response: "It musta fell down!" Really?? How about you didn't pretrip your trailers, knothead? With the landing gear handle in the disengaged position, the gear might have "fallen" an inch or so before the handle caught on the bottom of the trailer. I hope he wound it up before crossing that Utah scale.

 

Mea culpa... you have my apology. However, it certainly sounds like the truck in front of you and the one behind did not have enough room to stop. Most times there's a rear-end accident, those guys will be cited for following too close.

I know what you're saying Injun, but I will take exception here. There are a very high proportion of new drivers on the roads these days. IMO the ones going too fast who can't control their trailers (you know what I mean) are most likely low-time drivers. I see plenty of trucks that speak of being driven by an experienced owner-op going fast who don't have that problem. Maybe I'm wrong, but some of the stuff I see is just too hard to explain any other way.

And at least once a day I run across some jerk who is running 3 feet off of the bumper of a 4-wheeler or a slower semi, trying to "push" the guy down the road. Or some other jerk who is well above the speed limit (yeah, I do get an indication off of the collision avoidance stuff as to how fast other vehicles are going) trying to race traffic to the choke point in a construction area. That one on I-70 is a good example of where this happens every time I run through it.

So excuse me, but tailgaiting, speeding and doing both in areas that are extremely unsafe are epidemic out there. Whether its by newbs or drivers who should know better.

 

Exactly. Noobs are taught one thing in the CDL mill and then, when they actually get into a truck, monkey-see-monkey-do. Whether what they see is being done by another rookie or by a vet. My opinion is those of us with more than six months should be setting a better example.

 

I disagree.
In almost ALL cases where I see overt tailgating, it is an O/O or small independent. The 'super truckers'.
Let's face it...the Swifts, Hunts, Stevens trucks can't go fast enough to catch up to another truck to tailgate!

 

First and foremost I hope your wife and your injuries are minor and that you have a quick and complete recovery. I and other members completely believe your story of the facts.

I want to mention though if you read the second article, it clearly says that you hit the truck in front of you and THEN you were hit by the truck behind you. I would jump on the newspaper and have them post a retraction if anything. They are the ones that assumed.

 

Moreso than debating the cause of the accident, we need to acknowledge that this did happen, was terrible and that prayers need to go out for all involved. Livelihoods are on the line and don't be worried D.A.C. will definitely be updated with their own version of fault. I've been in serious accidents and nobody wants sarcasm at a time like this. Like I always say on all my posts, Good luck and drive safe!!

 

I have contacted the trib star and am waiting a call from them to get the facts right. I take driving very serious rather it be in a cmv or our personel vehicle and I get frustrated when people assume they know exactly what happened and they were not even there.

 

My wife and I are newbies, 10 months exp, and we drive this section of I-70 frequently. We are constantly flipped off, honked at, and tailgated. Why? Going the speed limit in these construction zones. We just smile and wave at the honkers and the flippers. The tailgaters cause us to add more following distance, enough for all those behind us to stop safely.
We have seen multiple trucks following each other just feet apart at 65-70 mph, in rain and snow. When we see this kind of thing, we do whatever it takes to get away frpom them, change lanes, slow down. I have even taken exits just to get distance from these kinds of idiots.
Sadly, we have already driven past many wrecked trucks in our short 10 months.
And I-76 and I-80 are just as bad, if not worse.