Car Hit by Semi Truck Wipes Out
https://www.topbuzz.com/a/6585910537...fb&language=en

 

That takes two morons...

 

Just what I was thinking.

 

Absolutely, I cannot understand why car drivers play stupid games with trucks.

 

Those are the kids who always asked "why do I need to learn this?" in high school physics class....

 

That should read "Car that hit semi truck wipes out" as the car didn't properly merge into the lane occupied by the truck.

 

HaHa, You're giving that dumb *** a lot of credit assuming he was even taking physics............

 

definately failed in the common sense department!

 

I'll always give a semi the right away even if he is a dumbass.It's a matter of math. And a while back a Semi hit me head on and totaled my 79 Hurst Olds in 1994.He almost killed me and my son after he crossed over into my lane avoiding a rear end collision in his lane in the rain. He slid with a loaded trailor straight into my lane. I'll also add right in front of the Police station. The person he was about to rear end was a cop going to work.Didn't take them long to get there. Of course the car was mint condition needing nothing.They had to cut the roof off to get me out. Closest I've been to the promise land was via a trip in my Olds.

 

While your incident was very unfortunate, the truck driver in this case was in his lane and the car in the left lane was supposed to merge into the lane to the right.

Summary of motor vehicle law for merging vehicles:

 

The seat I was on when a semi ran me over on my motorcycle from behind. No other cars around. Said he didn't see me. I was doing 40mph about to make a sharp exit. He said he was doing 75mph. I was under the cab for over a quarter mile before he stopped.

 

From the video I'd say the guy in the Olds was really, really, stupid. Was he trying for a Darwin Award?.

Roger.

 

I feel really bad for the car passenger. I wonder if the stink will ever come out of the passenger seat.

 

There was a long distance in this location for the high speed left lane to merge into the right. It's also a very poor interchange design to drop the left lane just after an interchange (EB I-78\ Route 309 in Center Valley, PA). Traffic isn't so heavy that the truck shouldn't have yielded to allow the car in, especially since the car was ahead of the truck. For that matter the truck should have been attempting to merge into the right lane because the high speed lane was dropping. Yeah it was two dumbasses, but the truck could clearly see the entire accident unfold while the car was merging and the truck was in his blind spot and probably didn't have a lot of reason to think the truck wouldn't yield 10' to allow him in.

 

Too bad the Olds was driven by a moron ,Truck had the right of way.

 

Both are idiots. But that truck didn't need to speed up and cut off the merging space.

 

I'm going to have to disagree, Mike. Here in the DC area, EVERY driver on the road is a self-important *** who will race down a merge lane or even an exit lane then cut over to pass ONE MORE CAR. If the Cutlass driver wasn't aware that there was a tractor-trailer next to him, he shouldn't be driving. That driver just didn't want to be behind the truck and tried to force his way in. My physics class statement above was a reference to how much longer it takes a heavy truck to slow down. This is the same "evolution in action" process that causes these morons to try to beat a train at a crossing.

 

BLIND spot???. He must have been blind, deaf, and couldn't even feel bumping into the truck a few times before he decided to attempt suicide. If he wanted in that bad he should have shot in at the beginning of the clip. It looks like the truck had traffic in the right lane and could not move over. It looks like 2 all about me dumb asses meeting on the road.

 

This also nuts. PennDOT responded to the following correspondence that it will take at least two years for TIP & MPO to just review this relatively easy resolution involving this same hazardous section of I-78 at Interchange 60 in PA - where the 'left lane ending' merge and 'right lane entrance' acceleration merge lane are located:

Sent January 8, 2018 -

Dear Governor Wolf,

A hazardous situation on multi-lane eastbound I-78, just past exit 60 in Lehigh County, needs to be remedied in a timely fashion.

The unsafe condition is brought about from one of the design shortcomings on I-78. The roadway configuration has three lanes of eastbound traffic, plus a high volume entrance ramp, cramming into two lanes at the same point - all while negotiating a sweeping curve. Traffic in the I-78 median lane, which terminates at the end of the curve, must merge to the right into the center lane while heavy traffic exiting State Highway 309 attempts to merge into the congested right thru-lane.

