I-80 Minooka IL Pickup hits pulled off semi

put the blame where it belongs the driver of the pickup.

 

Shoulders aren't meant to be parked on. Monkey see monkey do isn't an excuse. We should have more parking spots isn't an excuse. Ramps are for accelerating and decelerating. Shoulders are built for breakdowns.

There have been hundreds of these type deaths and it does fall on the trucker. They use the theory if he wasn't parked there then the person wouldn't of died even if they were drunk.

You'd think after so many of these stories drivers wouldn't park on off ramps but they always do. I wouldn't want to go to jail for sleeping in the wrong place.

 

Thanks for this good post, and is especially good advice in bad weather. Snow covered taillights and low visibility make it impossible at times to see they are parked and so many times they do not leave room for others to go around them.

 

Where are you supposed to park if all rest areas and truck stops are packed out? With these ignorant e-logs and HOS crap put forth by the wonderful DOT, what can you do when you run out of hours? Drive illegal and get a big fat fine? I swear, the DOT is run by a bunch of idiots who know absolutely nothing about trucking industry and probably haven't ever even seen the inside of a truck. It should be run by truckers for truckers, and not a bunch of know it all politicians.

 

fact is you dont drive on shoulder,you might hit something,oh the driver was drunk,the blame belongs on pickup driver,that is what is wrong with this country,blame everyone else but who is really responsible.

 

This is true but we are a commercial enterprise with a whole bunch of lawyers that prey on us. It's kind of which come first the chicken or the egg.

I just want new drivers to understand their position. You might park on a ramp your whole life and nothing happens. All it takes is that one time to turn your world upside down. CYA is the name of the game. The more you do something wrong the odds increase to something happening.

I think I parked on ramps at the most twice a year. With a little effort a driver can find a safe place to park. Like someone else said if you must pick, use the on ramp. Off ramps they are tired and come in flying. On ramps they are usually fresh and building speed. Every one of these type wrecks have been on an off ramp.

This particular wreck at Minooka parking is slim at the Pilot and the rest area in the early hours. A little tidbit leaving that Pilot instead of turning left to the light, turn right and the road goes back to 5 warehouses with open parking lots. Two of them were vacant the last time I was back there. I've slept back there a few times. That's one of my fun tricks hiding among trucks at customers that I wasn't even delivering at before. Hey it's parking.

 

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/01/24/man-charged-with-drunk-driving-in-fatal-crash-on-i-80/

 

While I agree with the substance of what you're saying, but the fact is, we live in a world in which you can sue over a spilt cup of coffee. We can't change this culture of zero personal responsibility, but we can protect ourselves from it by limiting exposure. Not parking on off ramps is one example of that.