FedEx and a bus crash in Cali

Non sequitur, of the gross and obvious variety.

People do slam on the brakes for reasons not apparent to following motorists.

Non sequitur.

Prolly not rear-end "accidents" if one is maintaining a minimum 7 second following distance. I have a strong suspicion you've never "driven" an inch.

How can you hold a CDL when you're apparently 10 or 12 years old, tops?

 

The best crashworthy barrier i've seen in use on roadways these days is the deep footing, rebar-reinforced concrete walls installed where freeway curves are found. A good example is the curves on I-5 near Castella, and near Mrytle Creek. Concrete 'K' rail is decent as a temporary barrier, but can be breached by commercial vehicles in a situation like the Fed Ex truck was in. Current regulations require a barrier where the median width is 50 feet or less. The median width where the Fed Ex crash occurred is 60 feet.

Metal guardrails and high-tension cable barriers are just downright deadly. They are woefully inadequate in vertical coverage and tensile strength as an effective barrier against commercial vehicle cross-overs. In fact, many cars, pickups and even motorcycles have breached these barriers, with often fatal results. Cars have run under cable barriers, and the occupants of the vehicle have been eviscerated by the cable itself. One of the worst crashes i saw was in Huntington Beach on the 405. A college student lost control of her car and collided with the right shoulder guardrail at an angle that separated the metal rail from it's posts. The rail pierced the passenger compartment and partially beheaded her. It was a survivable impact otherwise.

So if i had any say in the matter, i would require steel-reinforced concrete barriers between any divided highway or contolled-access highway (freeway). They are strong, durable, and easily repaired. And no, i don't own a concrete company

 

I was once in the batter's box and wondered why that baseball was getting large so quickly.

Then it hit me...

 

I can't hear you.

 

The first lawsuit has been filed in Los Angeles.
Defendants are FedEx, the charter bus company, and the estate of the deceased trucker.

This will be the first of many lawsuits to come.

 

So, because of their pain and grief, they need to ruin a dead man's family. No one even knows how it happened yet.

 

It will all come out in the trial, who has how much responsibility. If it was mechanical failure, then less or no responsibility for the trucker. Usually these end up with percentage splits according to who has the most fault (and deepest pockets).

 

Here's a story on it. $100,000,000.

http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=AP&date=20140423&id=17546486

 

I love this article, the woman alleges the trucks "have a history of catching fire." NTSB said the truck wasn't on fire before the accident. Suing the bus company because the bus had inadequate emergency doors? I don't think that was the cause, the bus his a truck head on causing from the pictures what appeared to be a huge fire ball and inferno. Sadly, some of these passengers did not have a chance or were killed instantly. There are these large emergency exit windows on the bus for escaping. Having emergency doors would be a good idea which I support, but was this a contributing factor?

Besides, why are they suing the bus company? They didn't make the bus. This was a really bad accident, its amazing some of the absurd allegations that come on. They don't make the person who filed them sound very educated. Or, is this all they have to go on? I'm surprised they haven't come out to accuse the truck driver of texting. I seriously doubt, a fire caused the truck to cut across the median and struck this bus. You can see why I think this is absurd.

It seems to me, sue now, make allegations, ask questions later. Naturally, FedEx will probably try to settle. We don't know the facts on what happened moments before the accidents. People are just sue happy.

 

There's a skill to operating a 5 axle truck with an 80,000 lbs gross, under control at all times, under all conditions.
From reading your comment, it's apparent you didn't develop those skills, and moved on from trucking after only 6 years of experience.
Bad driving habits with driving a car, will bring dangerous consequences when driving a truck.
Your unable to understand "space management" while driving a large vehicle, I'm of the opinion, that when you don't understand, driving is always about making moving adjustments to the conditions that you see, your frustrations are taken out on everyone else that's around you, for how you operate your truck, and that put's a negative spin for everyone in this industry.
Specifically, your not the only one on the road, 4 wheelers are always going to challenge you, and you never allow one to disrupt you from having a good day.
Anger is wasted energy, which is generated into your equipment, leading to extra "wear n tare" and stress on you.