Illinois trooper killed.

Rockford Scanner™: Serious Accident Near Freeport, Possible Illinois State Trooper Killed
Theres has got to be more too it...it appears there is one of the semi truck tires laying in the road. They havnt released any information about the crash other than what is on the rockford scanner link above.

 

Should it matter if it's a trooper or just an ordinary citizen broke down on the shoulder? Why should the penalty be greater just because the person happens to be a public servant? A life is a life...and if your negligence takes it from someone, ANYONE, there should be consequences.

 

I'm not meaning to single out this poster, but I'm using this comment as part of my venting.

Then slow the #### DOWN!!! If it's that #### difficult, McD's is always hiring. We had a trooper killed here in Colorado 2 weeks ago during the blizzard, some moron driving too fast for conditions lost control and hit him while he was working another accident.

The reality is, there is no excuse. If you can't move over, then slow down, I've passed stopped Troopers and Highway workers at 15 mph because I couldn't move over to give them space, the jackwad in the 4 wheeler or big truck behind me doesn't like it, I'm sure we can find a nice shoulder to discuss it on. That person's life is worth more than the 2 minutes you're going to be delayed.

Keep in mind, while you're whining about the cops making a stop or an inspection on the side of the road. Last week, there was a serious accident on 70 east of Denver, a disabled 4 wheeler was struck by another 4 wheeler. The disabled vehicle had it's marker lights and hazards on, the idiot that hit him was texting, it was 5 am. Luckily the person in the disabled vehicle was standing off the road talking on his cellphone or it could have been far worse. Next time you have a blowout, or breakdown and your only option is to stop on the shoulder, look at all your fellow truckers that can't be bothered to slow down or move over to protect your life.

Number of years back, coworker was sitting on the side of I-90 in Wyoming, blowout. Road Service was working on the tire, idiot 4 wheeler not paying attention sideswiped the service truck and the trailer. Knocked the service truck into the back of the trailer, knocked the trailer off the jack, coworker and tire guy both dove for cover.

STOP MAKING EXCUSES, STOP TRYING TO BLAME SOMEONE ELSE, GROW THE F UP.

 

I was just noting these stats in a related topic about physics, etc. . .

Did you know? Nationwide, there are:
THREE lane departure fatalities every hour.
ONE lane departure injury every minute.
THREE lane departure crashes every minute . . .

You know what else? Not all of those are preventable, and because they happen so regularly, it is not reasonable to do a truck inspection on the shoulder, or anywhere that truck parking is illegal. It is illegal for a reason, and the police should not be allowed to endanger the lives of truckers or other motorists (including themselves) to do an arbitrary inspection there.

 

You guys are blaming the wrong cause for this, chalk up another casualty from distracted driving. If you're paying attention, of course you will slow down or move over, but these accidents are a complete surprise to the driver not paying attention. Aside from drunk driving, I can't think of a more serious threat to our roads. It's such a conundrum, vehicles get safer, roads get safer, yet something as distracting as a phone is invented and blows all that safety out of the water. Maybe some day they'll learn, and put some kind of phone disabler in vehicles. We did ok years ago just fine without them and I rarely saw rear-enders like this.

 

If you want to insist that there is one cause for this, that would be because the inspection is taking place on the shoulder. Otherwise there are multiple causes for vehicles crashing, and always have been. I wouldn't be surprised if they did an inspection in front of a run off ramp on the side of a mountain at this point. Or if they wouldn't consider that, what the hell are they thinking elsewhere? About making the roads safer... yeah sure (good luck with that, but first get out of the way).

 

Exactly right.

 

You cannot control the actions of that other driver. You cannot make him pay attention. You cannot force him to not be distracted. What you CAN control is your own actions. Don't stop on the shoulder unless there is no other option...and then don't hang out there any longer than absolutely necessary. Why? Because you cannot control the other guy.

I worry about what CAN be controlled, especially when people who SHOULD know better are involved. To say that a cop who KNOWS the shoulder is a dangerous place to hang out, who then chooses to hang around doing an inspection there rather than having the trucker move to a safer location, doesn't share in the blame is just plain silly. You cannot create a dangerous situation and then escape all blame just because the other person SHOULD HAVE taken actions to avoid you.

 

I see the phone as an acute form of dementia, but there will be more and more chronically demented people driving, as the aging population increases. Health problems could be more of a cause as it is, and there are other things noted (each of which may occur more often, as more vehicles get involved).

"Although gradual improvements in infrastructure have helped keep the numbers from increasing, research by the Federal Highway Administration shows that higher traffic volumes have counteracted any real reductions in the number of deaths."

"Vehicles depart from a lane or road for a variety of reasons . . ."

"Run-Off-Road Crashes: Vehicle-Related (Cargo shifted, Tires/wheels failed, Brakes failed, Steering failed, Degraded braking capability, Suspension failed);
Environment (roadway and weather conditions) Slick roads, Wind gust, roadway geometry (e.g., ramp curvature) . . ."

"45% of deer-vehicle crashes resulted in some type of lane departure maneuver . . ."

"Regarding behavioral issues, health problems of the driver were found to be twice as frequent as distractions of any kind . . . "

So can we get past thinking that distracted driving is the only cause of these accidents?
No? Nevermind. Carry on...