Hitting a moose is preventable

[dle]

After I hit the moose, I found at the Swift in its infinite wisdom deemed it to be a preventable accident.

The reasoning that was presented to me:
A moose is larger than a deer so it moves slower than a deer. So therefore a driver can avoid a collision with a moose.


If any of you have had a meeting with a moose, was it deemed preventable or non-preventable?
Does anybody know where I can find information that will help me fight this?

Thanks.

[FunkRider]

I almost hit a moose once in my car. Came around a corner at 90km/h and a moose was in my lane, I had a second or two and moved into the other lane. When I was about 40 feet away it moved into the left lane I was now in and I had a split second to go back into the right lane. That was done in my Mazda Protege with very sticky tires and suspension modifications. I would have gone into the ditch with a lesser handling car nevermind a truck.

Have those boneheads ever seen a moose move?

[Syncrosonix]

last i read, hitting animals is non-preventable. they were out on a headhunt and you were in their cross-hairs.

[Rev.Vassago]

I assume they got a statement from the moose to find out the other side of the story.

[Mr. Ford95]

Can you appeal it? That's just asinine to call it a preventable, sure you hadn't done something else recently to make someone mad and out to get you?

[dle]

What appeal?

I called the safety supervisor in Lancaster (my home terminal), he had to call Phoenix safety to find out what happened.

When he called back, a couple of hours later, he said the preventable stands and that moose are big and can't move very fast.

I told the guy that from the point in time that I first saw the moose until impact I was continuously breaking and that 30 - 50 seconds elapsed. His response - that is sufficient time to come to a complete stop.

That was my appeal.

Vance, where did you see about animal collisions are non-preventable?

[bigtruckman]

your first mistake was driving for swift

[Mackman]

moose are big and can't move very fast.

WikiAnswers - How fast can a moose run

A moose can run up to 35 miles per hour, so it's a good idea to stay out of their way!

[Rev.Vassago]

What appeal?

I called the safety supervisor in Lancaster (my home terminal), he had to call Phoenix safety to find out what happened.

When he called back, a couple of hours later, he said the preventable stands and that moose are big and can't move very fast.

I told the guy that from the point in time that I first saw the moose until impact I was continuously breaking and that 30 - 50 seconds elapsed. His response - that is sufficient time to come to a complete stop.

That was my appeal.

Vance, where did you see about animal collisions are non-preventable?

That is the dumbest appeal process I've ever heard, and I highly recommend you dig into the company procedures to confirm that they followed their own procedures. Normally a company's appeal process consists of having a fleet manager appear before a randomly chosen committee on your behalf, and present the case anonymously. The committee then votes on whether they believe the accident could have been prevented. It would surprise me if Swift didn't have a procedure similar to this in place, as not having one could open them up to a lawsuit from a driver who feels an unwarranted black mark has been put on his or her record.

[Syncrosonix]

What appeal?

I called the safety supervisor in Lancaster (my home terminal), he had to call Phoenix safety to find out what happened.

When he called back, a couple of hours later, he said the preventable stands and that moose are big and can't move very fast.

I told the guy that from the point in time that I first saw the moose until impact I was continuously breaking and that 30 - 50 seconds elapsed. His response - that is sufficient time to come to a complete stop.

That was my appeal.

Vance, where did you see about animal collisions are non-preventable?

on one of their many papers they handed out to the students of their academy in phoenix. things could have, and most likely, changed since then. i'd seek out an lawyer and go from there. swift has taken on so many |2etarded policies in the last 12 months. i hit a f'ing bear along idaho's us95 in the summer of 2007. it was taken down as non-preventable. another one of my friends hit a freaking elk in northern arizona last fall. his truck was totaled. he was never let go, nor was that one deemed preventable. sounds like people at swift are desperately looking for ways to get rid of people, and anything will do.

this move against you could have been because you and your wife were running too many miles and making money. they don't like it when drivers make money. they've run their rates so low that costs more for them to run certain drivers/teams.

[Creek Jackson]

What appeal?

I called the safety supervisor in Lancaster (my home terminal), he had to call Phoenix safety to find out what happened.

When he called back, a couple of hours later, he said the preventable stands and that moose are big and can't move very fast.

I told the guy that from the point in time that I first saw the moose until impact I was continuously breaking and that 30 - 50 seconds elapsed. His response - that is sufficient time to come to a complete stop.

That was my appeal.

Vance, where did you see about animal collisions are non-preventable?

I don't know all the circumstances but 30-50 seconds is a long time to respond to a road hazard.

[dle]

When I first saw it, I let off the accelerator - engine brake full on.

Applied moderate braking action.

Moose started back toward the slow lane.

Applied heavier braking, maneuvered toward the right side of the lane.

Moose started heading toward me.

Impact.

This was at 2130 in Utah on I80E near mm 154.

When I first saw it, it was in the left lane heading toward the median.

This whole thing keeps rolling through my mind, like a dang horror movie.

