Once more a crash involving a transport truck.

I would love to see the number of crashes involving a transport truck compared to the number of such crashes involving only cars/light trucks.

It “feels” like the percentage of crashes involving commercial transport trucks is higher than the ratio of transport trucks versus cars/light trucks on the road.

For crying out loud gus, all you do is blame the transports. You are ignorant to the facts. Did you know most crashes with a transport are caused by a passenger vehicle. Did you know lots of transports are now using dashboard cameras for when loud mouths like you start flapping your uninformed gums. I am not saying all commercial drivers are innocent. There is definately some commercial drivers that drive to fast or tired and end up crashing. Usuallt a crash with a transport is big so it makes news, but passenger vehicle accidents hardly ever do. I was in terrace monday and i counted 15 accidents and vehicles in the ditch, and not one was a transport, but thats not in the news now is it?

Do you see me blame the transports in that post.

For crying out loud FTE, quit reading your own mindset into someone else’s posts!!!

:-(

“Did you know most crashes with a transport are caused by a passenger vehicle”

Yes I did …… Did you know that the higher the proportion of trucks there are on the road, that the probability of hitting one of those rather than another smaller vehicle increases?

You do not even understand the meaning of my post!!! Are you that functionally illiterate???

“I was in terrace monday and i counted 15 accidents and vehicles in the ditch, and not one was a transport, but thats not in the news now is it?”

Please do not be so ignorant as to include such minor crashes with those that take lives and cause roads to be shut down for hours.

Gus i am not being ignorant. It upsets me every time i see someone has died in a crash. Every time a truck accident happens you always say something along the lines of “gee another crash with a truck “. What are we supposed to assume you mean?

it has been known for years that transport and logging truck drivers have been on drugs to stay awake…when l use to work for canfor….we had a number of truck drivers using crack to work long hours….it is a possible that number of crashes is due to drug use

Tarzanjr i won ‘t deny that some drivers used to use speed….but that is monitored closely now, especially after an accident. But thats far from the truth now

it seems to be either trucks or CN….I think we are safer with the trucks.
i am not blaming anyone on this as the facts are not out there…but regardless if we are right or wrong , we will lose in a confrontation with a semi…

i learned a long time ago, I drive every vehicle on the road while I amout and about…it has paid off in dividends….

In winter driving your going to skid and slide around. Hitting the brakes is not the answer, it will send the vehicle out of control, neither is driving to slow. Every driver should be trained how to recover from a slide in order to operate on wintery icy roads. It should be an absolute must, other wise your putting not only your life in danger but everyone else’s.

Well said x-it i couldn’t agree more

Very well said X-it. I recently rode with a new driver and everytime the vehicle even squiggled on the snow they dropped the gas pedal or even touched the brakes. We had that exact discussion.

of course that is not in any way an assumption of what happened in this case.

FTE posted: “What are we supposed to assume you mean.”

I am trying to indicate that there isn’t anyone in authority doing anything about the issue of highway safety that has any meaningful impact.

Because I am involved with worker safety, I am aware of some of the attempts at dealing with this with joint groups such as ICBC, WorkSafeBC, various provincial trucking associations, etc.

Nothing much has changed.

Anyone should be able to determine that when two vehicles meet head on, no matter showse fault it is, if on of then is a commercial transport and the other one is a smaller passenger car, that the one in the smaller car will end up the worse off for it.

There are a number of things that can be done about it such as identifying new standards for highways that carry both types of vehicles and bringing highways up to new standards.

We start by determining whether, in fact, there are more commercial vehicle to small car accidents or not. If that is not the case, then we have to look at whether they are tolerable in today’s age of safety.

If not, what can be done about it.

In my opinion, walking away and shrugging one’s shoulders and saying c’est la vie is not appropriate in 2013.

In the north and interior of the province We hardly hear of such crashes either

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/multi-vehicle-crash-jams-highway-1-in-burnaby-1.2434957?cmp=rss

One strategy in high density traffic areas such as the trans Canada in the GVRD would be truck only lanes.

I know it is not something we would have considered building four decades ago, but will likely become more and more of ONE of the strategies if the initial ones show a reduction in crashes, especially a reduction in deadly crashes.
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/trucks/ops-guide/truck-lanes.htm

Here is one gus, Sept 3, 2013 closed the highway in Burns Lake

http://www.theprovince.com/news/dead+head+crash+that+closed+highway+near+Burns+Lake/8860895/story.html

Here are more details of this crash which includes the quote “I do understand there was compact snow,” Lesley Smith (RCMP spokesperson) said. “I don’t know if that’s the reason why she went into oncoming traffic.”

http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/232858341.html?mobile=true

Truck only lanes wouldn’t prevent people from sliding into them, divided highway makes more sense

I agree slinky …

I have seen and driven on roads which have lanes which restrict truck use. U suspect most of us have. I think that any 6 lane portion of a highway will have such restrictions.

I would think that any truck only lane would only be found on divided highways

For those with an open mind, read all or part of the linked article about the issue of mixed vehicles on roads and the changes which have been happening.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/05sep/02.cfm

Specifically move down to the part that deals with he issue of increased commercial vehicle sizes. That is just ONE of the changing issues we are doing nothing about.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/05sep/images/fork3.gif

Without intending to blame transport drivers, who, cause me the least amount of grief when I ride a bicycle on Chief Lake Rd – I am curious too.

In these seeming frequent truck/car crashes, how often is it the car crossing the centre line vs the truck. Because my suspicion is it’s cars crossing into trucks more often than not. And it that happens to be true, I’d like to know why?

It’s somewhat intimidating, especially on bad roads, when a transport truck approaches, because after all, he’s much wider and bigger than everything else out there. I wonder if people squeeze the wheel a bit too hard, or hit the brakes to slow down before they meet the truck.

When I see an oncoming truck, I usually just let off the gas and let my speed drop, because if for some crazy reason that truck does cross the centre line, the easier it is to go to the ditch, and the less it hurts at lower speeds.

Now that you bring that up gus i completely agree that nothing is being done. I think slinky is right in the fact divided highways would be best. The coquihalla is a good example. People have a continuous passing lane so then nobody is making rushed passes and aren’t getting delayed behind slow vehicles then trying to make up time. So i think you and i are somewhat on the same page. I would however like to bring up road maintenance. I have heard rumours maintenance companies have a clause in their contracts that now makes them not responsible for accidents caused by bad roads. I have also heard in the terrace district their contract says “in a 24 hr period each route must be driven once by a truck equiped with a plow”. when i was there i didn ‘t see signs of any sand, salt, or calcium being deposited on the road. I did however see billabongs pickups equipped with a plow driving the highway. The contract talk is just hearsay but i am digging into it for more info.

I think that it is important to remember that in any vehicle accident there is more than 1 victim. In this case, a woman lost her life, and a the driver of the transport truck witnessed it. The driver is thankfully okay physically. But what of the emotional scars that occur in these situations?
Pointing fingers towards the driver of the SUV would be insensitive, as would placing blame on the transport driver.

I think that it is important to remember that in any vehicle accident there is more than 1 victim. In this case, a woman lost her life, and a the driver of the transport truck witnessed it. The driver is thankfully okay physically. But what of the emotional scars that occur in these situations?
Pointing fingers towards the driver of the SUV would be insensitive, as would placing blame on the transport driver.

Here are REPORTED logging truck incidents in BC in October
http://www.bcforestsafe.org/files/BCFSC-20131023-LogTruckIncidentUpdate.pdf

Perhaps there is a reporting of incidents such as this under “safety alerts” for other commercial truck drivers in the province and Canada.

If someone knows where we can find one, please post the link.

Thanks.

From the USA

I doubt Canada is much different other than likely worse since most intercity transportation occurs on interstate quality highways in the USA due to the population density. Try to find a 4 lane highway between the North Bay, Ontario and Winnipeg route other than around major urban centres.

from the report

“The nearly 11 million trucks that travel U.S. roads each year make up only 4.7 percent of all passenger vehicles, yet are involved in 12.4 percent of all fatal crashes.

“Fatalities (per miles driven) are 17 percent higher for trucks than for passenger vehicles.

This escalating safety issue is driven by an economic model that is fundamentally unsound. Truck drivers – compensated by miles driven, not hours worked – are pushed to ignore safety measures, delay repairs and drive in a fatigued state.

“Despite the significant and increasing amount of money devoted to trucking inspection, the task of reducing the risks from dangerous trucks is proving too much for regulators. There are simply too many dangers for inspectors to catch.

“As the number and size of trucks on U.S. roads grows, so does the danger to other road users. Fundamental, market-based change is needed if thousands of innocent people are not to die in vain.”

http://www.takejusticeback.com/sites/default/files/AAJ Truck Report 2013 FINAL.pdf

I agree somewhat with what gus is saying in his last post, truck drivers are being “driven” too hard to increase delivery and turnaround times. I guess truck driving is yet another area of work where temporary foreign workers will gladly fill those positions, and work under those demanding conditions, for less money… I would add.

Man oh man! There are so many accidents that involve cars vs transport trucks. Well, have you ever stopped to consider the number of trucks on the highway at any given time. Also, there are a number of people that think the best way out is to head for a transport truck…. Also many people driving cars do not understand that a transport truck, either loaded or empty, takes a good long distance to react or to stop…. Some do just not care! Plain and simple. Many people are so quick to blame the trucker. Why? These truckers are no different than every other profession… there are good ones and not so good ones. However, they traditionally get a bad shake…. Straighten up peeps….if these guys didn’t run the roads, you would not have anything… we do depend upon truckers for every item we have….groceries, fuel, vehicles, sleds, rvs, you name it, it comes by truck!!! Can you not be gratefull for the goods you receive?
I am so sorry for any persons who are involved in accidents with transports… especially the driver of the transport.

Please everyone, drive defensively and oh, so carefully. You have loved ones waiting for your safe arrival….

Fte – don’t try to reason with Gus. He just loves to hear the sound of his keyboard clicking away.
I can tell you that this accident was caused by the SUV driver crossing the center line into the path of the truck. The unfortunate truck driver tried to help the lady but the fire and her serious injuries were too much.
He tried to evade the crash, even steering off the road himself, but it was unavoidable.
While I feel sorrow for the loss of life, I also feel sorry for this truck driver who will live with the haunting memories of this tragedy for the rest of his life.