A lesson for both new and experienced drivers

Yesterday, in the early morning, an accident shut down Interstate 10 in Baton Rouge, LA for the entire day and made traffic in the city unbearable - I'm talking taking 2 hours to go 4 miles in the city. One truck rear ended another truck because he was following him to closely as the front truck was stopping for an accident that had started in front of him. The truck that got rear ended just so happened to be fully loaded with Isobutane, a highly flammable chemical which leaked all over the road causing state police and hazmat crews to wait until midnight to burn off the chemical because it was impossible to transport the liquid or offload it because the valves were damaged when the tanker was rear ended.

All of this could have been avoided had the truck not been tailgating the other tanker. Stupid mistake that could have cost lives. Instead it just caused a traffic nightmare in Baton Rouge for the entire day, wasted resources as police had to stand and reroute traffic all day instead of patrolling, and making local drivers like myself late for practically every delivery due to the congestion in the streets.

Moral of the story - DON'T TAILGATE!!! Nobody cares if other super truckers are doing it - it's going to take you a long distance to stop your rig, and is it really worth your job or your life just to be on someones bumper? I see it all day long from both cars and trucks. Back off and don't let something like this happen to you!

Just imagine if this had happened and that truck exploded during the day - that was a controlled explosion. Had something happened that tanker blew up uncontrolled, the Mall of Louisiana is not even a block away, and Baton Rouge General Hospital and a couple of hotels were a block away. All had to be evacuated along with the residential areas near the interstate. Could have been a much worse disaster all because a truck didn't leave enough stopping distance between he and a hazmat truck. STUPID!




Here's a link to the video of DOT blowing up the truck.

 

Don't tailgate. Don't text while driving. Don't talk on a non-handsfree cell while driving. Don't drive a truck that has unsafe maintenance issues. You can remind everyone how dangerous these things are until you're blue in the face. But come tomorrow, you'll see 50 more donkey butts doing all of them. We have seen the enemy and it is us.

Glad no one got hurt in the fire though.

 

Wow that is crazy. Tailgaters suck. You see the guy walking around at the end of the clip. Must have been a hot fire.

 

I'm with you....Almost all of the crashes...Not Accidents..Are caused by by driving too fast and too close together....

Any experienced Driver ...Will admit and school you...."The Day Is Going To Come...When YOU Will Be Willing To Give Anything... For Just A Few More Feet And/Or...A Few More Seconds".....

 

But if people dont tailgate where will we get awesome fire videos? *sarcasm*

 

He might have busy looking at his laptop in the passenger seat. See that way too much lately. Only one word can describe it all...IGNORANCE. God bless. Take care. Be safe out there drivers.

 

Believe it or not it is illegal here to talk on the phone while driving. It is legal however to read a book while driving. It's just a cash cow for whichever govt. is willing to milk it.

How is talking on the phone more dangerous than reading a newspaper?

People need to stop blaming specific actions for accidents and start looking at the big picture. Common sense goes a long way, unfortunately our legislators and enforcers have none.

 

II don't know where you are ...But in most venues ....It is illegal to read and drive....But nothing surprises me anymore...I used to have a friend who insisted that he could read and drive ...He insisted that driving was boring ...Had to have something to help him pass the time...

I remember seeing a guy in LA driving a Passenger van in the lane next to me....With two cell phones....one was clamped between his shoulder and ear and the other was in his hands ...Texting ...Driving with his elbows....

Ya ..They need to pay BIG Fines....And when they kill someone....Go to Prison!...

 

I agree. Lock them up.

 

I'm sorry, but I respectfully disagree.

There is no ignorance in these matters.
Ignorance implies a lack of information and/or education.


There is only mind-numbing stupidity and self-absorbtion.