Can I be forced to use 16 hour rule?

No.

There is a safe haven option, but it has to be a hell of a day for that to fly.

Any time a dispatcher fluffs up like a big tom turkey and swears to you to do the 16, tell him or her no.

Don't do it. They have no authority. Google Anti corection laws for Truckers that have gone into effect recently.

I used to run for MBM Darden out of Aberdeen Md once upon a time and had a female dispatcher turn tom turkey and tell me she has authority to let me do the 16. No. It does not work that way.

 

If you're eligible to use the 16 hour exception, there probably isn't much "force" being used by the company, because you actually WANT to make it home at the end of your shift...same as you did the 5 previous days you worked (which is a requirement to be eligible to claim the 16 hour exception in the first place). The exception is there specifically for delays you might encounter during the day, whether that be mechanical failures, crashes, traffic, weather, or simply prolonged loading or unloading times. You are still only allowed the 11 hours of drive time.

But yes, if the run typically takes 3.5 hours to drive the 170 miles out, and 3.5 hours to drive the 170 miles back, that's only 7 hours of the 14 ate up. Since you return home every night, you can use the 16 hour exception since the 6 hours spent waiting plus the time at the crash scene is probably going to push you beyond the 14th hour. If the crash and time spent waiting for the replacement truck makes it impossible to complete the run in the 16 hour window, then you'll have to quit driving at the 14th hour and get a motel room.

Most people WANT to make it home, though, so like I said for most it isn't a matter of being "forced" to use it. It is a tool in YOUR toolbox available to YOU so that YOU can make it home legally when things don't quite go as planned.