Tracy Morgan -- Sues Walmart Over Crash ... You Overwork Your Drivers

I think the only time seat belts are a non-issue is when they are properly fastened, passenger limo or not. On the one hand, citizens complain that the government comes up with so many laws that it gets into their personal lives. On the other hand, citizens want to relinquish responsibility for their own safety because using common sense was not a requirement in this type of vehicle. While it may seem that WalMart is renegotiating its promise to take full responsibility for the accident, there's nothing that says their driver couldn't have made wiser decisions himself, and there's nothing that says passengers couln't decide for themselves whether or not they used the optional seat belt. One cannot have it both ways. Either you take responsibility for your part in things or you allow the government to dictate and regulate every decision you ever make. No, a seat belt was not required but one could take an extra step to protect oneself, in case of an accident. Had he been wearing one, the chances of such severe injuries would have been greatly reduced. And clearly, much of the responsibility was on the WalMart driver because he's the one behind the wheel and he's the one with the CDL. He could have chosen to not drive when he was fatigued.

Companies are cautious and strict about who they hire to drive their trucks because drivers are in a huge position of trust on the part of everyone involved. It is ultimately up to the driver to use his or her better judgement in everything he or she does. This is also why these companies bring on dozens of candidates for training and end up with only a fraction of the number they started with. They're weeding through the riff-raff to find and hire only the candidates who take responsibility for their own actions, attitude, and judgement. This is why we say the evaluators are watching your every move. They want to know how you do when they're observing you and how you do when you don't think you're being watched. This is probably because when you're on the road, they can't watch you're every move or decision either. They have to know they can trust you before they allow you to go solo.

Ultimately, in an accident, the plaintiffs are going to go after the company that the driver works for because the company is the organization with the biggest bank account. Tracy Morgan can say that these companies run their drivers too hard and maybe in some cases that's true but again, the driver with the CDL must make judgement calls on safety and have good reason to back those calls up. Had he been precautionary and nothing happened at all that night, then what would have been the harm?

We as drivers, have to have the gumption and fortitude to say, "No, I'm not going to do that because I'm the one with the CDL and I'm the one who makes those calls on safety," even if it means losing our job or willingly turning in our keys. At least in standing our ground that day and defending our license and the integrity that must stand behind it, no one goes home in a casket. We have to have that kind of moral strength to face-off against others who might not get it, at the moment. Even if the WalMart driver had been fired for not delivering the load or making his arrival time or whatever, still, no one would have been hurt or killed. You can go find another job but you can't replace that loved-one that someone is now missing.

This is a dangerous job. Be safe out there everyone ...

-mountain girl