I have not had a "meeting" with a moose. Mine was simply a confrontation, and a waiting contest to see just who was going to get tired of the game and leave the scene. (I won... I out-lasted him)

However, I do know 2 other drivers that did have "meetings" with moose. Correction... One had a meeting, the other avoided the meeting. It was determined "UNPREVENTABLE". But, the one that avoided the moose destroyed the tractor, trailer, and load. It was a total loss. On my cousin's truck, everything back to the engine fan clutch was destroyed, including the alternator, air conditioning compressor, and power steering sector. It did cost a few thousand dollars to fix the truck, but it did run again. The guy that avoided contact... Well, there were not very many parts to be salvaged from the truck or trailer, and the load of paper was a total loss.

I don't know what kind of moose they've ever watch run, but they certainly can compete with deer. I would hardly consider them slower than a deer. If anything, I'd say they are faster.

I don't know where the boys at Swift have their heads on that one, but I would suggest they remove them before a bowel movement.

 

Kevin . . if you're through eating crow for your earlier assessments in this thread, are you ready to move on to the next course?

Turkey passenger leads to Tractor trailer crash - Newswatch50.com... We're Always On!


Does someone offer classes for Drivers to come up with really creative causation? Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge. I once avoided a preventable by asserting the "attack of the killer bees" defense.

Assuming the guy is telling the truth, preventable or no?

 

:hellno:
That's the crasiest thing I've ever heard. I've heard some huntin stories in my time, but that one tops them all!

 

I've never had a turkey fly in through an open window, but I have killed one with the windshield. They make a mighty big hole in the glass. They also render the windshield wipers useless.

I also ran through a swarm of bees a little north of Fargo, ND years back. Went about 1/4 mile and had zero visibility. Managed to get it into a rest area and spend more than 20 minutes trying to get enough cleared off to see where I was going.

Oh, and if a turkey should fly into my open window, you better believe it's going to be shut in short order. No way that would get out of the truck once it got in. Home and into the freezer.

 

I actually had my boss at Swift when I was there tell me that under no circumstances was I to swerve to avoid any animal. Run right over it. Moose are not slower than deer. I have extensive experience with them in Vermont seeing them, driving by them and hunting them. Cars and trucks hit them all of the time. A moose will stand beside the road and watch you come right up to it and then run out in front of you or into the side of your vehicle. Nothing you can do about it. Also, their eyes do not reflect light at night and combined with their dark color are almost impossible to see until the last minute.

I have seen moose well in advance myself feeding on the side of the road and slowed down only to have them jump out in the road at the last minute. What did your idiot manager think you were supposed to do? Come to a complete stop on the interstate? Interstates have a posted MINIMUM speed as well as maximum. You could argue that you were slowed down as slow as safety allowed due to the traffic.

I would appeal over that jacka**es head and also not worry about it on my record. No company will hold that against you. If you fill out an app make sure you put down non-preventable where it asks and explain the moose strike. You'll get a puzzled question from the prospective company.

 

Check with the insurance company. Last I heard, THEY are the ones saying not to avoid an animal. Many times, in order to avoid an animal, the whole truck gets wrecked and the claim is much higher than hitting the animal. Even if it's an Elk, Moose, or a buffalo. They rather pay $15000 for a hood, radiator, and all than $75000 for the whole truck. The claim for the guy that avoided the moose in Canada went over $210,000 when they included truck, trailer, and load.

 

An unfortunate update.

We applied for another company, and the incident still shows up as a preventable.

Contrary to what the guy said, of changing it to a non-preventable.

Couple of side notes:
to see a copy of your dac online ($7.95) is https://www.driverfacts.com/driverFACTS.asp
to request change or issue rebuttal is Driver Services

You will need access to a printer and a fax to do this. Also, it only showed swift and not my 2 previous employers - i did not really look hard either btw.

 

All the companies that I have talked to, have said that we sympathize with you. B U T, we will go with whatever the company says it was.

 

dennis, that sucks even more. i bet if you were mormon, they would have changed it in a jiffy.

 

you have the right to dispute what is on your DAC and file a rebuttal or your side of the story. I'd suggest you do that.