Maybe this will save lives in the future

[earlybird]

My husband had a power failure on his tractor and immediately starting losing speed. He flipped his emergency flashers on and was working to take his truck to the side of the road when before he could even attempt to start the move to the side, a small 4 wheeler slammed into him and the driver died on impact. Police say the driver failed to slow down due to what was in his lane in front of him. The impact was so severe, the trailer's rear bumper was ripped off and the 4 wheeler pushed it up to the rear tires. My husband said he heard the explosion and his truck was pushed slightly forward. He jumped out and saw he had been hit and put out a fire that was starting to happen from the 4 wheeler. He then saw the driver and said it was not a pretty sight.

From the look of the 4 wheeler after the crash, the driver had been multi-tasking or had his mind on something else, because the 4 wheeler hit the trailer dead on in the middle in the back. It looked like he didn't even attempt to move to either side to avoid a collosion.

I asked my husband if he had blown his airhorn, if it might have gotten the 4 wheeler's attention and they looked up sooner to react. Blowing the airhorn for those behind you may seem silly, but now that so many drivers are multi-tasking when they drive and not always paying attention to what is in front of them, blowing the airhorn may get them to at least look up and hopefully save some lives.

My husband is torn up over the tragic loss of life, but also angry that other drivers don't pay attention.

But he said he will blow the airhorn in the future if he has something similar happen to his truck due to my suggestion since other drivers don't always pay attention. He hopes it saves a life.

I have been guilty of not paying attention and the idea of blowing the airhorn came to me because I know it would make me look up.

Just wanted to throw this idea out and the best thing is to remember how serious a task driving really is.

[ranger309]

Originally Posted by earlybird

My husband had a power failure on his tractor and immediately starting losing speed. He flipped his emergency flashers on and was working to take his truck to the side of the road when before he could even attempt to start the move to the side, a small 4 wheeler slammed into him and the driver died on impact. Police say the driver failed to slow down due to what was in his lane in front of him. The impact was so severe, the trailer's rear bumper was ripped off and the 4 wheeler pushed it up to the rear tires. My husband said he heard the explosion and his truck was pushed slightly forward. He jumped out and saw he had been hit and put out a fire that was starting to happen from the 4 wheeler. He then saw the driver and said it was not a pretty sight.

From the look of the 4 wheeler after the crash, the driver had been multi-tasking or had his mind on something else, because the 4 wheeler hit the trailer dead on in the middle in the back. It looked like he didn't even attempt to move to either side to avoid a collosion.

I asked my husband if he had blown his airhorn, if it might have gotten the 4 wheeler's attention and they looked up sooner to react. Blowing the airhorn for those behind you may seem silly, but now that so many drivers are multi-tasking when they drive and not always paying attention to what is in front of them, blowing the airhorn may get them to at least look up and hopefully save some lives.

My husband is torn up over the tragic loss of life, but also angry that other drivers don't pay attention.

But he said he will blow the airhorn in the future if he has something similar happen to his truck due to my suggestion since other drivers don't always pay attention. He hopes it saves a life.

I have been guilty of not paying attention and the idea of blowing the airhorn came to me because I know it would make me look up.

Just wanted to throw this idea out and the best thing is to remember how serious a task driving really is.

I have seen the newer generation of drivers using laptops computers, PDA's, Blackberrys and even watching a tv or mini-DVD on the passenger seat or dash while driving at 70 MPH or faster. Not to mention the GPS navigation gizmos that are on the dashboards now too.

Its crazy out there and I cant say as blowing the horn would have worked or not.

Its too bad this had to happen to your husband but I always keep in mind that we are sharing the road with 4-wheelers who are not trained well and if one party isn't looking out for bad situtations or gets stupid watching something else not the road it can get real messy out there on the highways.

I'd be willing to be your hubby pulled some four wheelers out of a potentially deadly jam they got themselves into by being stupid more then once, but we cant always manage to pull the rabbit out of the hat in a heavy rig at 55 MPH, so there is that to keep in mind too.

[Apostolic]

I was on my city route about four years ago.
I was on a main road in a very populated area,there was a lot of traffic,but we were all traveling at the speed limit which was 40 mph.

I just started to enter an intersection,when an ambulance was coming from my right.
The siren was blaring,and also using an intermitten air horn.
Well I had to mash on my brake,to yield the right of way.
I felt a push,and then saw people in a gas station on the right corner throw up their arms with a look of horror on their faces.
By then the signal light was red.
So I got out,and went to the rear of my 48 foot route trailer,to see an older ford mustang totaled against my trailer ICC bar.
It was a young kid that had just had his license a short time.
He,and his buddy seemed ok.
I had my digital camera,so I took a lot of pictures at ever angle.
The cops came,and this kid claimed I cut him off.
I showed the pictures to the cop,and the people in the gas station confirmed the ambulance was coming into the intersection when the accident happened.

Well the whole blame was put on this kid for tailgating me.

So heres the deal,I was looking all around me during my driving,because of the heavy traffic.
This kid wasn't paying attention to his driving.
He was so close to me,I didn't know he was even behind me?

The ambulance was really making a loud racket in front of me,but this kid still rammed my trailer.

I'm posting this to this thread topic to show no matter what we drivers do out here sometimes its not enough when people aren't paying any attention to their driving.

[Swizzlestick]

This may appear callous, but i have little to no sympathy for those that cause accidents and the outcome they suffer due to not paying attention/carelessness/drugs/alcohol etc...

I do however feel sorry for those that live with the aftermath for the rest of their life due to carelessness of others.

My grandfather was a tanker driver for many years. In the 60's another driver hit him, tanks exploded, my gpa walked away, the other guy didn't. The accident while not my gpa's fault caused him to never drive again. He lived with the pain the rest of his life and my understanding, although not a given, is that accidents are often the reason some truck drviers leave the proffession.

[Apostolic]

I did feel a little something for this kid that smashed his car up on the rear of my trailer.
But it was completely his own fault.
If he paid attention to the ambulance coming to the intersection,and stopped like the rest of us.
He could of continued on without and damage.
But he was tail gateing me,and as much noise as the ambulance was making,he just wasn't watching what was going on,and his car was smashed beyond repare,because it was an older model,it wasn't worth fixing.

Except for the push I felt,and the looks on the faces of the poeple to my right I wouldn't have even known he hit me?

I really thank God no body was hurt bad.
But all this kids problems were brought on by himself,and I just can't feel sorry for him on that note.