Originally posted by Evildriver-3
How about other drivers, like mostly 4 wheelers watch what there doing, most trucks have accidents trying to avoid a 4 wheeler making a mistake and get into another situation.
Yeah no **** !!!
Myself and almost every single big truck driver would much rather put their truck in the ditch without a single thought to our own safety before we hit something that we know will cause a serious accident or death of another human being
Not so for animals or other obstacles
After 16 years of driving the big trucks I have only had one accident that involved the injury of another human being and unfortunately it was a 16 year old kid. It was this young mans first day of "Spring Break" about 9 or 10 years ago and he decided to go motorcyle riding with his buddy. I was driving a 4 axle tanker truck with a 4 axle tank trailer (28 wheeler) that was just over 71 feet long. I will never forget that day as long as I live, It was a cold and cloudy spring day in the Pacific NW and I had just made a fuel oil delivery to Port Townsend Paper and after weighing out at the scales I motored out onto "Mill Road" excited about the fact I was going to be home early so my wife and I could have an early dinner to celebrate our discovery that she was pregnant with our 2nd child.
Mill road is a somewhat curvy road with a 35 mph speed limit that is only used by big trucks coming into and out of the mill. I remember seeing a couple of dirt bikes off in the distance and thought to myself "why the hell are these guys riding so close to the mill ?? they must be kids that have a dad working at the mill" I was motoring about 40 or 45 mph dowm the bumpy torn up road with no worries. I remember seeing a couple of Wa. State Patrol cars and some ambulances pass me with sirens and lights and then 2 DOT vans going the opposite direction with sirens and lights flashing and the whole time wondering what had happened
After crossing the Hood's Canal Bridge I was stopped by a man standing in the middle of the road wearing a red and black flannel shirt and his log truck was parked off on the shoulder. He told me what had happened and that I was responsible for running the kid over and he didn't have any info on the condition of the kid other than it was serious and he was being air lifted to Harbor View which is the "ER" in the Seattle area.
I never felt anything other than a bump in the road when this 16 year old kid shot straight across Mill Rd and hit the 2nd front axle of my trailer knocking him down and thencausing the 2 rear axles run over his ********. Because I was going around a corner there was no way for me to see what had happened and a 16 year old kid on a motorcycle trying to get under my wheels was the last thing I was thinking about
Seeing those pictures brings back some ****** thoughts about that poor kid being air lifted to the hospital wondering if he would ever walk again. Being a father myself when that man in the flanel shirt told me I had run over a little kid on a motorcycle I lost it big time.....I was not sure I even wanted to drive that big piece of **** truck one inch further than where I parked it before I knew I had run over a little kid
I soon came to grips with the fact it was not my fault but I can honestly say that not a day goes by I don't think about that stupid kid and I wonder what he was thinking
I was told to NOT inquire about the "victim" for legal reasons but I do know that he almost lost both of his legs but a specialist at Harbor View Medical Center in seattle Wa. saved them both (legs) and he can still walk....Thats all I know
CG, those pics really should drive home to people that Big Trucks and Little cars don't mix