Rollover

Let me give you an example of how I actually rear ended a 4 wheeler and she got charged.

I-283 NB in Manheim, PA. I am in RH lane and she "merges" from RT 74 onto I-283 in front of me. Problem is she did not use the acceleration lane after the on ramp...she crosses over the solid white line between the acceleration lane and the RH lane and manages to get in front of me but she is only doing ~30 mh and I am doing ~55. BANG. I stayed in my lane and came on the brakes easy because it was raining and I was pulling an empty SD. I didn't want to jacknife or change lanes. Didn't want to get rear ended either. I sent her into the concrete median where she proceeds to bounce off that and the left side of my truck and trailer (median - LF bumper - median - drives - median - trailer - median - trailer axles - median) for a few hundred feet and comes to rest against the median. I am thinking this looks bad. I tell my story to the cop. Cop tells me she is telling a different story. She says she was traveling the speed limit and you hit her from behind. No other witnesses saw her merge. Cop was getting ready to charge me.

I walk back a few hundred feet or so to the initial point of impact where she merged. On the asphalt, under the ambulance I managed to find pieces of her tail light lens. I ask the guys not to sweep any of that stuff up. Cop didn't want to walk back there with me to see it because he wanted to get the road open. It will help prove guilt I say. The debris was nowhere near the dotted line of the acceleration lane so she clearly crossed that solid white line. Finally he agrees and she is charged with "improper left turn" or "failing to merge" or something like that.

Knowing that anything can happen, I still took pictures of everything (flash camera because it happened at night)...debris, dotted line, my front bumper showing small dent at RIGHT corner, LEFT rear corner of her car showing the most damage which indicate initial contact and corroborates that she did not fully have the lane, rubber marks on concrete median at initial point of contact.

Sure enough, she plead not guilty and I had to show up in court in Manheim, PA. She was found guilty.

Lesson: You need to take control of these situations or they will take control of you. You are in fact a private detective acting on behalf of your insurance company, your employer and ultimately, you.

EDIT: oh yeah...get a dash camera and use it. I had one but I didn't turn it on that night.

 

SC officers are required to diagram out every accident or incident so I'd assume that would be included in the police report. That's if they wrote one out. They didn't when I lost my ramps on the highway a couple years ago.

 

I would be shocked if the employer doesn't have the police report. Either the witnesses couldn't corroborate the story, or the employer used this as an excuse to cull the herd.

 

Can't stress this enough... Never, ever, ever, ever, ever SWERVE to miss another vehicle, animal etc... The results could end in a far worse situation! Unless it is another big truck coming at you head on DO NOT SWERVE! Whatever it is hit it!

Once you swerve and cause your truck to start to roll you then lose all control and there's no telling where you are going to end up or how many others you are going to take with you!

To the original poster of this thread... you could have seriously injured if not killed yourself trying to avoid some dumb@$$ who was probably under the influence or messing with their phone in some sort! Not blaming you, obviously from what you stated you weren't the cause of the accident but you were certainly the result! Had you just hit the vehicle it probably would have just resulted in some minor body damage to both parties. It would have likely been a non-preventable accident or at the very least a minor accident if you were at fault. Now you have a roll over which is a preventable accident and you are going to pay hell trying to find the most shady of companies to take you on!

Lesson learned the hard way...

To all others... NEVER, EVER, SWERVE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES UNLESS IT IS FOR ANOTHER BIG TRUCK COMING IN YOUR DIRECTION!!! Rabbits, squirrels, deer, bear, grandma etc... hit em!!! If you swerve to miss any of these things it could result in the loss of control of your truck and lead to a rollover! Once you lose control you are in God's hands and there's no telling where you will end up or how you will end up and how many others you will take with you! Could be a school bus full of kids on the other side of the highway that you run into while sliding down the road upside down!

DON'T SWERVE GUYS!!!

 

It is what it is driver...you messed up by not letting him hit YOU....You never, never, never, did I say never leave the pavement...once you do that You loose control. You came on here asking for help in finding a job...well you may need to re-think that. If you react that way in a situation (leave the road) then You will do it again , next time maybe killing somebody in the process. That is what potential employers are gonna think....this guy reacted too severely and lost control of his truck....I'm not gonna give him a chance to loose control of mine. Besides with a roll-over on your record...you would stand a better chance of getting a good job with 25 DWI's on your record....Usually unless mechanical failure or a blown steering tire are to be considered...a roll-over means one of the following....

IN-attention to traffic conditions

speeding/tail-gaiting

or driving too fast for conditions......

I sincerely hope someone gives you a chance, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

If I have to make a choice between my career and the life of a idiot: I'm picking my career. I will not get myself into a preventable accident avoiding what would have been a non-preventable accident.