New topic from another thread.....
 

I didn't want to highjack TK's thread but Golfhobo had an interesting quote that I though had some legs and can into further discussion.

I wonder how far are you willing to go to avoid a serious collision and possibly save someone from dying only to sacrifice yourself and your company's truck, our yours if you own the truck.


Another driver was telling me a story about an accident involving one of our company drivers. He was on a 4 lane highway, 60 mph speed limit. Car pulled out in front of him coming off a side road, the driver swerved off into the ditch to avoid hitting the car and he was killed when the truck overturned and caught fire.
From what he said the driver of the car was not sited, company had to eat all the expenses of the truck and freight, and the family of the 18 wheeler could not go after the driver of the car since he was "not at fault".

Would you have gone that far?

But then if you look at this another way. 18 wheeler takes out the car, clearly because the driver pulled in front of the truck. Truck over turns in the road and the driver survives. The person who caused the accident is now responsible for the damages. But was it worth it for them to lose their life? or do you risk your life, your job and your company's equipment because of someone else's mistake?

i think its a natural instinct to swerve to avoid a collision , a mate of mine a couple of years back did just that and paid the ultimate price , he was on a night run coming down the m40 ( motorway from the midlands to london ) in the early hours and came face to face with a car on the wrong side of the motorway , he swerved and went over , truck burst into flames , he was trapped inside and didnt stand a chance , he clipped the car , an elderly driver who suffered a broken arm

To save a child I would drive the truck off a cliff if need be, other wise I am not sure what I would do.

Your comment makes no sense. Why does a child deserve swerving, yet a young adult doesn't? Is the young adult somehow not worth it? How about a middle age person? How about an elderly person?

:roll:

And what about an innocent puppy or kitty, or a hampster?

Or, a horse with stripes. :P :lol:

or a bunny wabbit :lol:

Small splat-spot.

Large splat-spot and a dented radiator.

Flapjack-Rabbit. I've made quite a few of those in the past.

Bottom line, I ain't swervin' for no one or no animal. A vehicle is another story. From the 4-wheeler standpoint, taking the ditch in a possible head-on with another car or a truck is going to be preferrable, simply because it provides a better chance of survival. But against a non-vehicle, I'm not deviating from my course unless I can do so without putting my life or the lives of my passengers in danger. Yes, I will mash the brakes through the floorboard, lay thick smoking blackmarks and steer clear IF ABLE, but I'm not going to run the risk of making my wife a widow and my children fatherless by taking the ditch, when staying on the road is going to give me an almost 100% chance of survival and my wife and children the continuing presence of a husband and father.

If that makes me cold-blooded, so be it. But when a truck driver is in a head-on that is NOT his fault and the ONLY way he could have avoided it was by putting it in a ditch, I'm siding with the driver every time. Accidents happen. They are part of life and part of the chance you take when getting behind the wheel of your car or truck or running out in the middle of the road. I don't expect everyone to agree with that stance. But then again, no one else is responsible for my wife and children, either.

To put it bluntly. Put trust in the laws of natural selection. The weak and dumb genes are removed from the pool. The world was designed that way for a reason. Not to sound harsh.. However, if some dumb person makes a horrible mistake and ends up on target with the front end of your truck, yes you should brake, yes you should SAFELY try to avoid.....BUT RISK YOUR LIFE TO SAVE THEM? Sorry, but no way. Yes, it would be the "honorable" thing to do and just you thinking about risking your life to save the stupid people should be commended. However, your honorable genes are much more valuable to the gene pool than their stupid genes. :twisted:

The only issue I'll take with that is that sometimes, the person about to get pasted by the truck (or car) is in that position due to a complete accident...tire blowout, mechanical failure, etc. So while you can't fault them for being in that position, you also can't fault the driver that decides that his life is important enough to save by not taking the ditch.

It's a tough topic...everyone is going to feel differently about things. But in the end, we're talking about accidents. Accidents happen and people get hurt or die. Why should a driver hold his life in a lesser regard? Just curious.