Runaway Truck

In a twist of fate , several years after Harry Chafin wrote this song , he was killed in a traffic accident with a tanker.

 

There was a wrecker parked on the shoulder because Someone ran into the woods on the left side going eastbound down Monteagle Thursday morning,
It was below the second runaway ramp and he was in the woods, all I could see was the trailer doors.

SRT skipped the brake check, a flatbed was in the pull off at the bottom with smoking brakes and the second runway ramp had several tracks.
I never hit the brakes, just switched between mid and high on the jake switch.
Oh well

 

Not to downshift going down a hill/mountain-------darn straight.
Many moons ago,1 of the things i was taught was "you go down in the gear you climbed it in"!

 

I believe you can brake, or shift, all you want, but that one "missed shift," with a little too much speed while going downhill, ends up like our Mexican friend here. Best to be cautious and pick a gear and just stay in it. I know; it takes a little longer. At least you know you'll get there. Still can't believe the rolls of paper went next to him, instead of over his back. Buy a lottery ticket.

 

But if you realize you screwed up and are in too high of a gear??????
Then you better know how to downshift going down a hill early.
When Crete got the Prostars with the Maxforce with the exhaust brake instead of real Jake brakes, we had several drivers smoke their brakes because they were scared to downshift.
Anyone can say choose the right gear before you start downhill. But what if you're wrong?

 

I wonder if the 4 wheelers who thought it was a good idea to be ahead of him knew about the toll booths. I sure wouldn't want to have him behind me. smh

 

This is why I practice downshifting on down grades frequently. The trick is to recognize the need early, when your brakes are cool. Apply enough brake to get down to lugging or just before the Jake cancels at 800 rpm, then make the shift. Getting real low in rpm's gives you a lot more time to get it in gear. If you miss the gear, then simply apply brakes again to bring the speed down to where you started the shift and try again. It's not that difficult a skill to develop, and essential if you are faced with unforseen circumstances, like rounding a corner to discover a much slower truck ahead of you.

The only times I haven't been able to execute a downshift was when a grade gets north of 20% on dirt roads. Then I come to a complete stop and get the gear I want in low range.

 

Well, don't be wrong. Lol.

 

I think he was going slow enough at the beginning to down shift.
Obviously this situation had been going on for a while because the cops had time to show up.
He did a good job of driving under the circumstances so probably not a rookie.

I say it was caused by an automatic transmission