TA security guard shoots driver/parking dispute

Im not a workmans comp lawyer so I don't know how it will play out on the end, but i do know how a similar injury played out for one of my drivers back in 02. He got mugged walking to the truck at the old rip griffin(now a ta) east of Dallas. Got hit over the head with something leaving him with a real bad concussion, several staples and a stay in the hospital. Our workmans comp denied the claim because it happened during a crime, not work related injury.

 

That’s a separate issue. He was at a truck stop taking a 30-min break. Now, if the driver had gone inside the store and robbed the cashier and got hurt while doing it, then no, workers’ comp wouldn’t apply.

 

But he did steal from the truck stop. He was illegally parked in a reserved spot. But you are right that it would take a court case to determine liability.
Now if liability court cases were tried on law it might matter. Since every liability case I've seen the results of are tried on emotions, it doesn't really matter what happened, just who have the deepest pockets.

 

So we’re all stealing when we take a 30-min break on a reserved parking space during a time when they’re not really in use, especially when plenty are empty or the truck stop is small? The shooting happened at 4:30am, and we can assume that the driver parked there a little after 4am. Any OTR driver knows it is bs for this to be a problem. And, yes, if the guard asked me to move, I will move—to the fuel island! Hahaha. Okay...to the truck stop across the street.

By the way, I just realized that the TA OKC West, where it happened, never ever gets full! Also, there are four mega truck stops in that exit, and none ever get full, except the Love’s, which only has 20 parking spaces. So sad.

 

It's not up to you to determine when you can use a paid spot If TA says it's a paid spot it is. And like you said, they have plenty of free spots, he could have parked there and nothing would have happened.

 

I don’t think you understand the situation ZVar. You’re a local driver. I and many other OTR drivers park in reserved parking spaces all the time and at different hours of the day. If plenty are available at 10pm, I’ll take one for a 30-min break. No problems at all. A few places like the TA in Commerce City, CO will block out most reserved parking spaces with a yellow tape.

 

While I am local now, I did work OTR. In that time I never took a spot that wasn't a legal spot. It's called trip planning.

Doesn't matter anyway as in the case discussed there was plenty of legal parking.

 

I bet there weren’t any reserved parking spaces when you did OTR. It seems like you’re quite unaware of how common it is to take a 30-min break in a reserved parking space. Now, taking your 10-hr break in a reserved parking space is clearly stealing.

There are truck stops where there isn’t much space left to park because now it’s like 50% reserved parking. You need to park somewhere. So you can park in the fuel island, next to the CAT scale, in a fire curb, or if you’re like most reasonable drivers, just take a reserved parking space and take your 30-min break! And, yes, you want to be careful about doing this at night.

 

I'd say 1/2 to 3/4 of the truck stops had them. Again doesn't matter in this case anyway.
The subject is a driver got shot when confronted for parking illegally. Let's try and stick to that subject.

 

The subject was whether or not the driver will be covered by workers’ comp. It’s possible it won’t, depending on the type of insurance coverage.

You are here making a big fuss over taking a 30-min break in a reserved parking space when in reality it’s not. Truck stops with reserved parking know this will happen because sometimes there isn’t enough parking. I’m sorry ZVar, but sometimes you go overboard with stuff that most people would find funny and a little OCPD.