Trucker on Facebook at time of deadly Arizona crash, records show

Unbelievable... simply unbelievable. smh

 

^ ... yeah, I um...

... yeah.

 

So you deny it? Look at the video. Yes, the truck driver was in the wrong without question. But the trooper wasn't thinking either. He's got his car parked in a TRAVEL LANE on the INTERSTATE. He should have at least been looking at what was coming, and be ready to MOVE if something was about to hit him. If he wasn't there, then the incident wouldn't have happened.

 

As tragic an event as it was, it is entirely appropriate to question whether Officer Huffman played any part in his own death through either negligence or carelessness. Did he follow the appropriate Arizona DPS procedures? Did all other emergency personnel on-scene? Doing so does not diminish the overwhelmingly negligent responsibility of Mr. Espinoza. Rather, it is an opportunity to learn from such a tragedy so that hopefully it is not repeated.

 

That's exactly where I was headed with this.

As a First Responder, I was trained first to make sure that I didn't get myself hurt, and second to not put myself in a position where someone else could hurt me. Because a First Responder that's hurt can't help someone else, and it takes two or more of their colleagues out of service to help THEM after they've been injure.

 

There are conflicting reports about which car was Officer Huffman's. The Officer Down Memorial Page seems to indicate Officer Huffman was in the car stopped in the travel lane.

However, the Arizona DPS website says his car was parked on the shoulder.

 

That may be the case, but the impact of the truck with the car in the travel lane is what caused it to veer onto the shoulder.

 

Breezed right past the whole thing, huh?
I suppose you also are one of those drivers who remains in the right lane, while approaching & passing emergency vehicles on the shoulder.
You just "breeze right past them". Forget moving over to the left lane and slowing down, huh?

Who's to say he would have remained in his lane when passing them. I saw at least 1 slight drift on the video, and from the camera angle it was impossible to say with any certainty that all of his truck was in his lane.

On any traffic situation the trooper has reason to be where he best think he needs to be.
You really need to get experience as one, before playing "tv quarterback".

 

Okay, I've got your perspective windsmith. You do have a valid point. I'm just wondering whether there might have been emergency responders either close to or actually partially in the lane ahead of the trooper. It's hard to see from that short video. I'm only guessing that the accident scene was fairly fresh, the emergency responders were expediting triage or actively rendering aid, and the trooper put his life on the line to protect their lives.

My speculation aside, I also wonder whether the trooper followed procedure by being in the car when it was stopped in the lane.

 

Negative. My phone stays in its holder on my dash while I'm driving, and I pay attention to my surroundings. If you ask me at any moment what's within 100 yards of my truck, I can tell you. The only 'distraction' that's on in my cab is the CB radio on channel 19, and sometimes I even turn that off if I still get annoying, irrelevant chatter with my RF gain turned all the way down. That's right, I don't even listen to music or 'talk radio' while driving.

And for the record, I have 12 years' experience working incidents roadside as a Firefighter / EMT-Paramedic. I've been through the training, and have hands-on experience. I have never been injured during that time. Thanks for playing.