Truck Versus Car Incident - Who Was Wrong, & Could It Have Been Avoided?

Having a little debate in a non-trucking FB group (gun group - LOL) where I'm the only CDL holder.

While the woman driving the VW might be somewhat in the wrong (and an a$$hat for trying to sneak in) - the trucker saw her and obviously accelerated to close the gap.

Somehow - this guy probably feels his dashcam vindicates him in this accident.

I say he drove aggressively and was at least 50% (or more) responsible - when he could have just backed off and let her in.

Being that the trucker pretty much always gets blamed anyways - had the occupant of the VW been seriously injured/died - this video would probably have landed the trucker in prison.

What say ya'll?

Rick

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party here.

First of all I have no interest in debating who is legally responsible for what. Makes no difference to me. The accident never should have happened in the first place and the truck driver could have prevented the entire thing if he would have been handling his rig like a professional. That's all I care about.

When it comes to the way you handle your rig, a driver is not to be judged relative to all other drivers on the road. A truck driver is to be judged based upon his or her driving standards alone, regardless of what anyone else out there is doing. In other words, just because other people are doing stupid things doesn't make it ok for you to do stupid things. As a professional you're expected to rise above the level of the amateurs around you, not sink to their level.

Handling your rig like a professional means you're making far more informed and disciplined decisions than most people would make. You're more aware of your surroundings, you're taking defensive driving precautions above and beyond what most people would feel is necessary, and you're ready for anything at all times.

The moment this video started the truck driver was in the wrong for following way too closely. I hated to even waste a minute of my life watching the rest of it because I immediately knew who was going to be in the wrong. Then he's blabbing away on the phone and you guys heard him say, "She doesn't realize I've got this on camera. " To me, that's terrifying because he clearly believes he was handling his rig properly and is going to be vindicated by the video. It's like following distance isn't even a concern in this guy's mind. The fact that he was 20 feet off the bumper of the four wheeler ahead of him at about 70 mph doesn't even cross his mind. In my mind following distance is the most important thing when it comes to operating safely out there and to this guy it doesn't even matter.

I'm telling you guys, at some point the trucking companies and insurance companies are going to say enough is enough. They're going to put cameras in every single rig on the road and they're going to use the collision avoidance system to trigger the dash cam when you're following too closely to the vehicle ahead of you. That's going to put a stop to a lot of this tailgating.

So in my mind the truck driver was 100% at fault for this entire thing. I couldn't care less what anyone else on the road was doing or who was technically at fault legally. If a real professional had been driving that rig there wouldn't have been an interesting video to watch in the first place.

Thanks Brett.

Exactly the point myself and a few other long-timers here were trying to make.

We ALL agree the VW driver was an azz. We just don't all seem to agree that the truck driver was just as much of one - and this accident was 150% PREVENTABLE. This is not like GuyJax's - where the vehicle flew across 3 lanes and there was no avoiding it.

And what surprises me here - and part of the reason I started this discussion - was to gauge the ATTITUDE AND PERCEPTION of the members here. And some of you guys, I'm just really shocked at how some of you perceived this. I expected the weird responses from the FB Gun Forum that I saw this posted in originally - they've never driven an 18 wheeler. Some of the stuff posted here have me sadly disappointed.

"Following Too Closely" is considered a serious/major offense when operating a CMV - and accidents like this are the reason why.

4 wheelers (especially ones that have never driven an 18 wheeler) are going to do stupid stuff. They have no idea that we take over a 200' to stop at highway speeds (in ideal conditions). They have no idea that a quick whip of the steering wheel (to avoid a dog/deer/etc.) can jackknife or roll a rig. They drive around figuring that everyone can maneuver as rapidly as they do. And we're not even talking about the real idiots that try and go up against a rig - looking for a payday (like brake checking a rig).

