[0asis]

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/227126

the article is a following to the first article I posted a few days ago. The 3 idiots are charges with over 11 offenses. One poster nailed it right on when he commented that driving a big rig is NOTHING like driving a normal car.

[E90Russ]

Sad story. I didn't see your original post and am too lazy to search for it. Were one of the guys driving a BMW?

[hak87]

I saw all the dumbfucking posts in the previous thread to this... My father is a truck driver and I am also in the business (not driving though) and have driven big rigs on the road since I was 15 or so.... Let me be the 1st to say that it's not as easy as it seems and the reaction to some idiot street racing teens can be deadly either way... Dude was at the wrong place at the wrong time. The teens were there to laugh and have little fun while he was trying to make a living for his family and put food on the table... I hate to see these stories especially when it involves a truck driver.. Lots of times these fucking kids kill themselves and only themselves which is fine as long as it doesn't involve anyone else (sad but true... you know the risk when you are doing stupid things). I admit I have never raced anywhere and it will stay that way.... It's just not worth it........ RIP fellow driver you will be missed

[MadDog]

Originally Posted by hak87

I saw all the dumbfucking posts in the previous thread to this...

As did I. Can't believe some people were blaming the truck driver for the accident.

[0asis]

Originally Posted by E90Russ

Sad story. I didn't see your original post and am too lazy to search for it. Were one of the guys driving a BMW?

here's the original thread

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67734


those who did badmouth the trucker had no idea what they're talking about. I hope people will think twice before they decide they need an ego booster on the road.

[DasBlitz]

This does not prove others wrong still. The ones who stated he could have possibly kept going straight or did something othwerwise still werent proven wrong.

I feel for the guy, but to not understand all sides and possibilities is ignorant.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by MadDog

As did I. Can't believe some people were blaming the truck driver for the accident.

Those comments are unbelievable and they show the audacity some have. Take the easy way out and blame the others because we can never be at fault ourselves.

[chbrules]

I don't understand how a car cutting him off made him swerve and get into a fatal accident. The article wasn't really particular about that.

I hate people who speed ridiculously in heavy traffic, or especially on the streets. I will never street race someone, nor will I go nuts in traffic on the freeway.

[KJFlood]

Originally Posted by chbrules

I don't understand how a car cutting him off made him swerve and get into a fatal accident. The article wasn't really particular about that.

I hate people who speed ridiculously in heavy traffic, or especially on the streets. I will never street race someone, nor will I go nuts in traffic on the freeway.

Ok, I DRIVE a rig (and a bmw in my off time so..I will chime in with my 2c.

All of my scenarios are based on highway/freeway driving. The scenarios change on rural roads etc.
All scenarios are based on my PERSONAL history DRIVING a rig.
I AM NOT AN EXPERT. I do not pretend to be the be all and end all of rigs.

Cutting a rig off can result in a few different scenarios .

1. Car cuts a rig short/off ...Rig driver hits the "WOH!!" peddle hard(same thing that happens when your in a car...NATURAL reaction )and starts to jackknife. Rig driver can feel the jackknife coming and attempts to correct... (think of a jackknife as a VERY un-controlled drift...and we KNOW how close to the razors edge a drift can be even WHEN you WANT to do it) in correcting the jackknife the rig goes all over the road....thus wiping out a few other vehicles.
OR the rig driver just lets the jackknife happen and ...wipes out other vehicles on the road.

2. Car cuts the rig short/off enough that the rig driver has to swerve(another natural reaction...object in your way...you swerve around it..next time you do this in your car...see if you even THINK about it when you do it) ...using the "WOH !" peddle will not STOP the rig in time...he swerves and the momentum of the rig going at speed carries them into another lane of traffic(hope there isn't anyone in the lane...or it will be a slap shot at 55 ish mph )...at this point the rig driver can correct again and HOPE his trailer is behind him when he does OR he can let the jackknife happen and ...wipe out a few other cars along the way.

3. Car cuts the rig short/off and the rig driver just HITS the offending vehicle. Punting it into other vehicles but saving his rig..sort of . Because once the lawyers get involved the rig driver is DONE . He will be blamed for hitting johnny mustang and driving in an unsafe manor...it will be his fault Mr and Mrs Smiths innocent little choir boy is now a mangled mess of chunky salsa and American muscle. (By the way...this is what MORE THAN A FEW rig drivers are told...if you cant stop...DRIVE THROUGH the obstacle...be glad most of them of them DON'T do this)

I find this part to the kicker part of the latest link...

"A preliminary investigation has revealed that Virgoe's emergency manoeuvres prevented additional collisions, the OPP said in a statement.

After losing control in the northbound lanes, Virgoe hit the middle guardrail, then swerved back into the northbound lanes to avoid slamming into southbound traffic. The truck and tanker, weighing about 42,000 pounds, crashed down an embankment where he wound up pinned beneath his rig. "

I think "SELFLESS" defines the acts this man did.

This is a warning ...GIVE THEM ROOM and DO NOT PLAY around rigs...EVER!!

[picus]

Originally Posted by chbrules

I don't understand how a car cutting him off made him swerve and get into a fatal accident. The article wasn't really particular about that.

