Question About a "Preventable" Incident

Just figured I'd ask to see what some might recommend on here, as I've never dealt with this kind of problem.

I had been involved in an accident a couple of months ago. I was rolling down a steep hill on the freeway when a truck in front of me jack-knifed. I was a good distance away, but had to swerve right between the crashing truck and the jersey barrier in the middle of the freeway to just barely avoid them (probably the most impressive thing I've ever done in a truck, #### was right outta NASCAR), losing only the passenger side mirrors with a few cosmetic scrapes on the trailer. Afterwards, I was never deemed at-fault, or to have done anything wrong, and had a clean inspection by a state trooper.

Now the problem is that I spent hours talking with my company's safety officer and never heard anything to the contrary. They specifically made it understood that they realized I took every reasonable precaution under my authority when driving, and yet when I applied to another company last month, I was sent a DriverIQ consumer report that they requested, which states that the accident WAS preventable. This company is no longer an option for employment, at least for the next year, as it now puts me under their hiring requirements as having a recent preventable incident on record. I'm also assuming that I'm gonna have to wait like three years of no "bad driving" AT LEAST, till high-quality jobs (like Walmart) are likely on the table again?

My question is this: Is it worth fighting to have this changed? How do I go about this after having left the company in question for a new job afterwards?

We spoke of speed (of which I wasn't speeding), weather (which was light snow at the time of the accident, but was agreed that it was not unreasonable or unsafe to be driving at the time), following distance (was nowhere near being too close the truck in front), and action taken to avoid crashing (emergency stab braking until I deemed I might need to go around the crashing truck). The most that came out of the discussion with safety in terms of what could've been done differently in the situation is to "be even more wary around other drivers."

In their words, I "pulled a helluva move to avoid what would've likely been a really bad crash." So what exactly is preventable about this, if they mutually agreed with me that every action taken leading up to and during the incident was completely justifiable, safe, and reasonable?

I don't want to take it personally, but I feel like I'm being ####ed over. I saved their truck from being totaled.

Appreciate any responses.

 

I can understand the sentiment. I won't lie, it's been three months, so my memory is a little hazy, but I distinctly remember being well off from him. I feel like if I were too close, it would've been brought to my attention when they reviewed the footage. Also, the jack-knifed truck took the mirrors off. He was sliding across the road, and as I said, had to go around him with little time left to react.

 

Yeah I understand, I guess my trainers that I started with at Schneider were right when they said put 200% focus into safety, drive like a single #### up could ruin your career.

Would you expect this to at least be salvageable after some time? I switched to local a week after that incident and feel a lot better about my work getting off OTR. If I can't get this preventable off the record, as others have said is likely, will maybe 3-4 years of safe driving scrub the mistakes off my record in the eyes of more decent employers?

Also, one more thing, I've at least avoided getting any at-faults on my record, which I guess is a positive.

 

Okay, thanks I appreciate it. And yeah, I do get I'm in a much better position than a lot of people still. It just blows my mind that two years into my career, this is where I'm at. Have always had a safety-first attitude, but it's always a #### hand I get dealt. But hey, three preventables over two years, only one in the last year and a half, and legally not at-fault for any of them? I guess you could say that isn't the worst thing to have to deal with for now.

Guess I might just become Mr. Safety and pull off the road the second the sky turns white with clouds. Will tell my company I fear for my life... and my record if the sky isn't blue.