CCJ

February 2015

Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal

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84 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | FEBRUARY 2015 PREVENTABLE or NOT? Bus stops Doe's milk run A t dawn, trucker John Doe ambled toward the ready line with a gra- nola bar and a jug of steaming-hot coffee flavored with Hershey's Chocolate Syrup for extra energy. The day's tow was a 48-foot flat- bed laden with steel coils. After his pretrip inspection, Doe wheeled his rig out of the terminal yard and headed eastward on four-lane Pickwick Pike. The sun rose in a cloudless sky, and traffic was light. Doe looked forward to an easy trip, but his milk run was about to go sour. Pickwick Pike dead-ended at the I-007 Bypass, where he needed to turn left. To ensure room for a wide turn, Doe got into the right lane, and when the light turned green, he eyeballed I-007 for red-light runners, then cautiously started to execute his turn. In the adjacent turn lane, bus driver Wilbur Smurd also started to turn left, but he didn't turn sharply enough and moved partially into the next lane. Doe, in shocked dis- belief, stopped dead and sounded his horn, but Smurd failed to react and sideswiped Doe's tractor. It took several sips of coffee to calm Doe down, but even that couldn't help him get over the warning letter from his safety director for a preventable accident. Doe disagreed that he should have hung back and anticipated that the large bus would encroach on his lane. Asked to resolve the dispute, the National Safety Council's Accident Review Committee ruled in Doe's favor. He had proceeded with caution and reacted properly but still fell prey to the bus driver, who had plenty of room to maneuver and initially did not appear to pose a threat, NSC said. John Doe was making a wide left turn from the right lane when a bus driver in the adjacent turn lane didn't turn left sharply enough and side- swiped Doe's tractor. Was this a preventable accident? I-007 John Doe Bus Pickwick Pike

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