Maintenance & Restoration

glamourpets · 02-02-2014, 06:41 PM

Semi Truck Accident January 4, 2014 - YouTube

Isn't it illegal to pass here? Or is it simply stupid? Or both?

Derek

papa-t · 02-02-2014, 06:51 PM

Well that just proves one thing. You can't fix stupid. That would be both "A Unsafe Movement Violation" And "Stupid Period"

glamourpets · 02-02-2014, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by papa-t

Well that just proves one thing. You can't fix stupid. That would be both "A Unsafe Movement Violation" And "Stupid Period"

I suggest that the solution to stupid is death. Its all about survival of the fittest.

Its certainly "unsafe movement" but I thought there was something specific pertaining to passing a plow. Or perhaps not?

Derek

Gina D. · 02-03-2014, 01:12 PM

there's nothing like a manly truck driver screaming like a little girl in pink ribbons...

Francesca Knowles · 02-03-2014, 01:22 PM

Anybody read the comments?

At least as of 18 hours ago, the bad guy has NOT been found, he having just taken off after the sideswipe.

cpaharley2008 · 02-03-2014, 01:30 PM

Seems to me all 3 vehicles in the video were driving way too fast for the road conditions and passing a snow plow is like passing a stopped school bus, absolutely ludicrous.

rabbit · 02-03-2014, 04:09 PM

Why does the video look staged? Just your usual steadycam in the old beer hauler?

jack

Francesca Knowles · 02-03-2014, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabbit

Why does the video look staged? Just your usual steadycam in the old beer hauler?

jack

You'd be surprised how many folks have dashcams for just this purpose- capturing exactly what happens moments before somebody does something dumb and causes an accident. Always thinking, of course, that it's "the other guy" that's going to get busted...but it can certainly be a two-edged sword.

Something that catches my eye here is how long it took for the "good guy" to even notice/react to the bad news ahead. He doesn't even slow down, much less start screamin', until he's practically right on top of the guy.

Since the camera "saw" the peril ahead as soon as it came around the curve, one has to wonder just what our driver was doing just before he looked back at the road and saw what was a-comin'!

**Jim Bennett** · 02-03-2014, 06:17 PM

This video has been plastered all over the internet the past couple days. Pretty freaky for the guy who filmed it. I bet a change of shorts were in order.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

Since the camera "saw" the peril ahead as soon as it came around the curve, one has to wonder just what our driver was doing just before he looked back at the road and saw what was a-comin'!

As far as him not reacting sooner, from the distance coming around the curve, it would be easy to first think the passing semi was actually just behind the plow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Seems to me all 3 vehicles in the video were driving way too fast for the road conditions and passing a snow plow is like passing a stopped school bus, absolutely ludicrous.

The snowplow would not be going very fast, and likely the truck passing him on the uphill would not be going too fast either. Speed of the truck with the camera is hard to tell as the camera has a fairly narrow angle, but the guy with the camera did not seem to be speeding. Passing snow plows around here is common place, I have had to do it dozens of times before. On long stretches of highway you often need to, as they don't go anywhere near the speed limit. BUT, you should be doing it where it is safe, and obviously this guy wasn't.

Glenn Baglo · 02-03-2014, 06:25 PM

I got passed by a snowplow once, in Manning Park.
That is a freaky experience.

cpaharley2008 · 02-03-2014, 07:12 PM

Why would someone pass a snow plow? They are on the road serving a purpose, clearing the road. Why would one think that the road ahead of the snow plow is any better than the road behind a plow, after it has been cleared? I fail to see the logic here. The road is snow covered, the plow is removing the snow, why would I want to get in front of the plow? As Spock would say, "That does not compute…"

Carol H · 02-03-2014, 07:52 PM

In early December I was on my way to a ski race in the Rocky Mountains in heavy snow conditions. While driving through Rodgers Pass I commented to the people in the truck with me that all the semi trucks were traveling way to fast for the conditions. In particular the ones traveling down hill - it was snowing heavy and temps only about 1 degree below freezing - which historically makes for very slippery snow/roads. We had already passed 3 large trucks on their sides in the ditches - all of them heading down the hill. A few moments later there was a head on between two semi trailers - right behind us.... it wasn't as good of an ending as this video :-( The road was closed for 10 hours to clean it up after. It looks to me that in this video the truck the video was in was traveling pretty darn fast downhill as well.

As far as why pass a snow plow or is it better behind the plow then being ahead of it, it all depends. If they are plowing very slow or very dry snow the visibility can be pretty poor following them and to be honest if its really cold out and dry snow they are not really making the road all that much better to drive on especially if you have good winter tires and in some cases they can be making it worse by simply scrapping it down to a layer of old ice that winter tires will not help you on, which is way worse/scarier to drive on than dry snow.

Carol H · 02-03-2014, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

I got passed by a snowplow once, in Manning Park.
That is a freaky experience.

LOL it happened to me just last night in the same park! They do fly along the 4 lane straight sections!

**Jim Bennett** · 02-03-2014, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carol H

As far as why pass a snow plow or is it better behind the plow then being ahead of it, it all depends.

Exactly, there is not one right answer, it all depends on the situation.

I have followed a few in situations that I would never consider passing in, especially at night with lots of dry snow flying. Going through any mountain passes I would never consider it. And as mentioned, sometimes the road is not clear enough, and following the plow is the best (and sometimes the only) way to get through.

Lots of times during the day, they are just clearing crud, or just a light skiff of snow, and there is good visibility. The plows are usually going slower than the speed limit, so passing when safe is usually not a problem at all.

The visibility and road conditions in this video are fairly good, but that truck should have never tried passing heading into an uphill curve.

Sometimes you wish there was a snowplow when driving through the mountains. This was just south of Jasper, just after dark.

This is the very near where the other photo was taken (but just west of Jasper), but 9 days earlier, and the road nicely cleared.

Carol H · 02-03-2014, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

The visibility and road conditions in this video are fairly good, but that truck should have never tried passing heading into an uphill curve.

Yup looks like he picked a really bad spot to do it...

I also tend to hang well back especially when night driving on two lane roads but often the plows themselves will slow right down and sometimes move slightly over totally expecting you to pass them, even when you may not particularly wanting to!

**Jim Bennett** · 02-03-2014, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carol H

...but often the plows themselves will slow right down and sometimes move slightly over totally expecting you to pass them, even when you may not particularly wanting to!

I find they will do this more on windy roads, and if conditions are poor. In a situation like in this video, I find they tend to just keep going, expecting you to pass when the opportunity affords so. I imagine it all depends on the individual plow operator.

Briantb · 02-03-2014, 08:18 PM

The trucker says if he had braked any harder his trailer would have jackknifed and it would have been worse..
It happened about an hour East of Thunder Bay on the Trans Canada Highway