Dramatic footage of double fatality Donners truck crash

is there a way to download this video to my computer so that I can share it with other people?

 

It's on YouTube. Just double-click the video in the post and it will open the YouTube page in another window or tab. Then you can choose the email option or copy the URL, etc. There's actually a more clear version in the "related videos".

 

Watching the video, you can see several mistakes the newb driver made.

The first, biggest mistake was obviously speeding. However, I believe a more experienced driver could have reigned in the speed in a more controlled manner and avoided the tragic result (although it's obviously more preferable to not get into that situation in the first place).

You can see him swerving away from the Walmart truck just as he enters the video frame. He was well out-of-control at that point and the swerving just got more severe. If he had just maintained his lane, without swerving, he probably would have been alright. The swerve is usually as the result of a few things, either 1) not paying attention to lane position, 2) "target fixation", meaning that instead of looking down the road in his travel lane he was looking at the Walmart truck (I started a thread on that some time ago ... and this is the one that gets my vote), or 3) just too much speed in the corner. Although there was obviously too much speed, I doubt it was so much that an experienced driver couldn't maintain lane position. Or, the driver could have let the truck drift to the outside of the corner (thus increasing the turn radius and decreasing the centrifugal force wanting to tip the truck), and then gotten on the brakes on the straight stretch directly ahead.

Just before the trailer tips you can see the brake lights come on, and I suspect he hammered them thinking he could get the swerving under control and get his speed down (he was probably pretty panicked about how fast he was coming up on the traffic ahead). Unfortunately, that again was exactly the wrong thing to do as that would have exacerbated the weight shift to the outside with the predictable results shown.

Tragic indeed, and completely unnecessary.

It is scary to hear a newb say that. Although, driven properly it isn't, or shouldn't be, that big of a deal. And yes, I am familiar with Donner as I cross it almost every week.

 

That is one trippy video! I only ran Donner once, and that was after a year in the seat. The one time I ran it, someone had put their truck into the side of the mountain. The moment you start thinking a mountain pass is no big deal is the time to quit driving. My first real mountain pass was one of the Montana passes on 90. It was a bit scary for me, as I only had three weeks under my belt. My trainer thought we had covered them all, and had turned the truck over to me. I had paid attention to how he handled them, and he coached me through once he realized where we were. Once we got to the bottom of it, he apologized many times for forgetting about that one. Luckily, I'm a quick study, and I kept the truck upright and under control.

 

I disagree. I think that if you do think it's a big deal, you shouldn't be behind the wheel of a big rig. The driver should always be, and feel, in complete control. When I say "not a big deal", I'm not talking about some laissez-faire attitude. I have seen too many drivers that are scared of driving (not saying that is you), and they shouldn't be behind the wheel of a truck.

 

Are you serious? I was terrified of mountain grades when I first started driving. I had to go over them frequently - we didn't have jake brakes and I didn't have a trainer telling me how to navigate it correctly. I think I peed my pants the first 7% grade I went down fully loaded that was miles and miles long somewhere in the Rockies. To not have a healthy respect for the forces in effect on a mountain grade while driving in a semi truck is tantamount to lunacy, in my opinion.

 

Drive Legal, including speed limit. signs are posted for a reason.

 

I showed this video to a guy at a truck stop and he was a newbie too.. And every time I go around a corner on a grade, I keep seeing this video. So thanks for putting this up.

I remember the first mountain that I had to do was Soldier's Summitt in Utah. It was winter and the ground was covered in snow. I think I got about halfway up and got scared and looked at my trainer and said no way... lol... he took over and by the time we got to the bottom or as we were going down, it was practically a blizzard. I am glad I didnt drive down that as my first mountain. I have since driven down numerous mountains and at a safe speed.

Thankfully the company I am driving for now, we hardly get above I-80.. So now I will have to just deal with wyoming, utah and nevada occasionally.. then deal with the ice on 40 & 44.. lol.. gonna find a company that only travels on I-10..coast to coast.. lol

 

I was referring to those drivers that are laissez-faire about it. The overconfident ones that think they can never have anything bad happen to them because nothing bad has happened to them yet. It's OK to be a bit scared on your first mountain pass, but there is such a thing as being too scared as well. A person is usually a bit scared or nervous the first time they do something, that's natural. I agree that there are some people that should not be behind the wheel because they are constantly scared. Those people probably shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car either.

 

That is sooo sad....our thoughts and prayers go out to every family and person(s) involved.