Had a wreck, needing advice on what to do now.

There is a lot of afterthought concerning this drivers situation, but I have had many instances where there is hardly time to think as to what action to take at times. Thus, we can always say I should have done this and done that. I am not saying this is what to do, but the 'old school' driver saying is "make sure you get some paint"...translating to hold your ground. Example; On I-90 near Erie, Pa., a car driven by a woman with her daugher in it came across the medium in the opposite direction and into the lane of a flatbed. He was coming down the hill eastbound toward six-mile creek and swerved off the right shoulder to miss them. At the last instant, the lady somehow brought her car over into the left lane, but the driver ended up going down that 100 ft ravine into the creek killing himself.

I think the driver should forget about ever going back to work for this company as employer/employee relations would be strained. Furthermore, all the driver needs to do is make sure that the accident on HireRight (DAC) clearly states not-cited, non-preventable. DAC does no verification of facts, they only print what is given to them by the trucking company caring less if the info is true or false (this came directly from them during a personal phone call). Thus, submit the police report, have it cleared or cleared-up on DAC, and move on to another company. Most state no-chargable accidents so it should not be a problem finding another job. Why all the fuss?

 

Very well said sir.

 

1. it was dot reportable.

2. it was preventable.

You can and will get hired as a driver, but don't omit that company on your apps.

 

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/eta/acccounter.htm

 

Regardless of what that website says, if the DOT officer on scene ruled it as non-preventable, then it was non-preventable in the eyes of the law. If there is documentation from the DOT that specifically states it was "Non-Preventable", then the company CANNOT report it as preventable on your DAC, whether they think it was or not.

Everything hinges on what the officer reported. Get a copy of the accident report and look. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, all that matters is what the officer reported. There is nothing that can be done to change what happened, so arguing about what you should have done is completely irrelevant.

The accident report is EVERYTHING. If it says non-preventable, that's the final word, period.

 

Attention rookies, students, wannabes....etc. the following is a cold, hard statement about the transportation industry, be it bus, or truck, whatever...:

Want to protect yourself? You will hear drivers talk about their conscience, as to why they chose to cut their wheel and crash. Those drivers will have a hard time getting a job driving a port a John truck. There are certain things you need to realize if you want to be a trucker
1. In any loss of traction (bad weather, steer tire loss, whatever) the brakes are the absolute last thing you press.
2. YOU DO NOT CUT YOUR WHEEL FOR ANYTHING. If Jesus appears suddenly in front of you, you tell him "Lord if that's really you, you will survive this impact."

it may sound harsh, but that's the way it is.

 

As much as I hate to agree with that, it's generally true. The way things are now, if a freaking comet comes hurtling down into the highway and you cut your wheel, they'll cite you for failure to maintain control, even though the comet was clearly not your fault.

But in this case, the driver wasn't cited, so obviously the officer thought that he did the right thing. But that's definitely the exception and not the rule.

 

How about a link to that, thanks