Yeah, end even if the evidence "saved" you, the fact that you were running a video camera easily within your reach, along with the laptop on your passenger seat, you would get nailed for negligence.

:roll:

I'm not saying give it up, though that would be preferable. But I am saying put it somewhere where it's out of sight and out of mind. You don't seem to be getting that.

:roll: :roll: :roll:

 

So sometimes 50mph in heavy fog is a good idea? :roll:

So it wouldn't be better to leave the webcam and other potentially distracting toys at home? :roll:

It is your judgement that is being questioned, not your character.

Have you considered working for Blockbuster? If you misjudge there by putting "The Mask" in the drama section or something at least you don't put people's lives at risk. By your own admission you don't have the judgement skills to drive for a living.

 

Whammo...isn't this getting a bit old? :evil:

I mean, come on here...the guy made a mistake...like every single person on this earth has before..whether they admit it or not. The results of his mistake were a bit worse than many here have experienced...but it was a mistake that was learned from.

We've seen many, many pages of flaming...

what ever happened to good old-fashoned advice?

Grow up, people...

 

Never once did you see me say 50mph was a good idea, I just said at the time I judged it wrong.

Personally I still see no point in having a web cam or not, it has no connection with the accident in any fashion, people are trying to make it a connection, and the fact that people classify it as a 'toy' shows they truly don't understand why I ran it, I never have, and never will look at it as a 'toy'.

And as far as having a laptop on the passenger seat, that is not where I had it to begin with, I had it ontop of my coleman in the center, and as I said before, only reason I had it within view was for GPS application, if I didn't use it for GPS I would have kept it in the back (running but out of view) and also would of saved a lot of 'omg' situations whenever it would fall and I was hoping it wasn't broken when I picked it up.

People can go ahead and say how distracting and dangerous it is but that is one point I will not agree on, true anything that takes your attention off the road is a distraction, but I dont see using a GPS (Reguardless of it being a hand held, dash mount, or laptop) , as too dangerous a distraction to bar its use. Hell 99% of the time I didn't even look at it, I just listened to the voice.

and for those that want to argu that GPS is no good for TRUCKING that is an entirely different argument and again has nothing to do with this accident.

When it comes to the webcam/laptop/gps I am not backing down, mainly because it has no connection with the accident, and secondly I feel they are more valuable tools then not having them, and that is my personal opinion.

I hope we can finally make it clear that the webcam/laptop/gps has nothing to do with this accident, nothing to do with this thread, etc. If you feel they are distracting to you, then fine, don't use any of them. If you think it makes me (or anyone else) a dangerous driver for using them, then fine you are entitled to your opinion, but don't try to force your beliefs on to me, when they make GPS usage in a vehicle illegal then I will stop using them (I highly doubt this will ever happen!)

As far as moving the webcam to an out of site out of mind area, honestly it defeats the purpose of broadcasting something interesting to viewers, obviously the camera will broadcast just fine in an out of reach corner, but if I am driving past something of interest not in its field of view, and it is safe to do so, then sure I will move the camera to face at something interesting. And if you don't like that, well look at almost every cop car in the country, most of their video mounted equipment is in fact mounted to the center of the dash, and amiable, I have yet to hear of a police department getting scrutinized for the safety of cameras.

Can and Do accidents happen from people using distracting things? you bet they do, I once saw a guy loose his head (literally) when a driver decided to backup on a 60mph highway because he missed his turn, while he was doing such, a 4wheeler was busy adjusting his radio and looking at IT not the road, and went up under the trailer, ripping off the DOT bumper, pushing the tandems all the way forward, and also taking his head off. I saw this actually happen, I was standing right on the curb of the street as it happened. (Before I started driving). But it is the users responsibility to use these things when it is safe to do so.

Would I sit there and fiddle with the laptop while going thru a city in traffic? Hell no, would I do so on the open highway with no traffic around, yeah if I had a reason too (Like trying to find a nearby truck stop).

 

Yeah Tom......I have to agree. It is kinda getting to the point of beating a dead horse, isn't it.
Matcat, I may have a few people want to kick my ass for this, but here goes. Now that you are away from the "grand" coolie carriers that are more or less looking for a way to bump your ass out the door. You can now start to look at the various other ways of being employed in trucking. There are "many" mom/pop operations, Owner Operators, and smaller companies that need drivers. Most of these people have never heard of, nor care about a DAC check, etc. You have a minor accident and 1 ticket. You should be able to stir something up with that on your record. Just stay away from the "coolies." Hell, you may find it works out better for you anyways. While I do wish that you were a bit more culpable to your mistakes, I do however feel that you are going to be back on the road sooner probably than later no matter how we feel here on this board. Just try to be safe and at least put SOME credence in to what the folks here have tried to tell you. I agree with Tom that we are to the point of merely flaming now and have done all that we can do for(to) you. Good luck. Get out there and find yourself something before too much time goes by and you end up having to refresh. Be careful. Gary

 

I could have quoted any one of 6 different comments in your last post, all of them saying the same ridiculous thing.

