Accidents ...what's the Truth?

Haha, why did I not think of that!

 

I am quite sure every truck driver ever killed in the line of duty felt the exact same way. Obviously we think we can control the risk....else why would we do it?

Bottom line is we can't stop.....at least in the northeast we can't....with all the traffic there is no way to follow far enough back. All you can do is run just fast enough not to get run over and stay alert.

The link I posted below says 852 truckers were killed in crashes. There are ~3.5 million drivers so it probably won't be you or I tomorrow. But for two people somewhere it will be the end of the road.

I wonder if there are more deaths from obesity than from fatalities? I read somewhere that the average age of a truck driver is 17 yrs less than the rest of the population. What occupation can say that other than perhaps a soldier?

You are still new yet. You have a long way to go and karma is a #####.

Be safe driver.

 

Here's a story that says 852 dead truckers and 138 dead pilots. That's more like I would have expected.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=87825

 

Hi Alaska, actually, bobtailing is dangerous stuff, and it's easy to forget, but with no weight over the drive tires, extra care is needed, as in a panic situation, braking distance is greatly increased. I always drove extra careful bobtail. I'm sure that driver found out in a hurry.

 

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4089784]Hi Alaska, actually, bobtailing is dangerous stuff, and it's easy to forget, but with no weight over the drive tires, extra care is needed, as in a panic situation, braking distance is greatly increased. I always drove extra careful bobtail. I'm sure that driver found out in a hurry.[/QUOTE]

So I have read here several times, and I believe it. The driver in that particular instance, though, was following too close. After rereading what I posted, I think I failed to make that clear. There is an all too common practice by many truck drivers here in Alaska, as well as by many drivers in general, of following too close, nothing unusual when compared to the rest of the country from what I can tell by reading others observations here.

 

The thing about that forbes article, for some of these jobs, especially drivers, it doesn't take into account how many times it's their own ####### fault that anyone got hurt. Like what I think it was you that pointed out, you see drivers in these trucks tailgaiting, speeding through ice, snow, and heavy rain, I was a little behind a convertible last week that had 4 girls in it, clearly in bathing suits, captain ###### almost ran his trailer into my cab so that he could get over to get a better view.

Like I said in the thread the OP was talking about... Trucking is no more dangerous than driving to work. Flatbed and tanker has extra risks, but slow down, take your time, and do it right, and that risk can be more controlled. But it's us, personally, who add so much risk for wrecks to this job. Maybe if so many drivers didn't drive like they're invincible the number of crashes would be way lower. Whether you're in a truck, in a car, or on a bicycle, you have to take care when you're on the road. Watch traffic, stay back far enough to stop (something you CAN do in the northeast), anticipate people changing lanes... This is stuff you learned in highschool when you were learning how to drive a car. This is the same exact stuff the smith system is telling you to do. It's nothing but very basic defensive driving. Almost every wreck I've ever seen was something that was avoidable... But keep telling yourselves that 50 on black ice is safe because "my tires melt the ice".

 

Seriously, you have heard those words spoken by people, or did you make it up? That is as absurd as this statement:

 

Right on these very forums.

 

When teachers teach for 11.5 hours per day, 80.5 hours per week, and stay at the school for 98 hours per week doing teaching-related tasks, we can talk about the similarities between trucking and teaching.

It's apples and crawfish, folks.
No comparison of risk or potential for danger between the two.

 

Critical thinking exercise. Busses drive the same roads as us, if it's someone like greyhound, they put in the same hours and miles as us, yet they're not on that list at all. So what's magically more dangerous on the road for a truck than a bus? Ams those bids drivers even have other people's lives that they're responsible for.