Truck slams into RV on I-75 Florida

[rockhillmanor]

MICANOPY — "One person was killed and six others injured Friday afternoon when a tractor-trailer veered off Interstate 75 and struck a band’s RV, which had pulled off the highway with a flat tire."

"The FHP was still investigating Friday evening. So far, troopers believe that the RV and the van, which was pulling the enclosed trailer, had pulled off southbound I-75 onto the west shoulder. The van and the RV were traveling together. The RV had a flat tire, so both vehicles pulled off the highway.

The truck driver, for unknown reasons, veered off I-75 and struck the RV, which caught fire, the patrol said."

Witness interviewed said the carnage was too horrible to describe. Debris and blood all over. The pictures show nothing left of the RV.
http://www.gainesville.com/news/20170714/truck-slams-into-adrenaline-mobs-rv-on-i-75

IMHO, and I see it all the time on the road with my MH, those darn semi's are always smoking down I-75 over the speed limit. And the cops never stop them. Maybe now they will start. There should have been no reason for him to hit that RV if he was doing the speed limit and slowing down for a vehicle pulled on the shoulder. Just saying but I see it everyday I get on the interstates. Of course the truck driver survived and... "The truck driver declined comment to a reporter." 😞

[mike-s]

JaxDad wrote:
The Provincial Police have become very good at 'educating' truckers, $110 at a time, that the law in Ontario requires that they leave no less than 180 feet between them and the vehicle they are following.

Do they also ticket other vehicles which pull in less than 180 feet in front of them?

[JaxDad]

drsteve wrote:

ChuckV1 wrote:
Lets see, making trucker stay to right will block off exit since they all will be in the right lane, then you will ***** because they are blocking the lanes to get off ...

If the truckers leave a safe distance between the guy in front of them, that won't happen. Of course, a lot of truckers seem to think there's no reason to do that, so in that case they would cause a traffic problem.

Southern Ontario has the busiest section of highway in North America, it's also the fastest & easiest E/W route.

The Provincial Police have become very good at 'educating' truckers, $110 at a time, that the law in Ontario requires that they leave no less than 180 feet between them and the vehicle they are following.

That is not only a safe distance but it leaves lots of room for other vehicles to move back and forth between lanes.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

I'm still trying to figure out what speed has to do with running in back of an RV which is parked on the side of the road.

Oh, that's right; nothing! :R

[TNGW1500SE]

I'd rather run down the road with the truckers than some of the RV drivers I've seen. Most of the trucks seem to be well maintained and the drivers have to be "qualified" to drive. RV drivers, on the other hand, just get behind the wheel and there's no vehicle inspections. I've also found most truck drivers are more courteous to RV's than the cars are.

[azrving]

chuckm99 wrote:
There's a HUGE difference between RVs and Semi's: Millions of trucks on the highways and thousands of RVs. More trucks, more opportunity for mayhem. How often do you read in the paper "RV plows into car killing a bunch of folks"? Rarely, very rarely. Not so with trucks, happens all the time.

There's a HUGE difference between Cars and Semi's: Trucks weigh 10 to 15 times as much as cars. Harder to stop, maneuver, etc. Do more damage when the hit anything.

No offense meant to the safe-minded truck drivers who have spoken up on this topic. I am not sure that anyone blames ALL truck drivers, but every time I am on the highway, (and I am out there a lot) I see lots of bad actors behind the wheel of trucks. Not all truck drivers but a lot of them, enough to cause me to try to avoid them as much as possible.

Here in Georgia, they have been talking (politicians do that very well!!) about building a "rail to truck" depot in north GA, near TN. They plan to load containers off ships in Savannah onto rail cars, then load them off the rail cars onto trucks. Supposed to reduce the number of trucks through GA significantly. Won't help TN though....

Regards.

Chuck

Anybody noticed Buffett in Ga and at the white house? 🙂

[chuckm99]

There's a HUGE difference between RVs and Semi's: Millions of trucks on the highways and thousands of RVs. More trucks, more opportunity for mayhem. How often do you read in the paper "RV plows into car killing a bunch of folks"? Rarely, very rarely. Not so with trucks, happens all the time.

There's a HUGE difference between Cars and Semi's: Trucks weigh 10 to 15 times as much as cars. Harder to stop, maneuver, etc. Do more damage when the hit anything.

No offense meant to the safe-minded truck drivers who have spoken up on this topic. I am not sure that anyone blames ALL truck drivers, but every time I am on the highway, (and I am out there a lot) I see lots of bad actors behind the wheel of trucks. Not all truck drivers but a lot of them, enough to cause me to try to avoid them as much as possible.

Here in Georgia, they have been talking (politicians do that very well!!) about building a "rail to truck" depot in north GA, near TN. They plan to load containers off ships in Savannah onto rail cars, then load them off the rail cars onto trucks. Supposed to reduce the number of trucks through GA significantly. Won't help TN though....

Regards.

