The greatest save, and probably the closest call, you will ever see

A Safety Department Manager with a 4 year degree and a C-license?

Meanwhile, nice save. And good on pops for holding it together. If I'd been told to *explitive deleted* after not turning a set of doubles into an EZ Pass lane, I'd have reached in and pulled his "red hose" as he drove off.

But the sound of that big Pete on my computer headphones? Mmmmmmm,,,SAUCY!

 

Of course people chime in with how they would have done this or that differently. The circumstances in the video remain the same no matter how much you whine and thrash on your keyboard. At the end of the day he made one heck of a save. If he hadn't we would be watching this video possibly saying rip driver

 

Grouch - Actually I have been in situations like that and worst.. So yes I am pretty sure I know what I would do, because I have done it... The worst so far I think would be the one a few months ago... I was loaded with 128,000lbs going down a hill @ 90km/hr.. A guy in a pickup decided to pass cars in front of him coming down the hill towards me.. Not too far away from me either.. I didn't hesitate to wait and see if he was gonna make it or not I decided to slow down ASAP.. Know when I made that choice, I made that choice to slow down when I seen him pull out to pass JUST INCASE something happened.. I knew our distance wasn't great so I slowed down so that it would turn into a VERY close call or end up in a very bad accident where death was imminent...

Can I say I will make the same choice all the time.. Well no one can predict the future, but from past experiences I would say that the odd's are in my favour that I wouldn't hesitate. Like I said I can't predict the future and who knows maybe I will run into a time where I will make a late decision to make an action.. Then again isn't a professional driver suppose to try to predict situations rather then wait for them to happen??? Isn't this why we are considered professional... You see a kid behind a car, not sure if he is going to stay until you pass or if he is going to dart out in front of you... Do you A) slow down to a crawl and move over (if safe), maybe even stop or do you B) keep doing what you doing and wait to see if he darts out and then make your move if he does .... If you ask me I think I will take answer A, predict something is going to happen before it does happen.. Do you ever read peoples body movements in the cars around you, can't you predict that your going to be cut off, I know I can and it still pisses me off when it happens.. You can't predict that all the time, but you can most of the time....

You people are pretty naive if you think there is only one way to avoid the situation in the video.. I am not trying to take anything away from driver as I ALREADY said that he avoided having a accident so it still did something correctly.. I also applaud the driver for not losing it on the driver from what I can see in the video.. I would have lost it on the moron...

Remember the old saying "there is more then one way to skin a cat" ... Well think about that when your ripping me apart...

Opinions don't make someone a know it all that's a ridiculous conclusion... You don't know me or the situations I have been in no more then I know what situations any of you have been in.. So to make a bold statements like "you don't know what you have done" it being silly because you have no clue if I was in the exact same position and know what I have already done lol...

 

Knowing the area you run and the amount of new drivers who haven't a clue on how to drive a bicycle never mind a big rig I agree with you it's better to back off a bit until you know what the guy is going to do .. Just because you may be a professional it's never safe to assume the other guy is too ... Most people don't recognize danger until till last second and are forced to make saves like in the video

 

I take my hat off to you. You should have been in NASA, you missed your calling. I am just a ignorant truck driver who will readily confess that I can't tell you what I would have done in this situation. So, glory in your intelligence. Last word I have to say on this subject. Merry Christmas.

 

I think I can, based on what I've been doing as a matter of habit in similar situations for +30 years and in accordance with my training.

The better driver you are, the more mistakes you recognize. The difference is in what is considered a mistake. When the student is also the teacher, standards tend to be remarkably flexible.

Some drivers ask "Why did I do it that way?". Others ask "How did I get to the point where I had to take action in the first place, and what can I do to prevent those circumstances from reoccurring?".

And I give him an "F", for pitifully late reaction leading to perfectly avoidable emergency maneuvering. He was lucky. Another ~0.25 seconds and the outcome would not have been so fortunate.

 

Thank you GPSMAN someone who realizes that this emergency maneuver could have been avoided had the other driver used the first 10 seconds or more to make a move.. 10 seconds at the least because this is when the driver of other truck started to move...

Everyone is so intrigued by his save, that they fail to realized (or believe) that this could have been done in a better way... I too believe he waste valuable time.. Again he made a good save, but it could have been a better final outcome has he not wasted the seconds..

I am worried about the other comments of people who actually think this couldn't have been better, this tells me we have a bunch of truckers on here (experience or not) who would also waste valuable time to make a reaction.. Like I said before part of the whole reason we are professionals (or suppose to be) is because we are suppose to see dangers that may cause a problem. We arn't suppose to see a danger as it's happening.. We are all human we all make mistakes or bad choices., BUT too see a video like this and not admit it could have been done differently is a VERY bad way of seeing it.. Things can always be done better then the next guy.. Instead of jumping on me because I noticed it, why not say you know what he is right he did waste 10 secs to react.. Maybe that will help everyone on the board to make that that choice if your ever in this situation...

