[Myth_Buster]

C5. El Paso (Texas) Times: Tuesday, January 27, 2009

HEADLINE: Big rig runs over, kills man sleeping in Las Cruces parking lot

Byline: Adriana M. Chávez, El Paso Times Staff

EL PASO -- A Virginia man was killed Saturday when he was run over while sleeping in a Las Cruces parking lot, police said.

Michael Allen Williamson II, 25, had apparently fallen asleep in front of an 18-wheeler in the parking lot of DATS Trucking, 400 S. Compress. Police said Williamson, who may have been intoxicated, was run over at about 3 a.m. Saturday after the driver, El Pasoan Jesus Cano Garcia, 28, began moving the truck.

Police said no charges against Garcia are expected to be filed. Williamson's death was listed as a pedestrian fatality, police said.

End.

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Dear Chief Romero, I was deeply troubled by the report of a driver running over a pedestrian at 3:00 AM. If my suspicions are correct the driver of the tractor trailer failed to perform some rudimentary safety checks required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR.) Had the driver of the big rig walked around his vehicle before moving the vehicle Mr. Garcia would have seen the man lying in front of his truck and avoided the accident.

Mr. Garcia’s negligent behavior caused Mr. Williamson’s death. If Mr. Garcia had obeyed the safety regulations he would have saved Mr. Williamson’s life. Two wrongs do not make a right. At the very least I believe Mr. Garcia’s employer should be chastised for failing to ensure their employees followed the safety regulations.

The news of the incident is additional evidence that drivers fail to obey the safety regulations and protect the public that interact near their vehicles on a daily basis. Drivers of tractor trailers have a “COMMERCIAL” driver’s license and are held to a higher standard.

Thank you for your time in listening to my concerns; I hope the City of Las Cruces examines the accident closer and re-evaluates the culpability of Mr. Garcia in his neglectful actions.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration = A link to the FMCSR

FMCSA, Analysis and Information Online = A link to investigate the motor carrier to determine their driver and vehicle safety performance.

Sincerely;

Mike M

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§392.7 Equipment, inspection and use.

No commercial motor vehicle shall be driven unless the driver is satisfied that the following parts and accessories are in good working order, nor shall any driver fail to use or make use of such parts and accessories when and as needed:

Service brakes, including trailer brake connections.

Parking (hand) brake.

Steering mechanism.

Lighting devices and reflectors.

Tires.

Horn.

Windshield wiper or wipers.

Rear-vision mirror or mirrors.

Coupling devices.

§396.11 Driver vehicle inspection report(s).

(a) Report required. Every motor carrier shall require its drivers to report, and every driver shall prepare a report in writing at the completion of each day’s work on each vehicle operated and the report shall cover at least the following parts and accessories:

—Service brakes including trailer brake connections

—Parking (hand) brake

—Steering mechanism

—Lighting devices and reflectors

—Tires

—Horn

—Windshield wipers

—Rear vision mirrors

—Coupling devices

—Wheels and rims

—Emergency equipment

§396.13 Driver inspection.

Before driving a motor vehicle, the driver shall:

(a) Be satisfied that the motor vehicle is in safe operating condition;

Be safe.

[Rev.Vassago]

I couldn't agree more. Had the driver performed the required inspection, he would have seen the drunk sleeping in front of his truck.

[cdswans]

I saw that story earlier today and almost posted it. While my intent would have been to raise the issue of an obvious absence of a pre-trip, I had no intention of ratting out the driver or the company as MB has apparently done. I had every confidence there are many astute lawyers in Las Cruces who have picked up on that already.

At the same time, as cold as it was and as drunk as this guy must have been, I couldn't help but wonder if he didn't get exactly what he was looking for. If that's the case, instead of being paid for services rendered, DATS and driver are going to pay through the nose for this. That's a tragedy. That's why I didn't post it.

[Uturn2001]

A lot of assumptions are being made from very little information.

It is possible that a pre trip had been done and Williamson passed out, unnoticed, while the driver was doing paperwork.

It is also possible that the driver had stopped by the terminal during a run to get or turn in something and did not "park" instead simply pulled up along side the office, driver's room or whatever and the victim passed out while the driver was gone for a few minutes and while returning to the truck approached it from the rear and therefore had no way to see someone on the ground in front of the truck.

