[Windwalker]

You say that you know a little about a lot of things. And that you work for FMCSA. With your credentials...
Please address these questions, if you would

In CA, on I-15, while in a traffic back up from an accident on the northbound side, I saw one happen on the southbound side. A pick-up passed a big truck and didn't wait for his back bumper to clear the front bumper of the big truck before he swung to the right. The bumpers hooked and the pick-up swung over so that it looked like the big truck "T-BONED" him. 4-wheelers are constantly trying to do this. I've seen it happen many times, at different speeds and in different states. Considering that more than one study indicates that as much as 74% of all car-truck accidents are caused by the cars, not the trucks, many of these accidents could be eliminated by letting the general motoring public know that 1/8 of a mile in front of a big truck is a suicide zone. But from all I've seen, this is not being done......
WHY?...

There's been talk about governing trucks to 65 mph because of the fuel savings and safety. Many times, I've heard that 55 is the safest speed for trucks. And, states like OH, IL, CA, MI, and OR seem to subscribe to that theory. If that is true, then take another look at the accident above. It happened on I-15 in CA. On the southbound, downhill slope coming down from Cajun Pass. The speed limit there is 25 mph for trucks. So, if the speed of trucks going down that slope is reduced that far, then the speed of the truck was not a factor in the accident. Yet, as I understand it, the truck driver was cited for not maintaining control of his vehicle, instead of the 4-wheeler being cited for inattentive driving.
WHY?....

In January of '98, I was going westbound on I-76 in CO. A little before Brighton, there was some ice under an overpass. Before I even got to the overpass, I began to brake. On the other side, there was a 4-wheeler on the shoulder, and facing directly across the hiway. As I approached the overpass, the car started out from the shoulder. I was in the left lane because I was passing a pick-up, and because I didn't know what the car was going to do, I stood on the brakes. As I got under the overpass, I saw 2 more vehicles in the snow in the median, and there were people in them. The car that came off the shoulder went across the right lane that the pick-up was in, and into the left lane in front of me. Impact came a couple of hundred feet after the overpass at about 45 mph. The back seat of the car was completely gone and I knocked it 175 feet down the hiway. My choices were slim to none. I either take out the pick-up on my right that did nothing wrong, the 2 in the median that could not move, or the one that came out into the road in front of me. After emergency crews removed her from the car, she came to and was lucid. One of the first things she asked the officers on the scene was: "WHY COULDN'T THAT BIG TRUCK STOP FOR ME? IT HAS TWO BRAKES, JAKE BRAKE AND AIR BRAKES."

In the years since, I've talked to a number of 4-wheelers, and the attitude is always the same. They give me ALL THE RESPECT. I'm much bigger than they are. But, I also keep getting told that I can stop faster than they can. I've watched them. When they're alongside me, they're nearly in the grass in the median, but when their rear bumper just clears my front bumper, there they are in front of me. Their belief that I can stop faster than they can is a VERY FALSE SECURITY BLANKET. Yet, no one seems to be telling the general public about the real differences in stopping ability between cars and trucks, so they keep on coming over directly in front of us thinking they are perfectly safe. No one is telling them...
WHY?.....

The USDOT has a "NO-ZONE POSTER". I've seen it in many of the places where truck drivers congregate. But, the only place I've seen it where the motoring public can see it is on a billboard in WY. That's a very long way from Chicago or LA. Even farther from North Jersey, let along MI. As flawed as it is, (it does not list the area in front of a truck as a SUICIDE ZONE and does not tell the public that the safest place to be around a truck is either 200 to 300 feet behind, or a quarter mile in front) it's a start. A good thing to do with it is to form a "partnership" of sorts with private industry. Chrysler, Ford, and GM all employ large numbers of people in their plants. These same companies also want their employees back on the job in the morning, not out because of an accident with a truck. Have one posted at the exit from the employees parking lots so that they are reminded of it as they leave work. Yet, if you check with these companies, they don't even know what a "NO-ZONE POSTER" is.
WHY?.....

P.A.T.T and C.R.A.S.H and other special interest groups are going into courts and demanding things like less driving time and more sleep. EDRs... All in the "interest of safety". But looking at the statistics, 74% of the accidents are caused by the cars, not the trucks.