Chuck

[fireman41]

I've had plenty of cars try and take the front bumper off of semi truck.


I have also passed my share of RVs that set in the left lane doing 60 mph.

I'm sorry that some of my fellow drivers are pigs and ********. But you know some of the RVers out here are not much better.

[spoon059]

marcsbigfoot20b27 wrote:
Im just curious as how does a car "cut off" a semi truck?

If the car is passing a semi on the left and then gets in the same lane, who gives a **** as long as they aren't slowing down.....usually they are passing a slower truck.

I've seen plenty of times that some clown is bee-bopping down the highway in the left lane, then realizes that their exit is coming out. They slam on brakes and dart across 4 lanes of traffic, cutting off anyone in their way. I've seen this happen to OTR trucks on many occasions, though I have thankfully never witnessed a wreck as the result of it.

There are plenty of poor drivers across the board. Without specific knowledge of each individual wreck, it is asinine to make assumptions based upon vehicle type.

[Dave_H_M]

I get a kick out of the pee bottle comments. I drove a semi for a few years but could never figure out the art of filing that bottle. :h

now that would be an interesting direction for this thread. :W

I think it is urban legend. :B

now back to the OP, what in the hey did this thread accomplish?

[drsteve]

ChuckV1 wrote:
Lets see, making trucker stay to right will block off exit since they all will be in the right lane, then you will ***** because they are blocking the lanes to get off ...

If the truckers leave a safe distance between the guy in front of them, that won't happen. Of course, a lot of truckers seem to think there's no reason to do that, so in that case they would cause a traffic problem.

I see this **** all the time, on I-94 between Detroit and Chicago in southern MI. Truckers clogging the left lane trying to pass, truckers tailgating each other in the right lane so they can pretend they got 'em a convoy, people in cars trying to get around them... One day last summer I watched a truck in the left lane have TWO blowouts on the trailer in heavy traffic. Gators, brake lights and cars swerving all over the road. It's a miracle there was no pileup.

The solution is a third lane, but that'll never happen--our politicians won't even fix the roads we have, much less improve them. A ban on low quality retreads wouldn't hurt either.

[mike-s]

ChuckV1 wrote:
The 1st day they put the tuck on the road the troopers couldn't keep up, they wrote 130 tickets in 4 hours. The next day the wrote another 130 tickets in 2 hours, the were only working a 10 mile
stretch ...

I call BS. 1 truck, and issuing 1 ticket every 1-2 minutes? In the first place, the road would have to be overflowing with cop cars. In the second, it would be immediately obvious to driver's what's going on.

[down_home]

ChuckV1 wrote:

down home wrote:
I'm not sure over what period of time this problem evolved to the severity we witness these days.
A stretch of I24 in Tn to I59 in Ga, and on to I75 it is not uncommon for two to three wrecks and more a week all involving semis.
They are constantly replacing guardrails. Quite often you can see them cleaning up loads of produce or other contents.
The problem sees to start on I40 in Arkansas, with semis micro passing and blocking traffic in left lanes and playing games.
Weaving to the extreme of causing other vehicles to jam on the brakes or head for the shoulders etc. You can see many of the Drivers on their cell phones, illegal if you can get to pass them.
In Oklahoma you don't see as much of the problem. The signs on both sides of the lanes says illegal to block traffic in left lane. They fine Truck Drivers and others squatting in that lane.
In Tn and Ga and so on flashing your lights is to no avail, even though Tn passed a law making it illegal to block traffic in the left lane of three lane roads, or some such language.
The traffic load of semis is enormous now that nothing is produced locally or even regionally. It is shipped fro the coasts and redistribution centers, accounting for the massive warehouses along some stretches of Interstates.
Reducing traffic load can be accomplished with more roads and maintaining higher speeds.
Higher speeds increases the loads or number of vehicles that the road can carry.
The effect of semis blocking traffic, leapfrogging governed speeds of 65 or 68 mph and prohibiting traffic from maintaining the flow is causing an enormous number of accidents,deaths, road rage, and other huge economic and society costs.
Simply requiring Truckers to keep right will positively affect a reduction in numbers of incidents, including wrecks, death and perhaps the number of "gators" themselves causing billions in vehicle damages and many deaths.

If you flash your light to an old truck driver it means your safe to come over ...

Lets see, making trucker stay to right will block off exit since they all will be in the right lane, then you will ***** because they are blocking the lanes to get off ...

Maybe you should take a ride with a trucker, just might change your mind about them... In Washington State the DOT painted a trailer stating do not pull in front of truck's within 5 yards or you will get a ticket. The 1st day they put the tuck on the road the troopers couldn't keep up, they wrote 130 tickets in 4 hours. The next day the wrote another 130 tickets in 2 hours, the were only working a 10 mile
stretch ...

