4-wheeler causes flatbed to flip on 69!

gjmcclain · Apr 4, 2009

While heading north bound on I-69 just south of Gas City, Indiana, I am enjoying a nice cool day on the road.

I'm trucking along as a flatbed driver passes me on the left, no big deal, he waves, I call him on the CB and tell him to take the lead.

He thanks me and we start chatting on the ole' CB, when out of the blue comes some idiotic '4-wheeler' comes flying down the highway northbound as well.

She whips around me and pulls in front of the flatbed which pulled by me.

However, she went to far over to the right, tries to correct herself, but whips the car into the medium dividing the north and southbound lanes.

She crosses all the way over into the southbound lane, pulls right in front of a southbound flatbed, forcing him off the road.

This poor flatbedder goes airbourne, flips over and comes crashing down on the top of his truck.

Here's the good news!

He suffers only minor injuries by what the police and EMT's told me, maybe a brokern arm, a dislocated shoulder but it did not appear anything to bad, even though the truck was totaled and those injuries are bad enough.

Here is what made me feel really good about my fellow truckers out on the road.

There had to be 8 truckers that stopped and assisted in getting this guy out of the truck and away from the vehicle.

And when the police told us the driver of the car was claiming it was the flat bed drivers fault that he pulled in front of her while doing a U-turn it was good to see all of the other truckers telling the same fact - that it was the car driver at fault as she was northbound, etc etc............and of course like the police said the physical evidence along with all the trucker statements cleared what really happened.

So the next time you hear that truckers are dirty, low down scums, reckless, etc - keep this story in mind I know I will for sure...........God Bless all that help out today.

PS - if I could figure out how to download photos from my out of date phone I would send you the pictures. It was truely amazzing this guy even lived, let alone only had minor injuries.

So in case you came through I69 around 1845 Saturday night around Gas City now you have the actual facts on what happened.

BAN THE 4-WHEEL VEHICLE AND/OR LOWER THEIR SPEED LIMIT!!!

Yesteryear · Apr 5, 2009

Ya know, when I saw the wording of this thread I laughingly said to my husband "ah-oh, must of been another woman driver". I click on the thread and there it was, a woman driver! lol. The way some of these women drives make me ashamed to say I am a woman driver! No joking!

My husband and I have a little game we play, we try to guess if it is a man, woman or elderly person coming down a ramp. Sad part is we get it correct almost every time this is how:

Man - comes down ramp a normal speed, accelerates to traffic speed and smoothly blends in with traffic or accelerates and beats traffic.

Elderly - comes down ramp at slow speed hangs back letting traffic pass then merges from behind.

Woman - comes down ramp at one speed, does not accelerate expects all traffic to move out of her way, cuts directly in front of other traffic causing others to slam brakes. Never looks before changing lanes.

And to think according to insurance companies women are the 'best' drivers. I will say it is true they do not get into accidents as much, they just cause the accidents.

I periodically ask my husband "Honey, please tell me I didn't drive like that before becoming a truck driver.". He usually replies "No honey, you've always been a good driver." Don't know why he never looks me in the eye when he says that.

Bottom line, when I see a woman that knows how to drive, I know I am in the company of another woman truck driver!

greg334 · Apr 5, 2009

Did you stop to help?

gjmcclain · Apr 5, 2009

Yes, I did stop and help. Myself and two other people had to pry open the one door to get him out.

But, I didn't post this thread to focus on me, but to:

(1) that 4-wheelers cause accidents TO truck drivers and just not the rumor that WE ARE the bad drivers;

(2) that they guy somehow was not seriously hurt

and

(3) that when push comes to shove - it is the fellow American trucker you can always count on to help you out - PERIOD! That no matter how much we ***** and moan at each other when it comes to a real emergency we CAN count on each other.....

There were plenty of truckers that stopped and helped out and each one of them stood beside their fellow trucker and supported him when it came to giving statements to the police - that is was the darn car driver that was a fault.

I also want to give a thumbs up to the 2 nurses that were there on the scene. After we got him out of the truck, they made sure he was good enough to move away from the truck, in case there was a gas leark, etc etc and they really did their job as well until the EMT's got there and took over.

A great job by everyone - including OUR FELLOW TRUCKERS!

greg334 · Apr 5, 2009

So many people don't mention stopping, that's why I asked and didn't want to assume.

A lot of people do not stop at all, some think that it is ok not to while others just don't want to get involved.

I'm glad he wasn't hurt.

mjolnir131 · Apr 6, 2009

Yesteryear said:
Ya know, when I saw the wording of this thread I laughingly said to my husband "ah-oh, must of been another woman driver". I click on the thread and there it was, a woman driver! lol. The way some of these women drives make me ashamed to say I am a woman driver! No joking!

No the worst drivers out there are guys in white pick-ups i swear.And there is way more to good and bad then how agressive they hit the ramps.

Yesteryear · Apr 6, 2009

mjolnir131 said:
No the worst drivers out there are guys in white pick-ups i swear.And there is way more to good and bad then how agressive they hit the ramps.