This situation can be avoided by continuing all three I-78 eastbound lanes past the curve and entrance ramp. A new merge area for the ending left lane on I-78 would be constructed using the wide and straight median that runs unobstructed for nearly a mile past the aforementioned entrance ramp and curve. This change will also ease merging conditions for traffic entering I-78 from State Highway 309.

Besides making this section of I-78 safer at a relatively low cost, the new merge area configuration will make the freeway more efficient by reducing rush hour, weekend, event, and holiday period traffic jams.

Please advise what action will be taken by your office in regard to this matter.

 

I guess you'd have to see the rest of the video. Considering the truck driver obviously posted the video I'd say if the 442 had sped up to try to get past the truck it would have been pretty obvious and that's why it wasn't posted. I think the 442 was ahead of the truck the whole time. This wasn't a right hand merge lane that was ending, this was a left, high speed passing lane, that was ending. The 442 had plenty of room to fit between the Cadillac and the truck before the truck sped up. The 442 was in the PASSING lane. The truck sped up and passed him on the right, cutting him off as he was merging. It was intentional and it occurred at the last minute when the 442 was trying to merge

 

I agree, a left, high speed lane drop is a **** poor engineering design.

 

Whatever happened to driver awareness? Blind spot check? Brakes? Signal lights?? Common courtesy?? Oh wait, that doesn't apply to interstates

 

It doesn't apply anywhere anymore...

 

And people wonder why insurance costs so much.

 

Looks to me like the Olds driver missed taking the gap provided by the truck driver at the beginning of the clip. You snooze, you lose. I didn't look like the truck necessarily sped up, more likely the traffic ahead was slowing down.

Attempting to swap paint with a tractor-trailer to "push him over a lane" is a losing proposition every time. I'd have to give the Olds driver two FAIL flags on this one:
1) Missed taking the gap he had
2) Playing chicken w/ a semi

 

While there is plenty of blame to go around in this incident, there is no universe where that truck could have out-accelerated the Cutlass. The Cutlass driver just merged right ASSUMING the truck would slow down - in fact, trying to force the truck to slow down. It would not have taken much additional acceleration to get the Cutlass farther ahead, long before the lane drop. As I said at the very beginning, both drivers are morons.

 

Michigan has a similarly-stupid interchange outside of Detroit, where 696, 96, 275, and the M5 all come together within the course of a mile or two. 3 lanes of travel from 696 merge with 2 lanes of travel from 96, BUT... the left hand high speed lane from 696 ends right where 96 merges. Just an unbelievable civil engineering clusterbleep of non-thinking. Luckily, I only have to deal with that spot when I am returning from a work trip, driving home from Detroit Metro Airport. I'd lose my mind if I had to drive thru there for a daily commute.

Also, while I feel both drivers in the original post are to blame, the video sure does look like the truck sped up and therefore is more than 50% at fault. All he had to do was just let that dumb driver of the Cutlass gradually come over. The only way that the Cutlass driver loses in court is if it can be proven that this was done to get insurance money. Even then... so many better alternatives than intentionally wrecking with a semi and damn-near getting crushed to death.

 

I'll post this again as apparently some folks missed it.

Summary of motor vehicle law for merging vehicles:
The truck had command of the lane and therefore had no legal obligation to slow down, speed up, or move over to let the 442 in. It doesn't matter if the front of the 442 was ahead of the truck or not. The truck owned that lane and it was the 442 driver's responsibility to merge safely.

 

I've now re-watched the video about 10 times. Doesn't look like he sped up, as that was a bit of an optical illusion. However, he sure made no effort to slow down once a collision looked imminent. Both drivers are complete a-holes, *especially* the trucker. He knew what was going to happen, and made zero effort to avoid it. Was he trying to teach the guy a lesson? Who the hell does that? If that's my trucking company, this guy is fired. Playing bumper cars with a truck? Dumb. Just come to a complete stop if you're trapped, or dump it into the median. Good grief, so many things done wrong by both.

