Terrible Crash ...Indiana

Wow, the n00bs are quick to judge. There have been times when I didn't see a stopped vehicle in my lane until I was right on top of it. The way I see it, both vehicles did some things wrong.

1) The van; too many occupants for the vehicles listed capacity. Comming to a stop in a traveling lane when you should have pulled off onto the shoulder. That's what the shoulder is for.

2) The truck; failing to move over or slow down for a stopped vehicle on the road. It's common courtesy, and also law in Indiana.

Rear end collisions are almost always the fault of the vehicle behind.

 

First my thoughts and prayers to all involved in such a tragedy! My goodness!
I don't think he is dumb...
I think with the dim lights on these freightliners you can hardly see seven seconds ahead.
Stay safe drivers! life is a fragile thing!!!!

 

This reinforces even more my hatred for driving at night. Visibility is horrible at night, and if I can avoid driving after dark I will. Unfortunately that's not always possible in this line of work.

 

Whether the Roehl driver was right or wrong he'll live with this the rest of his life. At 24 that's a long time. My heart goes out to all effected.

A state trooper I know said that they refer to the shoulder of the interstate as the death zone. What would you call stopping on the highway?

I hope this reminds everybody to be as safe as they can. Cause even if you do all you can this is a dangerous job. Easy to get complacent.

 

WOW, How about you try to drive a truck for a month? Only a non driving company kiss butt would make a statement like this on a truck forum.

 

What you meant to say was during the deer rut! No need to blame this on hunters.

 

According to the report on Landline the van driver claims to have blacked out when he hit the deer. It is true that in almost all cases rear-ending someone or something is your fault, but there could be much more to this than we are hearing or reading at the moment. I really prefer to keep the Roehl driver and the families in the van in my thoughts and prayers for now. There will be plenty of time for judgement later. Even if the driver did nothing wrong he will still have to live with the results for the rest of his life. It is made worse by the fact that children were killed. All I can say is that we should all remember to watch our following distances and not over drive our headlights.

 

my two cents...as someone whom has worked numerous accidents including fatalities this is going to be 100% the fault of the van for stopping in the traffic lane. YES you have the option to cite the driver of the truck for a few different infractions if as the officer you choose to do so BUT being cited does not mean you are at fault. Our state law states "if you are involved in a non injury accident and the vehicle is able to be moved off of the roadway you are to do so immeadately" Failure to do so can result in fines up to 500.00. If the driver of the van would have moved to the shoulder this would have never happen. Will be interesting to see how the accident report will read...

 

Th driver of the van is stupid for stopping in the middle of the highway!