Rule of thumb on following distance is "to allow enough room for other vehicles to pass" - basic rule - without getting into "seconds per foot of vehicle. 70' rig over 40 mph - this guy should have had at least 8 seconds of following distance. He had pretty much the correct distance, before the first car passed. Didn't open the gap back up when he got passed (Basic Defensive Driving), and closed it even further to PREVENT BEING PASSED.

If we're going to drive around, figuring that we're the big boys and we can command the lane and not let those pesky little VW's get in front of us - one of us is going to end up in an accident similar to this one.

And if he had (God forbid) rolled this car, or killed the driver/occupants - based on the following too closely (and aggressively accelerating to block the other car off) - he would have been looking at VEHICULAR HOMICIDE CHARGES.

Rick

Oh, yeah, it looks to me like the truck was 100% at fault. Car was close, but was clear and half in the lane before he sped up.

I agree. Truck should have backed off.

The truck didn't speed up, she's applying the brakes as she changes lanes

Truck at fault 100%. If you'll notice, the truck did speed up to close the gap. If you look at the vehicles in front of the truck, you'll notice that he maintains distance to them until the vw starts to put on their blinker, then you see the gap start closing. While it is possible the vehicles in front could have lifted off the accelerator, you don't see any brake lights, I'm going to assume the truck sped up.

Also, you see the truck move to the shoulder when he sees the vw merging into his lane. He clearly didn't lift when he could have. This is a preventable on behalf of the truck.

Also I like how the title of this video says a "blonde" is driving the vw when we have no indication of anything about the driver lol.

Truck at fault 100%. If you'll notice, the truck did speed up to close the gap. If you look at the vehicles in front of the truck, you'll notice that he maintains distance to them until the vw starts to put on their blinker, then you see the gap start closing. While it is possible the vehicles in front could have lifted off the accelerator, you don't see any brake lights, I'm going to assume the truck sped up.

Also, you see the truck move to the shoulder when he sees the vw merging into his lane. He clearly didn't lift when he could have. This is a preventable on behalf of the truck.

Also I like how the title of this video says a "blonde" is driving the vw when we have no indication of anything about the driver lol.

Actually - you can see the grey car that passed first, try and SPEED UP to make room for the VW. Also sounds like the guy is on his phone, and could have been distracted.

Drivers field of view is going to be pretty much the same as his cam - so he DID SEE the VW and could have lifted to let them in.

Rick

I'll agree that the truck was at fault. I'll play Devils advocate in regards to his field of view though. His dash cam is on the top right area of his window and from the driver seat, it's possible he didn't see the turn signal. (Hard to say since we weren't the ones driving). I'm curious as to what the driver of the vee dub was doing though because they keep going left as he's clearly next to them and driving off the shoulder. It's one of those best left up to the insurance companies.

I'd say site them both for failure to yield! Both of them had plenty of opportunity to yield to the other. Either one could of prevented this.

Hard to say. The driver was following too closely on a different 4 wheeler already and should have backed off to let her in, knowing he was probably going to be blamed for most situations (preventable). The 4 wheeler was cutting off the driver and failing to yield right of way to the driver and jumping in a hole way too small for her vehicle (aggressive/reckless driving). In a fair world the 4 wheeler should be held responsible for this and the driver warned against getting into future situations like this.

Truck Versus Car

Having a little debate in a non-trucking FB group (gun group - LOL) where I'm the only CDL holder.

While the woman driving the VW might be somewhat in the wrong (and an a$$hat for trying to sneak in) - the trucker saw her and obviously accelerated to close the gap.

Somehow - this guy probably feels his dashcam vindicates him in this accident.

I say he drove aggressively and was at least 50% (or more) responsible - when he could have just backed off and let her in.

Being that the trucker pretty much always gets blamed anyways - had the occupant of the VW been seriously injured/died - this video would probably have landed the trucker in prison.

What say ya'll?

Rick

The trucker is entirely at fault. Not enough following distance. If he had maintained proper following distance, there would have been no accident.

It doesn't matter what the driver of the car did. He's the professional driver, and he failed to be professional, allowing a situation to occur where someone could have very easily died.