Grouch - Your just a smart@$$ with nothing better to do... Judging by your years of driving (50 as you say) your pretty ignorant for your age.. You go make your childish remarks while I clearly point out that there is more then one way to do something... Your the one who is a "know it all" not me.. I never claimed to say my way is the only way, nor did I say what the guy did was totally wrong.. YOU SIR are the one who thinks you know it all, and you clearly demonstrate it by your lack of willingness to accept that he could have done it another way.. Your a know it all who things there is only one way to do this... So eat your own words truckers!!!!

I am scared for the trucking population when we have truckers who have been on the road you can't tell you what they would have done in this situation.. If you can't see the wasted time in the video because your infatuated by the save then I am scared to share the road with you.. There are always going to be situations where we make the wrong choices but end up with a good outcomes, this doesn't mean to say we cant rethink that situation and how we could have done it better... To better prepare us the next time it happens so you can make a better choice.. We only have seconds to make a decision so we do what we think it right, but then after you also think what could you have done better to have a better outcome... This clearly is a video that can educate everyone on this forum, because you can do what I did and pick out what could have been done better... I don't care if you think I am downplaying the drivers actions (which I am not), I know he wasted time and could have had ab better outcome rather then taking an evasive action..

Obviously I am talking to a bunch of know it all's (save you GPSMAN) which is clearly evidence by the attacks on me rather then looking at the video and accepting he wasted time.. We can't change the outcome of the video, but we can better knowledge ourselves for the future.....


Here is a good other situation I was in where I DID NOT waste anytime and avoided a serious collision.. Last winter I was driving up a hill and about to turn into ramp to go south bound on the Don Valley Parkway *for anyone who knows Toronto*... I was headed east and I was up along side of another truck... Well I was I would say halfway up on the trailer, enough to see his taillights on the truck still anyhow.... So I am going up and out of the corner of my eye I see the guy put it breaks on.. No reason I thought since we are going up hill and he was loaded heavy so why slow down going up hill.. Well my NASA knowledge (as Grouch would put it) came into play and I decided I would brake as well JUST INCASE well that god I made that choice just to be safe cause next thing you know I had a car spinning out of control right in front of the one truck and right in front of me.. While this was happening (as soon as I seen the car come out from the front of the other truck) I slammed on my breaks and hoped for the best.. Well the best outcome (what I believe to be the best) was he hit just he corner of my bumper (no damage) and spun around and took out my bottom step on the passenger side... HAD I NOT made the choice to slow down when I seen the other trucks brakes, or slam on the brakes hard as soon as I see the car come around the front bumper of the other truck I would have most definitely T-BONED the little car and if I am not mistaken it would have been the drivers that I would have hit.. The guy slid over 4 lanes by the time everything was done..

So there is a situation where I thought there could be danger (I didn't even see the other car, only brake lights on the truck) and I avoided possibly killing someone.. I am trying to point out that I didn't wait to see if something was happening, I just assumed something could have happened.. I am not a know it all, but I like to think I know enough to make educated moves.. Maybe it's the experience I have driving in the busiest highway in North America I don't know.. You only have to connect the dots sometimes to make decisions.. So in the above accident, I was thinking bad weather, heavy truck going up hill puts his brake lights on (why?) what truck puts brakes on going up hill when they are loaded heavy.. That got the ball rolling for me... If it was the guy in the video that waste the few seconds prior maybe he would have waste time in my situation and T-BONED the car because he might have waited until he seen the car come out from in front of the other truck and by that time it would have been a little too late to make a choice...

 

no matter if he could have reacted earlier , the point is HE DID IT IN TIME to avoid an accident...i say great save...!!!!

 

I think you and the ex truckdriver gpsman are a bit off your rocker, the guy clearly started this avoidance maneuver the second he moved into the left lane, without rpm and speed info on the screen its really impossible to tell when he started to slow. fact is, he had to slow or he never would have been able to make the maneuver he did. as others said, Monday morning quarterbacks, odds are you both would have crashed. give the guy his due, the old sob can drive, you two blow hot air. and honestly to call someone else a smart tail, impossible you have the market cornered on that.


really this is actually amazing. another driver does something absolutely careless and the guy who avoids the accident is criticized for not reacting sooner. it is a reflection of the new attitude today laying responsibility for actions on someone else.

no matter the circumstance, the guy did a great job avoiding the accident.

how about instead of raking him over the coals, how the dummy pulling the doubles, with two trailers he should have allowed even more space before pulling out. in watching the video when the guy began to pull out it was as if he would turn right and head up the road, it seemed inconceivable that he would pull straight across. but he did and the guy made a great save. end of story. any criticism of him is unfounded. the other guy screwed the pooch , plain and simple