Cut Off Trucker Slams On Truck Brakes; Load Shifts
Happening more often these days, a four-wheeler cut off a truck.
The trucker had but one of two choices:
either slam on the brakes- or let the two vehicles collide.
In this case, the trucker chose to slam on the truck brakes to avoid what could have been dubbed as a preventable accident -- even though there were numerous eye-witnesses that say it would have been four-wheeler's fault.
This was indeed a close call that could have resulted in a fatality.
Unfortunately, the situation was not without its casualties.
In the process of slamming on the brakes, numerous things happened:
- the load on the flatbed shifted;
- some of the freight within bundles on the flatbed shifted, breaking bundle straps;
- load straps holding the freight on the flatbed broke; and
- the headerboard [or header board] on the front of the flatbed trailer was damaged.
The photos below show that the damage was extensive.
Obviously, if the trucker had to slam on the brakes that hard, it's a good thing that the brakes worked correctly, the truck didn't flip and the load wasn't lost.
Photo Gallery of Truck and Load Damaged During Hard Braking
Photo showing damaged header
board, shifted freight, broken bundle
straps and broken load straps after a trucker slams on brakes to avoid
collision with four-wheeler who cut him off.
Photo showing shifted
freight, broken bundle straps and broken load
straps after trucker braked truck hard to avoid cut off collision with
car.
Photo showing extent of
shifted freight when trucker slammed on brakes
to avoid collision with car that cut off lane change.
Top bundle of freight
shifted and broke bundle straps when trucker
braked hard to avoid accident in close call with car.
Damaged header board, broken
bundle straps, broken load straps and
shifted freight on flatbed trailer after close call with car that cut
off truck.
Shifted freight and broken
header board on flatbed trailer after close
call with car that cut off truck.
Extent of damage to
headerboard when trucker slammed on brakes to avoid
accident with driver of car that cut him off.
Judgment Call
When the driver of this truck came back into the terminal, other drivers for the same company expressed different opinions regarding what they would have done in the same situation.
At least two drivers said they would have let the car hit the trucks they were driving.
Obviously, if weather conditions had been different, the outcome of this situation could have been vastly different, too.
There is only so much that a trucker can do to avoid an accident.
When we were in truck driver training school, our instructor told us that in situations like this to "get some paint" from the other vehicle.
We don't know if that advice is suitable in all situations.
Lest you think that this was all the trucker's fault, here is...
Video Footage of Cars Getting Too Close to Trucks
The following video shows that a four-wheeler got so close to the rear of a truck that part of the car's front bumper was ripped off.
The following video shows that a four-wheeler cut off a truck so closely that the car flipped around sideways in the road and ended up being pushed down the road by the truck in the rain.
Money saving tip:
Some drivers of four-wheeled vehicles seem to
delight in deliberately baiting truck drivers to try to get them in
awkward situations that could result in an accident.
Others seem genuinely ignorant of the danger they cause through their actions.
Drive defensively. Avoid accidents where you can. Also, try to avoid wrecking your truck.
Install a truck cam in your truck to capture footage to protect yourself.
Return from Cut Off Trucker Slams On Truck Brakes, Load Shifts to our Truck Operations page or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.
