My first accident.

The autonomous truck will hold its lane. No way is it taking chances like a human would.

 

Lawyer won't do him any good, because the fact of the matter is he was involved in a preventable incident. ANY time you leave your lane, you're at fault for whatever happens as a result. If you were "forced" out of your lane and didn't trade paint, and the other vehicle didn't stop, they don't exist. So what happens if you hit the ditch to "avoid a head-on" and flop it over? Truck is just as wrecked. Trailer probably sustains more damage than it would have had you just held your lane and reduced speed as much as possible, and the cargo inside the trailer is a mess. Worse, yet, what happens if you drop off the side of the road, over-correct, and shoot back across your lane into oncoming traffic? You're still involved in a head-on, but now YOU are the one in the oncoming traffic lane and the person you kill hadn't done anything wrong. In all of the above scenarios, YOUR insurance is what will be paying for the wreck.

Give as much space as you can, but hold your lane (or use the paved shoulder IF available and clear). Reduce your speed as much as possible. If a crash happens, it'll be in your lane...and it won't be your fault. Unless there are other factors involved (i.e. you're beyond being out of hours, uninsured, license expired, etc...), you aren't going to face criminal charges for maintaining your lane and reducing your speed as much as possible before the impact.

And no, you won't recover "lost wages" by suing the company while they investigate what happened. They cannot put you in a truck until they are sure you are safe behind the wheel. If they have doubts and allow you to drive anyway, and you have another incident, they appear negligent...and that adds zeros onto settlements.

 

Putting the truck in the ditch was completely preventable. In that, they are not wrong.

That said, you did the right thing. You can get a dash cam for as cheap as 20 bucks in some instances(like a cheap ### dash cam pro is 29.99). It's not super quality, but it will prove your innocence in situations like this.

 

To the OP. Maybe you had to put it in the ditch, or maybe you didn't. The call was yours, you were there but none of us were.
The one thing that you can be sure of though, is that you won't have any trouble sleeping, or looking at your face in the mirror while you shave, because you were involved in a fatal accident.
Right, wrong, or indifferent, being involved in a fatal accident will take a certain amount of toll on most people. Of course, there will always be a few that are able to just blot it out, because it was not their fault. But they are in the distinct minority.

Somehow, I believe that WR was posting this tongue in cheek. However, I'm afraid that there are many companies that take the view he put forth.
You get killed on a construction job sight. Company says aw gee, that's to bad. Now get back to work folks. But take that same company and tear up a piece of equipment, they will say "YOU'RE FIRED."

 

So what was the final call? Last week in class Ryan mentioned an accident a month or two ago that sounded like what you described and he said the company sided with their driver. Still with them, or I should say "us" if I'm thinking correctly.

 

Great to hear. A small hiccup but nowhere to go but forward. Keep on truckin!

 

So the car came in your lane head on at the last second? Sounds kind of strange a car would just jump in your lane head on at the last second unless they were trying to commit suicide. You sure you didn't take your eyes of the road for a second or two and that car was already in your lane but you seen it too late. If you didn't take your eyes off the road you would have spotted it long enough to brake and react. Not saying that's what happened just my opinion.

 

hmm still stange that a car didn't see your big truck coming at them enough to get back in their lane well before you having to react. Probably was playing on their phone with their head down and drifted into your lane.