Merging brings out the worst in drivers. Waiting that long to merge over is an idiot move, but you also shouldn't get over 1/2 mile before the lane ends, because studies have proven that getting over too soon only makes traffic delays worse. The zipper merge concept, much like navigating a traffic circle, is like quantum string theory to a lot of drivers.

Bet this one ends up in court, and despite what the law says, if it goes in front of a jury, anything can happen.

 

So if the left lane vehicle is passing this applies:

From PA general law Chapter 33, Subchapter A, Section 3303 (2)

And the truck certainly sped up. There are no brake lights on any of the vehicles in front of him.

 

You need to look at the lane ends / merge laws, not "left lane passing" laws.

 

I listened to the end,the truck driver has that arrogant young person tone to his voice,"the guy thought I was supposed to let him over" he tells the girl that asks" whats going on" he did speed up, its on film,i .common sense says let the guy in,asshhat or not. flip him off or blow the air horns at him afterwards,no sense in trying to kill someone,or lose ones job over something as simple as this was. he knew the guy was there he could see it,didnt try to adjust for someone elses driving error. me me me my lane, you cant have any, as was said before...where is common sense and courtesey?

 

Sorry, Kenneth, but looking just a bit further, I think you'll want to read the following section.

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=75&div=0&chpt=33

§ 3304. Overtaking vehicle on the right.

(a) General rule.--The driver of a vehicle may overtake and pass upon the right of another vehicle only under one of the following conditions:

(1) When the vehicle overtaken is making or about to make a left turn, except that such movement shall not be made by driving off the berm or shoulder of the highway.


(2) Upon a roadway with unobstructed pavement of sufficient width for two or more lines of vehicles moving lawfully in the direction being traveled by the overtaken vehicle, except that such movement shall not be made by driving off the roadway.

(b) Limitation.--No passing movement under this section shall be made unless the movement can be made in safety.

If I'm the Cutlass' lawyer, I'm going after the trucker under 3304(b). Trucker CLEARLY violates it, he can see that what he is doing is not "be(ing) made in safety." Or even 3310(b) a little further down.
§ 3310. Following too closely.

(a) General rule.--The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of the vehicles and the traffic upon and the condition of the highway.

(b) Combinations of vehicles and trucks.--The driver of any motor vehicle drawing another vehicle or of any truck when traveling upon a roadway outside of an urban district and following a motor vehicle drawing another vehicle or following a truck shall, whenever conditions permit, leave sufficient space so that an overtaking vehicle may enter and occupy the space without danger, except that this subsection does not prevent a motor vehicle drawing another vehicle or prevent a truck from overtaking and passing any vehicle or combination of vehicles.

 

Why do you think the truck was overtaking a vehicle on the right? That is not what was going on here - it was a lane ends / merge situation.

Passing on the right does not apply on a roadway with multiple lanes in the same direction of travel.

 

Thank you,At least someone here understands vehicle and traffic law.

 

My Dad was a career police officer who taught driver education, driver safety, and defensive driving for the National Safety Council for over 25 years, so I picked up a thing or two over the years.

 

I betting you never drove a truck. How can you call the trucker an a$$ ---- ??? He didn't do any thing wrong. It was the effin moron in the car that failed to navigate the lane change in a safe manner.
I love Monday morning quarterbacks. Especially one's who never drove something of that size and weight, Yet they preach about how everyone is so wrong and they are always right.

 

Is this the same Semi seen earlier in the day?!

 

 

Driver's Ed by the NSC was a damn good program I am glad I took. I had to laugh though, at the videos' (in the driver's ed program) music. I still remember that the theme music was the synthesized beat to Test Drive 2, a popular computer game of a few years earlier on 486 and Apple II's. I kept half expecting to hear "Accolade presents...." over the music (the name of the game company.)

Any time a wreck is not fast, it takes two to cause it. One to be wrong, and the other to be unforgiving.