[Fourcats]

What would you have done differently? {besides given your D/M a better story, 30+ seconds is a long time}

Its tough. The accident actually "occurred" in what, about 3-5 seconds?

After loosing 4 rigs in PA one saturday, we recieve a message akin to "hit the critters" DO NOT GO OFF THE ROAD TO AVOID IMPACT.

[jagerbomber3.0]

That is the dumbest appeal process I've ever heard, and I highly recommend you dig into the company procedures to confirm that they followed their own procedures. Normally a company's appeal process consists of having a fleet manager appear before a randomly chosen committee on your behalf, and present the case anonymously. The committee then votes on whether they believe the accident could have been prevented. It would surprise me if Swift didn't have a procedure similar to this in place, as not having one could open them up to a lawsuit from a driver who feels an unwarranted black mark has been put on his or her record.

+1 on this. I would definitely dig a little deeper on this one.

[Kevin0915]

last i read, hitting animals is non-preventable. they were out on a headhunt and you were in their cross-hairs.

I can see where you're coming from, however, it is preventable. And yes, all you who just know how much i love swift, or am pro-swift, am saying this not to side with the company, or bash a fellow swift driver....i'm saying this from an insurance standpoint.

This happen during the day or night?? If it happened during the day, then you were not looking far enough up ahead of you (more than half a mile)....you did not get the 'big picture'. you always have to keep your eyes moving.

Did it happen at night?? Then either one of two things happened (or maybe both)...you simply wernt paying attention (again, not getting the big picture around you) or you were driving ahead of your headlights. With high beams you should be able to see a football field ahead of you. Now going 55-60, you can get woed down fast enough to avoid a dear (or moose) standing in the road.

It has always been swifts policy that animal hits are preventable, this should be nothing new to you.

[VitoCorleone99]

Whether or not it's preventable, you did yourself no favors by telling the story the way you did. "I was on the brakes for 30-50 seconds" sounds a lot worse than "a moose jumped out and struck my vehicle." 30 seconds is a long time. 50 seconds is an eternity. A moose leaping out in front of you takes about half a second. This was one of those subtle lessons that I learned from my trainer. You never hit a deer. The deer hits you.

I don't know what kind of goobers you have working in the safety department if they actually said that a moose is slower than a deer so it's your fault. That's just dumb. Everybody knows that you don't swerve to avoid an animal. If it hits you, it hits you. Now, if it were a cow...

[Hawkjr]

This happen during the day or night?? If it happened during the day, then you were not looking far enough up ahead of you (more than half a mile)....you did not get the 'big picture'. you always have to keep your eyes moving

He Answered it look below..

This was at 2130 in Utah on I80E near mm 154.

Did it happen at night?? Then either one of two things happened (or maybe both)...you simply wernt paying attention (again, not getting the big picture around you) or you were driving ahead of your headlights. With high beams you should be able to see a football field ahead of you. Now going 55-60, you can get woed down fast enough to avoid a dear (or moose) standing in the road

Bull****!! What kind of deers do you come by?? A deer can easily dart across the road while your going by, a deer has hit my car while passing by after i cleared him.. Maybe he could of avoid of it, but still your reasons are complete bs...

And when i attended Swift Orientation last July i was told if a deer jumps out in the middle of the road or any kind of animal hit it!! If you jacked knife a truck due to missing a deer or any other animal it was automatic termination..

dle i agree with someone else who said you did yourself no favor's by saying 30 to 50 seconds you had to react.. i would of clearly said it jumped out in front of me.. Hell aint like Swift is going to have an Animal Collision Reconstruction Team?? (Do They lol??)

[Syncrosonix]

It has always been swifts policy that animal hits are preventable, this should be nothing new to you.

no it hasn't. my most recent run-over with an animal occurred last september. it was also ruled non-preventable. in any instance, you do NOT swerve to avoid hitting one, nor do you slam your brakes. you just go on and hit the animal.

[Malaki86]

I've only had one run in with an animal. I hit a deer last year on I-64 in WV. It was late at night and I had literally a split second to react. I had enough time to swerve enough for it to miss the tractor, but the trailer tandems made a nice deer pizza.

We also had one of our drivers hit a black bear (about 800#) within 1 mile of that spot. His truck didn't make it out as lucky, tho.

[Creek Jackson]

When I first saw it, I let off the accelerator - engine brake full on.

Applied moderate braking action.

Moose started back toward the slow lane.

Applied heavier braking, maneuvered toward the right side of the lane.

Moose started heading toward me.

Impact.

This was at 2130 in Utah on I80E near mm 154.

When I first saw it, it was in the left lane heading toward the median.

This whole thing keeps rolling through my mind, like a dang horror movie.

This sounds like one of those cases where you choose to tell the truth in hopes that it is the right thing to do. But we all know that is not always the case.

One thing I have learned from living in Montana for 25 years and dealing with wildlife on the roads, sometimes on a daily basis, is that they are totally unpredictable.

Sincerely hope you get your ordeal behind you with a favorable outcome.