I do not know exactly what happened any more than any of you do. There are many possibilities as to how this happened, and while the one others here have indicated is certainly possible so are the ones I outlined as well as many others.

One thing I do know is that a full vehicle inspection is NOT required at the start of a trip/day though. All that is required is that the driver ensures that the vehicle is safe for operation. While I know many drivers who actually do VI's at the start of the day, some choose to do them at the end of the day when they fill out their DVIR. Other drivers choose to do the big VI while they are fueling, if they know they will be doing so fairly soon after starting their day.

[Rawlco]

Thank you U-turn for pointing that out. I only pre-trip once per day, plus I pre trip each trailer that I hook to. I do not spend 15 minutes checking everything after every liffle 5 minute stop.

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Question:
The victim was from Virginia and possibly intoxicated in a TRUCK stop located in New Mexico. Now how likely is it that he was also a truck driver and was scared to use Golfhobo's line 5 defense, so he decided to stay out of his own truck entirely?

[Rev.Vassago]

Originally Posted by Uturn2001

A lot of assumptions are being made from very little information.

It is possible that a pre trip had been done and Williamson passed out, unnoticed, while the driver was doing paperwork.

It is also possible that the driver had stopped by the terminal during a run to get or turn in something and did not "park" instead simply pulled up along side the office, driver's room or whatever and the victim passed out while the driver was gone for a few minutes and while returning to the truck approached it from the rear and therefore had no way to see someone on the ground in front of the truck.

Neither of those scenarios releases the driver from the liability of knowing what obstructions are around his truck. If the second scenario were true, then he would have failed to perform §392.7 prior to operating his CMV. You'll notice that §392.7 states "No commercial vehicle shall be driven", not "No commercial vehicle shall be driven at the beginning of the day".

There is no excuse for not knowing what obstructions are around your truck when taking off from a stop - no matter what the reason for stopping.

[BIG JEEP on 44's]

Originally Posted by Rev.Vassago

Neither of those scenarios releases the driver from the liability of knowing what obstructions are around his truck. If the second scenario were true, then he would have failed to perform §392.7 prior to operating his CMV. You'll notice that §392.7 states "No commercial vehicle shall be driven", not "No commercial vehicle shall be driven at the beginning of the day".

There is no excuse for not knowing what obstructions are around your truck when taking off from a stop - no matter what the reason for stopping.

Yep if your gone or been sitting long it warrants a quick walk around , It only takes a minute . When I was at a shipper/receiver I would do a brief check b4 pulling from the dock especially if I had been sitting long enough to hit the sleeper .

[Uturn2001]

Then according to your argument Rev if you were stopped at an intersection waiting, lets say to make a left turn, and had your attention on traffic for a second and someone ran out in front of your truck while your head was turned and you ran over him then you would be at fault and also in violation of 392.7.

If you take the argument you, and others, are attempting to make to its conclusion then drivers would never be able to leave the spot their trucks are parked in because they could never be 100% certain that every obstacle has been removed and no new ones have arisen during the time it would take them to climb into their trucks, bring their log book up to date, release the brakes and proceed.

Please point out to me where it states in any regulation that a driver must do at least a walk around of the vehicle if they are out of the vehicle for any length of time or if a second VI/walk around if the driver has not started driving the vehicle within so many seconds or minutes of completing one.

[Rev.Vassago]

Originally Posted by Uturn2001

Then according to your argument Rev if you were stopped at an intersection waiting, lets say to make a left turn, and had your attention on traffic for a second and someone ran out in front of your truck while your head was turned and you ran over him then you would be at fault and also in violation of 392.7.

Stopping at an intersection is not the same, but you would still be responsible.

Please point out to me where it states in any regulation that a driver must do at least a walk around of the vehicle if they are out of the vehicle for any length of time or if a second VI/walk around if the driver has not started driving the vehicle within so many seconds or minutes of completing one.

There is no regulation that states that, and nobody made a claim that there was.

Please indicate how you are going to check the items listed in 392.7 prior to operating the CMV without getting out of the vehicle.

[Biscuit Lips]

I am not sure which is worse, that he took the time to send that crap to the C.O.P or the fact that he came here to brag about it? Truck drivers.