CD...the highlighted part of your statement explains quite well, why the trainer should have been awake and in the seat.

I don't have a problem with Swift. I have a problem with a trainer sleeping in the bunk, while his "trainee" is dying at the wheel. And yes..I'm quite sure I saw 4-axle Volvos while in Portland and Tacoma last week.

I don't know how many trips you have made through Olympia...but I traveled that route from January 1988 through February 2005, sometimes twice a night, each direction. I-5 through Oly is just not that bad a road.

As I stated in my reply to Big Jeep, the WSP will know what happened, after reviewing the camera tapes. You can bet they started that proccess as soon as the first Trooper was on scene. If they issue a public report, we will all know what happened.

It's just a matter of time before a trainee's next of kin sue's a trainer for being in the bunk instead of training, and the company for allowing it!

Well, stressing again that sleep is an important factor when driving.

I found that out the hard-way and that's why I'm currently still not driving for Swift at the moment.

However, I have been through the particular area in question and I had the luck to be taken through it with a trainer, in the passenger seat directing, on multiple occasions during night-training.

The trainer I had was actually an owner-op with a Kenworth T2000.

He had this little rule about writing up some mile-markers and stopping at an adjacent parking area before we continued on into a certain area.

Essentially, it was for me to wake him up, or get him out from the sleeper once we reached a squirrely-area.

Worked well enough for the both of us.

Well know you never hit a deer at night driving roads full of them because you "pay attention" and these are animals that come running from the roadside out of heavily wooded areas that hide them from sight until running infront of you at distances of 150ft or less which at speeds of 55-65 mph your moving at about that distance per second and with a 1 sec perception time/1 sec reaction time/1 sec break delay for air breaks you just ran over that deer and did not even start to slow down until about 200ft after the stain ...So your wreck with a highly visible car unlike the dear must have been lack of attention on your end.

You didn't read very well young guy.

However...since you want too press it...That accident was at 2:47 AM, May 13, 1997, southbound on I-5 at the Northgate Mall Interchange. The traffic cameras supported my statement, which I had written at the scene. I got to watch the movie 6 weeks after the accident.....when I was informed that it was not an accident at all. The car which hit me, came from 2 lanes to my left, and went under the center of the 4-axle gas tanker-trailer, that I was pulling with a 4-axle truck, which also carried a gas tank mounted on it's chassis. The man driving the car is in prison. He was convicted in AZ, CA, NV and WA of insurance fraud and manslaughter. The WSP is fairly certain that he expected me to run over the car that was on my right front steer position(they arrested him when his buddy rolled on him)...or take the truck off the road. I stayed in my lane through the entire incident. The traffic cameras on I-5 from the Snohomish County line to the scene at Northgate Mall backed my statement at the scene, one hundred percent.

And again. I have been driving since 1979. I have never hit a deer, an elk, or a moose. I have never hit a cow, a sheep or a horse. Somethings I do...My headlights are properly adjusted and aimed. They are always clean. I do not over-drive my headlights. I do what the Smith System preaches...I keep my eyes moving. Most importantly...I watch the ditch with my periferal vision. That is the best way to see movement in poor light conditions. Animal eyes also reflect light in a manner far different than reflectors.

This thread isn't about me...it isn't about you.
A man died in an accident that should not have happened. HE had a TRAINER in the truck. That trainer should have been doing the job he was paid for...training. He should have been awake and in the right seat paying attention, not in the sleeper with his eyes closed.

Like I said you stated you can avoid a deer by using the smith system ...keeping your head lights clean/proprly aimed...not over driving your headlights...yeah ok LOL...oh and using your peripheral vision...Well if you can spot deer in the heavy brush at night with your peripheral vision your real good superman...How do you adapt the smith system to an object that comes from the blind shoulder of the road which can't be seen until it runs infront of you at only 100ft which is well within the range of even low beam ...truth is 300ft of headlight view is still going to be a possible collision at 55-65 with a deer since it's not visible like a car with headlights/markers before your headlights illuminate it at 300ft which the basic math on stoppin at 55-65 says you travel almost 300ft before you even physically start to slow down...which is why hitting a deer is considered non preventable even by big companies who report nearly everything to dac...


Now my point is if you want to insist hitting a deer is preventable by paying attention using your prescribed format then why were'nt you able to see the car using same infoulable prescribed format and avoid the incident afterall it's not like the car jumped out of the brush unexpcted and invisible until bounding out infront of you...Hummm


I question you here because you claim driving heavily deer populated roads frequently for years and do not point to the obvious for not htting an animal ...extreme luck...And bascaly say hitting a deer is an act of being careless...But I guess it is hard to hit a deer on the internet superhighway...lol

Too funny how everyone is so quick to judge what happened and who's fault it is. I guess a experienced driver never lost control or fell asleep at the wheel, only a Swift driver? Right? Yeah right, I seen plenty of accidents OTR and local and most of them, a good 99% were not Swift or Schneider or any of the big carriers.

Until you know the true circumstances of what happened, don't be so quick to judge.

As far as the hitting/not hitting of deer: I obtained my regular drivers license in 1984. I obtained my CDL in 2000. Up to now, knock on wood, I have never hit a deer, or any other wildlife. And, yes, I'm pretty sure that I see wildlife on a daily basis, especially in WV, PA, MD, KY, etc. I have, however, had a couple minor incidents where I've scraped my trailer against other trucks, but this has always happened in dark truckstops when I simply let my mind wander while backing in.

Keep in mind that I live in central WV and take 80k loads through some of the worst roads in the country fairly regularly. I take shortcuts that scare more experienced drivers than myself. I just don't overdrive my truck or my abilities. I also pay attention to what is going on around me.

But, back to the original problem: the team-driver training systems don't actually teach anyone a damn thing, other than how to sleep while the truck is moving.

Well I grew up in the foot hills of the adirondacks in up-state NY and moved to the hills of Coloado elevation of about 8,800 FT I drove a personal vehicle for 15 years without hitting a deer ...but hit 2 last year in a semi going 10-15 below the speed limit ...in some cases i'm sure overdriving has resulted in hitting a deer when it could be avoided ,but many times the collision is not avoidable ,because the deer is not standing 300ft ahead of you ,but rather runs out infront of you with 100ft or less room ,and unless your doing 25mph on that 65-75 Mph highway your hitting that deer ...But like I said driving roads populated with wild life frequently and not hitting one is luck ...well unless you consider overdriving going faster than 25-30 on a 65-75 mph road ...For 15 years I never hit an animal and then I nailed 2 in A 2 month time frame both times alert and 10-15 under the limit both times the deer came from the shoulder only becomming visible when 50-100ft in front of the truck these were at night and no special weather conditions existed ...So From my experience in driving deer populated montains everyday of my life I will say if you have'nt hit one yet it's comming .

I agree with that. I guess I've just been lucky. I couldn't tell you how many trucks in our fleet have been nailing deer the past month or so. It seems like every time I'm in the shop, someone is coming in with a screwed up hood after coming across I-68 and nailing Bambi.