safer to drive... vans, tankers, or flat beds?

That's your opinion. You're entitled to it.

1/4 to 1/3 of the posted speed in those conditions. The key is to go slow enough that you can react to anything ahead but fast enough that you're not congesting traffic

But coming from a truck culture that only practices safety techniques they're forced to or to cover their own ###, I wouldn't be surprised if that's far-fetched to some.

The rules are ALL ACCIDENTS could be prevented but like I said multiple times: Driving too fast for conditions automatically rules the professional driver at fault.

When I worked in shipping, out of all the truckers I've met, all of those whose accidents were determined to be non-preventable by the board were either blind sided or rear ended (standing still in most cases); everything else was fair game.

 

Say it all you like, you are still wrong. There is no speed at which anyone could crest a hill and still see what is on the other side before arriving there, get it? Or do you have x-ray vision, Superman?

It seems to me, with the attitude you are displaying here, that you have a vendetta against truck drivers. I also have to wonder how much experience you have operating a vehicle in winter driving conditions?

 

How is it you've determined he was going too fast for conditions?

That truck driver could have been STOPPED and that accident would have happened.

So by the looks of it, your saying he should have been going between 15 & 20 mph (assuming a 60 mph speed limit). At that speed he would have been an obstruction to traffic, while you claim it is KEY to not be an obstruction.

Look, there is NO WAY to drive slow enough that oncoming traffic doesn't pose an UNAVOIDABLE risk. Your "reaction time" is being reduced every inch that oncoming traffic moves toward you, even if you are not moving.

ALL OF THOSE ACCIDENTS? From truckers you spoke to while working shipping? Holy crap. Where did you work in SHIPPING that all the drivers you talked to: 1) Bothered telling you that they had ever had an accident... 2) Discussed whether or not is was found to be preventable.

I worked shipping for just over three years, and of all the truckers I spoke to for more time than it took to get paper work done, and send him/or her on their way, I can remember a 3 drivers talking about an accident, and NEVER did it come up as to whether or not his company determined the accident to be preventable.

Your "working in shipping" logic seems like a grasp at straws to bolster a poor argument.

And while I agree that most accidents ARE preventable, this one is not. He would have had to have been driving so slow that he would have been a hazard. 40 mph on dry pavement would have been too fast, and the conditions of that road are not 30 mph conditions.

 

FedRex.











It was too easy a comment to make. I couldn't resist.

 

Everything stated here is your opinion so I don't understand what makes your argument stronger because it is a subjective one.

1. The naval yard before it shut down.

2. Some willingly shared their experiences and those of fellow truckers.

You seem like the type that's scared into speeding up when tailgated, instead of baiting the tailgater to go around.

 

Lol anyone that says even accident is preventable has drank the safty department coolaid.

How would one prevent a head on colision on a bridge??? It happened to me but if anyone can tell me how to avoid it I love to hear it.

 

So then, does that mean you "bait" tailgaters to go around you?

You're aware that doing so can be just as hazardous?

Tailgaters are a nuisance. It's true. But changing your own speed is not the answer. I'm a little more fresh from school than you are, so please allow me to remind you want the book says is the correct thing to do.

You only increase your following distance. That's it.

By decreasing your speed you've made yourself a target and a hazard. That aside you're also impeding traffic.

There's no opinions there. It's all easily found in the books that the dmv provides for free.

That aside, you didn't answer a question for some of us. How did you determine that the driver of the semi was going too fast?

Currently, because I can see no viable means of determining it myself, how fast the driver was going is a matter of opinion. The only exception I'll give you for that would be if you think that driver should've parked it instead of continuing on. But then that's a whole other animal.

Smartarse answer? You should've gone around the bridge! Even if it meant driving through the mud, muck and mire (or worse) that the bridge spanned.

 

Lol it was a short bridge the thought did occur to me. Sarcasm

 

Just sayin, s$*t happens, and that video was a perfect example of what it looks likes like when it does. 100% percent non preventable since even if the driver would have run the truck off the road, or locked up brakes, the accident would have still happened. The roads weren't that bad, and we can't stop just because something might happen, the four wheelers screwed up, and payed with his life. my sympathy for his family, but I have more sympathy for the truck driver. That has to be hard to forget.