One other thing that really get me mad is that road sign state that the right or left lane is closed 1 or 2 miles ahead, I always move to the lane that is open, not the other 100 cars that pass me clogging that is close and wanting people to give them a brake as if a few secomds will make a difference in the lives ... An yes i am one of those truckers that will block a lane to get traffic back to flowing an making you wait an merge like you should have a mile back instead of trying to be number one. I will also do it with my 5th wheel when out on the road, if you all would merge like your suppose to then traffic would flow, but a bunch of h^& (*e A657s always want to 1st ...

End of rant, drive a mile in my shoes for 3 million miles accident free an you won't wine about trucks any more 🙂

Flashing your lights at a slow vehicle in the left land is proper protocol to get them to move over. It doesn't work for most semi.
drivers, these days.
I probably have 3,000,000 miles in over sixty years and have noticed a lot of changing trends.
I have flashed over a young woman in a Avalon, I think who promptly called the Hiway Patrol after moving over and then zooming up behind me close enough to read the small print, so to speak. She had beeen taking notes on a pad on her steering wheel whie talking on the cell phone and built a long line of traffic mostly semis behind me, going up a slight grade. She was also weaving all over both lanes.
The trend now and the view was reinforced on return from west this month. Saw four semi wrecks, one having occured hours before, they were using a front end loader to remove tomatoes.
Wife was nervous wreck, she was driving. Semis playing leapfrog all across Arkansas from Ft Smith. Very few autos or other vehicles.
They pulled outwith signaling to micro pass another semi or several at less than speed limit. It is not much of any easier to stop the Mh, in a panic stop or sow down. Had to do it many times.
As I reported in previous post we avoid I24 and I75 and I65 as much as possible. The stretch of I 24 near here, is blocked 90% of the time, to the point we always go around old roads even in to Al, Ga and up old 41 thought Chikamaka Battlefield.
Kids set in traffic last year for over 7 hours due to two semis in a wreck near 165er mile mark.
They are constantly replacing jersey barriers along the 20 miles stretch from semi caused wrecks, usually semis only.
I have had to repair our and sons car the times from Gators thrown as we were moving, and The deductibles mount up.
I understand the state spends over a half million a year, in casual conversation or heresay, cleaning gators from the Interstates and the total in loses, in wrecks exceed several million dollars not to mention lives lost. I witnessed a gator from left outside trailer take a Harly Rider into the median and kill him. Truck kept on going.
I saw a truck throw a tread in N Ga and destroy the front end of a older Pontiac and into the wall in the median.
Saw an older couple in a Buick from Ohio hit a gator in the left lane causing them to go into the media spinning the car and destroying it. The wife had to be taken to the hospital.
And... just about every eratic Semi we see now is not from sleepliness but they are talking and texting, when we mange to get past them.
There have been eight rigs go into the ramps this year so far on Monteagle that I know of.
Problems are not all Drivers but companies and so on.
I am familiar with many or most of the problems as I insured several trucking companies and their Drivers in the eighties and nineties.
i spent too long here already.

[drsteve]

ChuckV1 wrote:

This problem of passing another truck which take so long is beacuse your government safety conceal and DOT has and is still trying to limit all trucks to 68mph, most large trucking carries have already done such an have limited their truck to that ... So the mext time you are blocked but a semi like Swift, Knight, England, Roadway/yellow write your congressman an camplain they ar limiting speeds ;(

No... that problem is caused by knucklehead truckers who have zero respect for other drivers, and don't care if they cause traffic backups, road rage, and possibly even accidents, as long as they can reach their destination 3 minutes more quickly.

[marcsbigfoot20b]

ChuckV1 wrote:

marcsbigfoot20b27 wrote:
Im just curious as how does a car "cut off" a semi truck?

If the car is passing a semi on the left and then gets in the same lane, who gives a **** as long as they aren't slowing down.....usually they are passing a slower truck.

Now if we are talking about being in the right lane and taking a left lane "cutting off" a semi that is passing them, then I see that point.

However its mostly the semis that do the cutting off of cars, just to pass another semi at a 1/2 mph delta that takes minutes, blocking the road.
They see you coming and move over right in front of you and you actually have to hit the brakes.

If you pull in front of a truck lets say one or two car lengths an blow a steer tire or even a rear tire how fast do you think that truck can stop, do the math, car maybe 4000pds at best, truck maybe 70, 000 or more, how fast do you think that truck can stop between those to car lengths before it hits you ... The trucker has one of two options, hit you or take the ditch, I will tell you he or she will take the ditch to save you backside because he or she has a family as well ...

This problem of passing another truck which take so long is beacuse your government safety conceal and DOT has and is still trying to limit all trucks to 68mph, most large trucking carries have already done such an have limited their truck to that ... So the mext time you are blocked but a semi like Swift, Knight, England, Roadway/yellow write your congressman an camplain they ar limiting speeds ;(

I understand and agree with that, but out of all the passes you have made in your life, how many times have you passed a semi, been 1-2 car lengths ahead and blown a tire?
Come on...