Not all that long ago, people were suing Ford and Firestone because of the number of SUVs that were destroyed when the tires blew out. But they were overlooking the fact that they were doing 80 and 90 mph with UNDER-INFLATED tires. So, looking at the statistics,P.A.T.T and C.R.A.S.H. are 74% to blame for the lack of safety on the hiways, yet I don't see anywhere that P.A.T.T and C.R.A.S.H and the others are being told to "SWEEP OFF THEIR OWN COLLECTIVE BACK PORCH FIRST"...
WHY?...

By working with FMCSA, perhaps, you can give me a few answers. And I doubt that I'm the only one that would like to know.

[yoopr]

The USDOT has a "NO-ZONE POSTER". I've seen it in many of the places where truck drivers congregate. But, the only place I've seen it where the motoring public can see it is on a billboard in WY

I've never seen a sign like that-What exactly does that mean?

[Windwalker]

Originally Posted by yoopr

The USDOT has a "NO-ZONE POSTER". I've seen it in many of the places where truck drivers congregate. But, the only place I've seen it where the motoring public can see it is on a billboard in WY

I've never seen a sign like that-What exactly does that mean?

I rest my case. Not even all truck drivers have seen it. How is the general public supposed to know about it?

It's a poster that shows the view from the top and the blind spots on the side as "NO-ZONES", and the areas in front and in back are also listed as
"NO-ZONES". But it does not say that the area in front is a SUICIDE ZONE, and it does not say that the safest place to be is about 300 feet behind or 1/4 mile in front.

Look at the back doors of the trailers you get to see. It has a blue background. Not many companies have it on their trailers, but every now and then, you'll see one.

[yoopr]

ok-got your drift-It's like the Old Mudflaps-Passing Side-Suicide.
Michigan has been blitzing the TV airways with the Vision thing.
all my years of driving though I never saw a sign

[Rev.Vassago]

You've never seen those trailers that have the big "Don't hang out in the No Zone" on them? :shock:

Here's some variations on it:

http://transportation.ky.gov/highway.../No%20Zone.jpg

http://www.sharetheroadsafely.org/Im...eBrochure1.jpg

[yoopr]

Originally Posted by Rev.Vassago

You've never seen those trailers that have the big "Don't hang out in the No Zone" on them? :shock:

Here's some variations on it:

http://transportation.ky.gov/highway.../No%20Zone.jpg

http://www.sharetheroadsafely.org/Im...eBrochure1.jpg

You've never seen those trailers that have the big "Don't hang out in the No Zone" on them? :shock:



He was talking about a Billboard Sign-Not something that's on a Trailer

[Rev.Vassago]

Originally Posted by yoopr

He was talking about a Billboard Sign-Not something that's on a Trailer

Originally Posted by Windwalker

many of these accidents could be eliminated by letting the general motoring public know that 1/8 of a mile in front of a big truck is a suicide zone. But from all I've seen, this is not being done......
WHY?...

Originally Posted by Windwalker

The USDOT has a "NO-ZONE POSTER". I've seen it in many of the places where truck drivers congregate. But, the only place I've seen it where the motoring public can see it is on a billboard in WY.

DOT already has a campaign for this, and this is it - the trucks that have the "no zone" stickers on the back right corner, and trucks that have the "no zone" billboard on the side of them.

They are certainly going to reach more people this way than a stationary billboard.

[Windwalker]

Originally Posted by Rev.Vassago

DOT already has a campaign for this, and this is it - the trucks that have the "no zone" stickers on the back right corner, and trucks that have the "no zone" billboard on the side of them.

They are certainly going to reach more people this way than a stationary billboard.

Really? When I pulled for Burlington Motor Carriers, they had one of their trailers with that "ROLLING BILLBOARD". It was sitting in the yard being used for a "PARTS STORAGE TRAILER". I'm lucky if I even see one of those trailers on the hiway once a year. Fat lot of good that does. I have seen NO AGGRESSIVE CAMPAIGN to reach the public.

[Windwalker]

Rev.Vassago, where did you see three of those trailers? Of course, they're parked. But even so, I've NEVER seen three at one time. I hardly ever see one anywhere.

[Rev.Vassago]

Originally Posted by Windwalker

Rev.Vassago, where did you see three of those trailers? Of course, they're parked. But even so, I've NEVER seen three at one time. I hardly ever see one anywhere.

I found the pic on the net.


I see the things all the time (at least one per day). I see the large stickers on the back of trailers several times a day.