Holy S***snacks!!!

There were 4 seconds between the time I figured out the car wasn't stopping and time of impact. In 4 seconds I can lose 5mph by not doing anything except kicking off cruise control. One tap of the brake pedal and the car would have been clear.
Again, I'm not blaming the truck driver for the car failing to stop. I'm just saying the collision was avoidable.

 

That is what one of our Counterparts over in the UK affectionately referred to as MUST PASS TRUCK on his YouTube channel... it's an apt enough description I started using it myself

 

You seem to forget that we don't know what's in that trailer; it could be 45k pounds of bleach, in which case losing more than a single mph in that 3.5 seconds (remember, brake lag) would be nigh impossible... ask me how I know that handling characteristic of Clorox loads, I dare you

 

It’s Florida.

Their license won’t be revoked.

 

Hell, I'll just agree with all of you and intentionally plow through the next moron that cuts me off. I mean...not intentionally but I won't do anything to avoid it. Maybe it will be one of your family members. I'll bet you change your tune then.

 

I watched the video several times and tried to put myself in the cab. The first sign of a problem is at :05 and the collision happens at :08. It takes longer than 3 seconds for the brain to react and hit the brakes. I'd like to think I would have avoided this but it's hard to say.

 

Ok - I’ll say this and then I’m out.

@HoneyBadger67 - we’re obviously on the same page.

My phrase is “Ain’t got time for the paperwork “.

It means “I’ll anticipate stupid behavior, make adjustments, and we’ll all live - at the expense of a few minutes of drive time. I’ll keep my record clean, and my career”.

I’ve got 15 years and 2 million plus miles to back it up. Accident free.

The other week, on a 2 lane road, at 14 wide, a PT Cruiser made some highly unpredictable moves, either scared by the pilot lights or looking at a garage sale - not sure. With oncoming 18 wheelers around a curve, the onus was upon me to save his life. And I did. I shut it down to ensure contact was not made.

Yup, he got the horn. And deserved it, yet it wouldn’t change anything. I shouldn’t have let it get to me. Some people are dead stupid. And shouldn’t be driving. But they’re somebody’s Mum or Dad, whatever.

Sit here all day long and tell me it’s all the idiot Lexus drivers fault. Don’t matter. I hit something out here and my gig is done. Regardless of fault. I’m hired to ensure one thing - seamless safe delivery of high dollar product. No excuses.

It takes less than two seconds to react to a situation if you’re a professional driver. Run up against the governor all the time regardless of the environment and you’ll wreck pretty soon. Adjust to it and you’ll drive many years and live.

Dad always said - “Ain’t you that you gotta worry about - it’s everyone else” .

Assertive driving makes good time, especially OSOD.
Defensive driving might cost you a few minutes.
Aggressive driving will kill you.
Oblivious driving will kill you too.

Over and out.

 

Yep !
I saw that idiocy brewing and eased off the throttle when the SECOND car rolled through.
The 3rd car (that got hit) probably never looked.
Not the truckers fault!... but I saw that stewing. You have to anticipate.
He kept the hammer down.

Better safe than sorry.
All eyes, and generally FAULT, will find its way back to the pro if the attorneys get a hold of it.

 

I dont think they ever looked. I think it's hard mentality. Three made it, so can I. If I don't look at the truck they will know I don't see them and slow down. You know this has happened to you before. Think of those idiots as deers. If you saw 3 cross in front would you really expect the last one not to? Of course not. So know he has an accident with injury on his record. If a safety director saw that video how many would hire a guy that doesn't anticipate and take precautions?

 

It's funny you mention that with regard to the McDonald's coffee case. In another life, I was a litigation paralegal, mainly on the defense side. We tried a case in that very courthouse, the Second Judicial District Court in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. (That's Albuquerque, for the Canadians.) Our case finished just as the coffee case began.

I actually read a couple of articles by the McDonald's plaintiff's lawyer defending the verdict.

Here's a summary by one of the lawyers who represented her.

Here's another one that's still easy to find on the web.

She did suffer second degree burns, and she was elderly -- 79 years old, if I remember correctly. She was a passenger in the car. The coffee spilled in her crotch after she put the cup between her legs as she was sitting in the car, trying to add cream and sugar to it.

Her injuries were pretty bad. There's a picture of her burns you can see in a link in the second article above, if you have a strong stomach. (I've seen lots of burn pictures, but they take some getting used to, so I don't recommend it if you're sensitive.)

But was it worth $3,000,000? The jury thought so. Damages were reduced to $480,000 by the judge, and the parties reached a confidential settlement rather than continue fighting through appeals.

Based on my experience, whether you'll get hammered by a jury in a civil lawsuit or a criminal case really depends on the venue where the case is tried. We lost a case we probably would have won if it had been tried in Colorado. The jurors in the coffee case obviously didn't have a problem handing out money. During the same summer in the same courthouse, a drug dealer was acquitted of all charges by a jury, even though the cops obtained a valid search warrant and dug up large quantities of drugs and guns buried on the guy's property. That evidence was presented, and the jury acquitted anyway. So whatever you do, don't get sued in Albuquerque, and don't become the victim of a crime there. You won't get justice.

Now what was your point about lawyers and lack of knowledge again?

Edit: By the way, Florida is a really bad place to get sued, too.