Dee Flint wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

Mike Coslo wrote:


[snip]


clean up. The accident was related to a snow squall that blew up
unexpectedly, and the excessive speed that the whole group was

traveling

at. While no charges were filed against anyone at the time, the

families

of the deceased are filing suit against the truck drivers *and* the
companies they worked for. Hopefully the trucking companies have a

good

safety program.

If someone was following too close for conditions, shouldn't they be
liable?



Since both my current and previous husbands are/were truck drivers, I tend
to observe what trucks are doing on the road. Though I cannot speak for
this particular accident, normally it is the CARS following the trucks too
close for conditions. How can the truckers prevent that and the sometimes
tragic consequences?

The speeds were well over 70. A truck that was passing the line of
traffic jackknifed and the rest is history. The police did not see fit
to issue any citations. All were traveling over the speed limit, and
when the storm blew up, they were waaayy too fast for the conditions.

As for who is at fault, I have several times had to speed up to
ridiculous speeds to not get run over by truck drivers who want to get a
run for the next hill At speeds of 85 and more, they will get close
enough for you to count how many bugs were caught on their radiators.
I've seen a number of accidents where a truck has simply run right over
the car in front of them

I carry a CB, and I must say that there is an urban myth, believed by
most truck drivers, that they *never* do anything wrong. What was
especially funny was the time a truck jackknifed in front of a line of
cars during a bad snowstorm - about 10 years ago - also on I-80, and by
the time ten minutes had passed, the story passed around by radio was
that a 4 wheeler had passed the truck, and cut him off, causing the
jackknife. The offending 4 wheeler was never found. Not surprising to
those of us who were close enough to see the accident happen!

Truck drivers are professionals, and almost always much better drivers
than those in the automobiles. But that doesn't mean they are never to
blame.

- Mike KB3EIA -