My first accident.

This driver has a dilemma. The other car obviously kept going, there's probably no witnesses, no camera, no police report.

In the company's eyes he is making up the story in order to cover for taking his eyes off the road, drifting onto the shoulder, oversteering to get it back on and putting into the ditch.

Not saying that's what happened, but that's how they look at it.

 

Very happy to read that you were unhurt brother. Now, if this occurs to you again, after the incident occurs be sure to dial 911 and get a traffic crash report. You will have unimpeachable evidence from law-enforcement as written evidence for any type of action you might be subjected to in the near future and to dispute DAC. If the respoding officer will not complete a crash report, see if he/she will provide an incident od miscellaneous report. I know ghis may not help you currently, but for future reference.

 

Would strongly recommend that you get a dash cam... they are worth their weight in gold when it comes to proving your case.

 

Sorry to hear about this Angel. Might have to reconsider driving for them with this kind of treatment...


Ed

 

I would really just put up with it and look for another company. If the other company asked, tell them a limited amount of info, the driver appeared to be suicidal, I avoided killing them by ditching the truck and leave it at that. IF you get hired in and start work, then tell them the rest of the story.

 

I'm sorry to hear that. After having worked inside of a trucking corporate structure, people on the inside, especially safety, get jaded.

They hear so many stories from drivers who make up stuff in order to try and protect themselves, they often turn a deaf ear. In order to protect themselves during safety audits, insurance reviews etc, it's always the driver's fault, unless there is concrete proof to the contrary.

They will most likely make you come in for a safety review, have you write down what happened and then explain what you could of done in the situation to avoid it from happening. Put it in your file and tell you to carry on.

My sense is that some companies use the threat of preventable accidents on a driver's DAC to intimidate them from going anywhere else.

I know a guy at a mega, he's had 3 preventable(s) in the last 3 years. He's gotten raises, they keep him rolling, no problems. However, there is a gnawing fear he has that if he tries to go somewhere else, no one will hire him because of it. So, he stays and puts up with what he has to in order to keep working.

 

Can a driver look at his own DAC?


Ed

 

The company is correct. This is a preventable accident. You had choices. There are over 7 billion people in the world and the company only has so many trucks. You chose to endanger one of the company truck rather then an almost endless supply of people.

 

Right wooly cuz a head on wouldn't have endangered company equipment and liability...