Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/923471
56 commercial carrier journal | january 2018 PREVENTABLE or NOT? Doubles dilemma for Doe S o ly humming the "Backhaul Blues," doubles driver John Doe peered intently through a veil of rain that somewhat limited his view of Pennington Parkway, a four-lane highway with a grassy median, posted at 65 mph. Due to the inclement weather, Doe was cruising at 45 mph in the far right lane. Tra c was light. e time was 1 p.m. Reaching for his ermos, Doe took a swig of the cocoa and co ee mix and … what the heck? Dead ahead, looming out of the mist, was a battered GMC straight truck – laden with a towering tarped load of Heaven knows what – crawling along at 35 mph. A er skillfully executing a passing maneuver, Doe was working his way back to the outside lane when … Holy Monica! What this darn fool doing? Rocketing wildly across the median from a side street, a 1971 Mercedes sedan driven at full throttle by beer-crazed teenager Billy "Burpy" Clydesdale was poised to merge with the le fender of Doe's tractor! Armed with the re exes of a cobra, Doe spun the wheel to the right, averting a collision but … Yikes! CRASH!!! Alas, Doe's rear trailer had succumbed to a crack-the-whip scenario, and now rested on its side in the ditch! Unscathed, Clydesdale's Benz disappeared into the distance, trailing gray smoke. Since Doe contested the preventable-accident warning letter from his safety director, the National Safety Council's Accident Review Committee was asked to render a nal decision. NSC promptly ruled in Doe's favor, noting that he'd avoided being sideswiped and couldn't have anticipated Clydesdale's attack. Doubles driver John Doe was passing a pickup on a rainy divided highway when a speeding sports car pulled out in front of him, causing his rear trailer to break loose. Was this a preventable accident?