I hate people who speed ridiculously in heavy traffic, or especially on the streets. I will never street race someone, nor will I go nuts in traffic on the freeway.

The car cut him off then hit the brakes. We don't know what went through the drivers mind, but it was probably something like this in a split second "go straight, kill ricer and possibly all the people in the 4 cars in front of him" or "swerve and hope for the best". I'm glad he picked the later, unfortunately it killed him.

Another thing to keep in mind; the night before another street racing crash put 11 people in the hospital on the same highway, on the EXACT same stretch (between 88 and 89), and it was all over the news. I guarantee the truck driver knew about it. So ya, I'd say selfless is probably the word of the day here.

[mkoesel]

To me the fact that the guy was driving a rig is pertty much irrelevant.

What's relevant is that he sacrificed his well-begin to save others which makes him a hero, and that his family now has to deal with his death and huge personal loss which really sucks. My hats off to him, and my sympathies for the family.

[bmw318i_95]

Is he really a hero though? Was it really a selfless act? As other posters said maybe he just swerved and went out of control, to the luck of those kids that he didn't hit anybody else!! I think the media is just sentationalising (sp?) it and making him a martyr rather than just a hapless victim in an accident.

[LI E90]

Originally Posted by bmw318i_95

Is he really a hero though? Was it really a selfless act? As other posters said maybe he just swerved and went out of control, to the luck of those kids that he didn't hit anybody else!! I think the media is just sentationalising (sp?) it and making him a martyr rather than just a hapless victim in an accident.

your an F ing idiot, whether he intentionaly swerved to save lives or that is simply the way the truck went will not be know becuase the guy is DEAD.. he was obviously a loyal hardworking blue collar guy who didn't deserve to die. I'm sure he is a hero to his many grandkids..

j/0

[PMP]

Originally Posted by bmw318i_95

Is he really a hero though? Was it really a selfless act? As other posters said maybe he just swerved and went out of control, to the luck of those kids that he didn't hit anybody else!! I think the media is just sentationalising (sp?) it and making him a martyr rather than just a hapless victim in an accident.

Have you ever heard the phrase "Res Ipsa Loquitor"? It means "The thing speaks for itself." This is a perfect example of a situation where that phrase applies. The driver managed to move his rig out of the traffic flow and into a ditch to avoid running over other drivers. Maybe, just maybe, it was pure dumb luck. However, the opinion of experts (the police, his company) is that his expert driving skills were the reason the truck did not plow over/through the guardrail and into oncoming traffic. So, your rhetorical question has already been answered.

My friend was rear-ended by a large truck about 10 years ago. She was stopped in traffic and the rig came over a rise only to encountered this line of stopped traffic. When the truck hit her car it sent her flying OVER the car in front of her. The truck then began an unrecoverable turn, rolled over, and crushed several other cars in other lanes. Luckily, only two people were killed. It could have been much worse. Based upon what was reported in the newspaper, the truck swerved to avoid hitting a car that had stupidly cut in front of him. If he'd hit that car, I believe it would have been much worse. As it is, he managed to avoid every other car on the road - yet you persist in questioning what has been reported.

[Zephyr15]

Originally Posted by bmw318i_95

Is he really a hero though? Was it really a selfless act? As other posters said maybe he just swerved and went out of control, to the luck of those kids that he didn't hit anybody else!! I think the media is just sentationalising (sp?) it and making him a martyr rather than just a hapless victim in an accident.

The fact that he's a hero to his family and community doesn't mean he has to be a hero to you. Pick another battle.

This is terrible, just terrible.... So many ruined lives.

More on the story:

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/227370

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/227077

[achien]

I am afraid there will some backlash for vehicles over certain hp from now on...

Hope this doesn't end up like the gun-control laws here...

[bmw318i_95]

Originally Posted by LI E90

your an F ing idiot, whether he intentionaly swerved to save lives or that is simply the way the truck went will not be know becuase the guy is DEAD.. he was obviously a loyal hardworking blue collar guy who didn't deserve to die. I'm sure he is a hero to his many grandkids..

j/0

Dude, I don't deserve that. I don't dispute what kind of man they say he was, but I agree he definitely didn't deserve to die. I just said ( just like many others on this thread and the other one ), that we don't know the whole story, we don't know what went through his head, so nobody really can say he willingly moved out of the way or if he knew he was going to die or whatever. "Accidental hero" is a term I've heard of before.

You just called me stupid because I don't agree with the way the media (and you) portrayed him. He's the victim. That's all there is to it.

Zephyr15, point taken and I agree with you completely.

[chbrules]

Thanks for clearing that up. I figured the stupid car got in front of him and slammed his brakes, but they said cut him off, like ran through a couple lanes right in front of the rig.

My dad and I have driven some fairly big cargo trucks before down the highway and he's always telling me how stupid people are that cut right in front of him as they do it, and I can see why now. This is why I never toy around big rigs in my car.

[Viral]

Originally Posted by E90Russ

Sad story. I didn't see your original post and am too lazy to search for it. Were one of the guys driving a BMW?

does it matter if anyone was driving a BMW????? Someone died......but I guess that doesn't matter???????????? WTF! :mad: