Readers sound off on dash cam video
FEEDBACK: The driver of the inside rig is still out on the highway, creating havoc, says columnist
(Editor’s note: Big Rigs always elicits reader responses but last week’s column on the story about dash-cam video that showed a trucker forcing a family vehicle onto a highway shoulder resulted in a flurry of letters to the editor.
As such, we’ve put together some of them for this week’s column, but also gave John G. Stirling the opening words.) E veryone is a critic. I smile and nod, but caution you, dear faithful reader, that unless you have worn the shoes of the one you want to criticize, then you are simply blowing smoke.
The first incident of the two rigs passing on the highway that the TV news stations played over and over and over for days on end, they never really reported the story. They showed an incident, but no conclusion. There was no analysis.
We needed to know who, what, when, where, and why. We were shown a partial who, a partial where, and another partial when, but no what or why. It was amateur hour. Not news.
The story within the story has a sad ending. The driver of the truck that was attempting to pass was fired from his job. Before he was fired, he told his fellow drivers that the driver of the rig he was trying to pass, sped up and would not allow him to move over, so he slowed down and pulled in behind again.
His story is that when he originally pulled out to pass, there was lots of clear road in which to make his move. He was trapped by the near fatal move of the inside lane vehicle. Too late. His company didn’t like the negative TV coverage, and he was fired.
The driver of the inside rig is still out on the highway, creating havoc, and playing with motorists’ lives.
He wasn’t fired because, even though all of us drivers know who he is and what company he works for, his company colours were not seen over and over and over on TV, he gets to carry on with his malicious driving habits.
Driving a rig is dangerous work. That said, it is also a very rewarding profession, with lots of moments of satisfaction and a feeling of having done a good job. Having to deal with a person who could be viewed as a homicidal maniac, such as the person driving the rig in the inside lane, is something no driver of any vehicle should ever have to encounter.
It takes two to tango. There are two sides to every story.
Now, all we need is for the TV people, who pose as reporters, to get back to reporting all the facts, not just one side. Readers respond: I’m sure John G. Stirling is a competent, professional driver, but the majority of the Big Rig drivers on the highways are not.
He is quick to defend the big rig drivers and I think he goes too far. To suggest that the incident in the paper and on TV is the highway’s fault is a joke.
These drivers know the roads they are travelling so the know where the passing lanes end and can see the lines up ahead. If they know they can’t pass safely they should not attempt it.
Yes, I acknowledge that the highways could be better but the responsibility is on the driver to keep others and himself safe.
I see this at all times of the year and I believe the big rig drivers are no longer professionals, they are only concerned with time and getting to their destination.
Earlier this month my wife and I were travelling home from Sun Peaks after a couple of days of skiing in my 8-day-old Ford F-150 Lariat. On our drive from Merritt to Hope, we were the second vehicle to come to a rollover accident at the Mine Creek Exit. I pulled well off the road tight to the snow bank. The driver of the first vehicle to stop (an off-duty RCMP officer) had assessed the two occupants of the roll over and placed them in his small car, which was in front of my truck. My wife got out to see if everyone was okay and I stayed in the truck. She asked me to get our blankets out of the back and put our emergency flares on the road to warn others and to have them slow down.
As I was at the rear driver’s side door getting the blankets and flares, a semi, going way too fast, lost control and in a split second I had to jump into the back of the truck to avoid being crushed by the semi. He hit my truck and folded back the rear door where I had been standing.
I jumped back out of my truck and realized the amount of damage to my new truck, but thought that if my truck wasn’t parked where it was the people in the small car and the RCMP officer would be dead.
Hitting my truck cased the semi to straighten out and not collide with any other vehicle. All of this is because he was travelling way too fast.
To make matters worse this ‘professional driver’ went another 500 metres down the road, got out of his truck walked around it then got back in and drove away.
Unfortunately no one was able to get a description of the truck as we all were trying to save ourselves. So now I’m left with a truck that may or may not be written off and to fight with ICBC.
I believe stiffer penalties are required for these big rig drivers to put others at risk.
— Martin Swain, Surrey Well John, you blew it this time. I can’t believe you don’t think the passing truck is responsible. I would blame him 80 per cent and the rig in the curb lane about 20 per cent for not slowing down, to allow the other rig to pass.
But get this, anyone starting to pass another vehicle must be absolutely sure the road ahead is straight and clear, and can see the entire length of what is needed to pass.
If there is a rise or hill, and the driver cannot see over oncoming vehicles, he must not start the pass. You seem to intimate that a rise or hill is not a problem. And I don’t need a Class 1 license to realize this. It is just common sense. Never start a pass with vision blocked by a rise or hill.
How about the poor dude in the four-wheel vehicle. He was a very good driver to see the problem, and was able to get over on the shoulder. You never mentioned him.
— Derek Coughtrey, Surrey
I always enjoy your articles for your first-hand knowledge and incite into the trucking industry.
I’m not a trucker (except for driving a big grain truck as a kid,) but I would like to throw in my two cents on local highway safety regarding big rigs.
I live here in Abbotsford so that means I have driven the #1 highway many times and I’m sure that you are also well aware of this highway to hell.
The stretch from Chilliwack to 200 Street is way overloaded for the amount of traffic it can safely handle.
The biggest problem I can see is that semis are allowed to drive this area much too fast. When you have hundreds of big trucks rushing down a crowded two-lane highway surrounded by tiny cars, it’s a recipe for trouble.
I have witnessed dozens of accidents involving semis all up and down this stretch.
Of course it’s not always the truckers fault as the cars set up the situation, but these wrecks happen mostly because the trucks don’t have time to stop to avoid a collision.
I believe trucks with more than two axles on this stretch of road should be posted a slower speed limit than cars. That as you know is the law in the U.S. on I-5 and many other highways.
So why not enforce that law here? Trucks can’t stop as fast as cars, so slow them down and keep them in the right lane. Maybe some trucks won’t make their deadlines as fast, but that is a small price to pay to avoid the death and injuries that occur out here almost daily.
— Brad Bennett, Abbotsford
John G. Stirling could fill a newspaper with stories about road life on the road, but why not share yours? Send them to driving editor Andrew McCredie at amccredie@postmedia.com