Yeah, I was cut off twice on Friday by an idiot woman in a white toyota. She comes up alongside me, talking on her cell phone, gets right to my front bumper and cuts over missing me by inches, probably would have hit me if I hadn't hit my brakes. Gets in front of me, talking on her cellphone still, and gradually starts slowing down, I pass her by, few minutes later she must have seen she had slowed to below traffic flow, speeds up and does the same thing again, still talking on her cell phone. This time I hit the airhorn and watched her jump and boy did she take off. She floor that little car! heeheehee!

Know I'm not suppose to but sometimes when these idiots do that I kinda get a kick out of hitting the airhorn and watching'em jump! heeheehee! Hubbys always on me about it, but heck a girls gotta have some fun!

NOTE: Course if its ganny and gramps I don't do it cause I figure their just old and I don't disrespect elders.

inkasnana · Apr 6, 2009

I think a lot of people don't think about how long the front end of a truck is. They see the truck in their peripheral vision and once it's behind that point of sight they just move over. A lot of times it's the ones that are preoccupied that do that. It's not just 4 wheelers either. I had a Schneider truck just miss me by several inches when he passed me and suddenly jump back over into my lane. There was no reason for it, there were no vehicles in front of him in the passing lane.

My pet peeve is the 4 wheelers that are behind you when you are passing someone, and as soon as there is enough room they shoot over into the right lane and proceed to pass me on the right before I've had time to see that I'm far enough past whoever I was passing to get back over into the right lane. That is so annoying, especially since I now have to wait for that person to move past me on the right, so I'm stuck in the passing lane, and several more cars will do the same thing. None of them think that if they will just wait a few seconds I will be able to get back over to the right lane out of their way and they can continue on their way. My blinker on the whole time and they just keep passing me on the right.

wellarmed · Apr 6, 2009

greg334 said:
So many people don't mention stopping, that's why I asked and didn't want to assume.

A lot of people do not stop at all, some think that it is ok not to while others just don't want to get involved.

I'm glad he wasn't hurt.

When we,and I do want to stress "WHEN" we where with Tri State they actualy said in orientation that if you come upon an accident to not stop and get involved.I found that to be one of many bad rules and regs.that they have

cheri1122 · Apr 6, 2009

Is that right? Official company policy is to ignore your moral obligation to render assistance to those in need?

highway star · Apr 6, 2009

While I will always stop to help, I understand where Tri-State is coming from on that. LIABILITY!!! There are people that have been sued for being good samaritans. Sad...

cheri1122 · Apr 6, 2009

That people have been sued is why the Good Samaritan laws exist. Laws vary by state, but generally, if your intention is to assist someone (particularly someone in 'imminent danger', which may be a fine line to draw for nonprofessionals) you are protected from liability.
According to Wikipedia, in both Minnesota and Vermont it's against the law to NOT render aid - even if it's just to call 911.
Regardless of the law, I have stopped when first on scene at an accident, and consider it a moral obligation to continue to do so, liability be ****ed.

Yesteryear · Apr 8, 2009

inkasnana said:
My pet peeve is the 4 wheelers that are behind you when you are passing someone, and as soon as there is enough room they shoot over into the right lane and proceed to pass me on the right before I've had time to see that I'm far enough past whoever I was passing to get back over into the right lane. That is so annoying, especially since I now have to wait for that person to move past me on the right, so I'm stuck in the passing lane, and several more cars will do the same thing. None of them think that if they will just wait a few seconds I will be able to get back over to the right lane out of their way and they can continue on their way. My blinker on the whole time and they just keep passing me on the right.

Yes, we have this happen also and it is very much a peeve with both myself and my husband. Another one is when I put my blinker on to move over into the left lane for passing and all of a sudden a 4 wheeler, who has been tight on my bumper where I couldn't even see him, suddenly shoots out and around me so that I have to quickly swerve back into the right lane.

gotta go · Apr 8, 2009

Yesteryear said:
Another one is when I put my blinker on to move over into the left lane for passing and all of a sudden a 4 wheeler, who has been tight on my bumper where I couldn't even see him, suddenly shoots out and around me so that I have to quickly swerve back into the right lane.

After much study I have come to the realization that there is a very good reason for that. The turn signal is actually emitting a magnetic beam drawing the other vehicle closer to you against the drivers will. You will notice that when vehicles change lanes without using their signal this doesn't happen. Isn't that proof enough?

Yesteryear · Apr 8, 2009

gotta go said:
After much study I have come to the realization that there is a very good reason for that. The turn signal is actually emitting a magnetic beam drawing the other vehicle closer to you against the drivers will. You will notice that when vehicles change lanes without using their signal this doesn't happen. Isn't that proof enough?

magnetic beam?

cheri1122 · Apr 8, 2009

Think it depends on which blinker fluid you use. (If you didn't 'get it', do a search for the post on blinker fluid Moot wrote a few years ago - it's a classic!

)