:roll: :roll: :roll:

But here's the deal. It does not matter a hill of beans what YOU think. What matters is what a judge and/or jury would think. You say it had nothing to do with the accident and that may be true...this time. But a judge or a lawyer would make it the centerpiece of their case against you in the event of an accident with a court case, whether it was actually a contributing factor or not.

If you think drivers haven't been crucified and given jail time because of "toys" in the truck after an accident, you better do your research. It happens and will continue to happen. Drivers are already under a microscope...why someone would go to great lengths to make it a stronger microscope is beyond me.

It's clear that you have no regard for advice or the safety of the motoring public. It's clear you have learned nothing about what a distraction is. So that's totally on you.

But I'm done trying to get you to understand the concerns people are trying to express to you. If you haven't gotten it yet, you won't get it until you kill or maim someone in an accident and try explaining your actvie dashcam and laptop to a judge that is going to be only too happy to put you behind bars for a while. And that's not a matter of IF it happens...that's a matter of WHEN it happens.

Good luck to you....

Or better yet, good luck to the motoring public should you get back out on the road. It may sound harsh, but I believe everyone here is getting tired of trying to steer you in the right direction of being a good and safe driver, only to have you turn up your nose at any advice that isn't what you want to hear.

:x

 

I am not turning my nose up at good advice, the reality is that having these items in a truck is no more dangerous then eating a sandwich while you drive, or drinking a soda while you drive, or talking on a cell phone while you drive (regardless of it being using the phone or a headset), or even talking to someone in the passenger seat. And these are things we ALL do, some do it to a much greater extent then others, some may not do one or more of them, but has and will do at least one of them.

Yes anyone in a safety sensitive function is going to be under a microscope when something happens, but you can't be perfect, you can't be a robot, you can't get behind the wheel and drive for 11 hours straight without doing SOMETHING distracting, it is humanly impossible. Minimize the risks sure, but be realistic, if you can sit there and drink a soda while you drive, you are just as distracted reaching for that soda in the cup holder as I am in aiming a camera.

It is funny how people exclude the actions they do every day when making an argument, when those actions are almost identical.

If you want drivers that cannot be distracted, invest in robots.

Some may see this as just an excuse, but no, its not. Sorry but I am not going to put a camera in a different class then a soda, because the distraction level is actually more so for the soda then a camera, but because everyone likes to drink beverages, and nearly everyone drinks them while driving, it is acceptable.

 

I'm sorry, but I have been following this thread and I see a pattern of matcat sorta taking responsibility for his actions then without skipping a beat back pedaling & making excuses for them.

When he went and quoted the definition of "wreckless driving" as if it exonerated him I couldn't let it go without comment.

 

This is where you are missing the point, I am not making excuses for the accident and the actions leading to it, I am trying to show people how I got to that judgement and where I was wrong, and the only points I have really fought are the none relevant ones to the accident, such as the camera which had absolutely nothing to do with it.

The few points specifically relating to the accident itself, that I defended, was the how I came to my judgment, and ultimately how I was wrong in that conclusion, I did not defend myself for the sake of innocence, but for the sake of my character to show, hey, I didn't come to this conclusion in recklessness, I came to it in inexperience, and in all the cases I admitted I was wrong and how in the future I will not make the same mistakes, and the only reason I am so steadfast in constantly replying back to every comment, is because a lot of people would rather stop and accuse me of all sorts of things, call me unsafe in everything I do, call me names, call me whatever, but they fail to fully read what I am saying. OR they try to throw in something completely irrelevant that has nothing to do with the accident such as the camera, and for the life of me I have no clue WHY people like to use this, because it has absolutely no connection with the accident in any shape or form. And then when they try to explain how distracting and 'dangerous the camera is' (again dunno why they insist on this when camera had nothing to do with the accident), they fail to see how that soda they are drinking while they are driving is even more distracting then a camera is.

And you know what, if I ever had to go to court over and accident and some lawyer tried to play this distraction game about a camera on me, one of my first replies back would be, "Your honor, can you please tell me how a camera mounted on the dash, is any more distracting then adjusting your mirrors, turrning on your jake brake, SHIFTING GEARS, windshield wipers, tuning your radio, Talking on the CB" and I could probably think of a millon more if I wanted too.

 

What you fail to see Matcat is that if you are involved in another accident, the lawyers can fry you on having the camera, not drinking a soda. Everyone drinks a soda, eats, talks on the phone, plays with the radio,CB,etc. while driving. The problem is that it is hard to prove these in an accident. The camera and the laptop is an easy target for the lawyers and the judge to hang your butt even if the accident was not your fault. It comes down to a case of "If he didn't have these in his truck........but he did and that is what MIGHT have caused him to hit the car and kill that family".
Now do you get it?
Ever hear of something called EVIDENCE? You have the evidence in the truck that they can use to fry you. Hard to prove that someone was playing with the radio, CB, mirriors and a thousand other things.