Just some of the stupid things I see

Why cant they take red lights and make the yellow start flashing while the green is on to give a heads up its going full yellow then red.
I seen this in another country and I cant remember where it was but I thought what a great idea. Light is green, yellow started flashing for 5 seconds or so then green goes out yellow is on, then red.

 

No offense, but 3100lbs didn't make the difference here, sorry! It was most likely the drivers fault for not paying attention.

I'm assuming this was a tractor trailer outfit?

Another thing to look at would've been the ABS, which I'm sure you did, but is there anyway you can plug a computer into it to tell what it did at the time of the accident? I'm asking this cause of an issue I had right after I bought my new trailer. My ABS wouldn't let my trailer brakes apply at all in almost resulted in an accident. Never figured out what the cause was.

 

Weight plays an issue with everything, trust me I know, it takes me longer to run to the fridge than it used to, but my point is that the braking assy is designed to handle more weight than most ever put on.

Does all ABS systems have an electronic brain that you can check? Asking about trailer not tractor.

 

Might check if the timing on that stoplight was sufficient for a truck to get stopped from the posted speed limit. A lot of them aren't, especially if they are "photo enforced"

 

Yep, that's a darn good one to look at. In Topeka, on SW Topeka Blvd, there's a couple of them, that we were exposed to. If there is car that is at the cross-street, the lights turn immediately. I've seen where you got the green light, after being stopped for the red, and before you could get across the intersection it changed back to red. Very, very dangerous IMHO.

 

Heath, OH is another place. I think in one year those stupid things have caused more traffic accidents then 10 yrs before without. And they aren't set up for truck traffic!

 

On US95 in Idaho, going north from I-90, there are big yellow warning signs that say, "Prepare to stop when flashing" and if you pass the sign before it starts to flash, you will not be caught by a yellow/red switch. If it starts to flash (light is still green) you need to slow down and stop. Love those things!

There are a couple of lights I deal with fairly frequently that are just as Eaton describes. I have learned to watch approaching traffic on the side streets. I've gotten pretty good at judging their distance speed to the light to determine whether I need to stop.

DieselBear, I don't know how you do it without losing your temper sometimes. When I was firefightin and EMTin, I was faced with situations that I would have been perfectly happy to drag some idiot onto the beach and teach them how to swim my way.

Regarding over gross. I know there are trucks with beefier suspensions than mine, so this statement does not apply to them. I can tell when my axle weights are off and when the load is overweight. Couple hundred pounds, not so much. But 35K on my drives messes with the air leveling valve somehow or other and will not allow the leveler to function properly. It will continue to exhaust air until I take weight off the drives. Once I get it within a couple hundred pounds of 34K, it does just fine. Maybe the leveler isn't working right by doing that, but I'm actually okay with it. Can't go anywhere with my mud flaps dragging the ground, so either adjustments have to be made or weight has to come off. Truck won't move down the road until it's done.