Posted on 05/17/2023 3:25:01 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. -- A huge turtle and a man trying to be a hero caused a multi-car crash in Florida on Tuesday, according to Walton County Sheriff's Office.
It happened around 6:45 in the morning on Highway 331 in the Florida Panhandle.
Dash camera from an 18-wheeler caught the whole thing on video. The 18-wheeler is driving down the divided four-lane highway when it quickly comes up on several stopped and slowing cars.
The 18-wheeler cannot stop in time. It veers off the side of the road and then back onto the road where it collides with several of the cars.
Nobody was seriously injured in the crash, but there were multiple minor injuries and significant damage done to some of the cars.
In the dash cam video you can see a man standing in the road, just outside of his Silverado truck. He came to a complete stop in the fast lane -- something investigators strongly advise against doing.
He told deputies he stopped to save a massive snapping turtle trying to cross the road
"It was a mess. The northbound and southbound lanes are blocked. There's a flatbed truck, he's across the median in both lanes," Walton County Sheriff's Deputy Connor Gunn said.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc11.com ...
He identified as a Ferrari.
Under ideal conditions, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the agency that regulates interstate trucking, calculates the stopping distance of semi-trucks vs. cars as follows: A normal passenger vehicle traveling at a speed of 65 miles per hour would take about 316 feet to stop. For a fully-loaded commercial truck, the stopping distance of it running at 65 miles per hour is about 525 feet.
That gray car cut in front of the truck at point blank range and gave him no time to stop even if it was a passenger vehicle. The truck couldn’t have had more than about 100 feet to react and brake at best. That is half of what a passenger vehicle requires. Trucker didn’t have a chance. The estimated breaking distance for a passenger vehicle at 65 is approximately 212.5 feet.
And if the gray car had been observing the traffic and driving with a reasonable distance behind the car if front of him, he wouldn’t have had to change lanes.
wy69
A democrat, no doubt.
Truck drivers fault. He should’ve been prepared to stop and driving in such a manner to be able to stop. Absolutely his fault 100%.
You win The Interwebz for the rest of the year.
Have you seen the size of some of these turtles? Hitting that turtle is speed could’ve killed people. You did the right thing, just bad circumstances, and an inattentive and speeding truck driver.
A tortoise. What’s that?
Here’s the video without the talking: https://www.foxnews.com/video/6327681827112
I agree with the others here who said the gray car caused the accident.
Sometimes cars stop on the highway. You have to be ready to stop.
A semi might have trouble stopping in time, but not the gray car.
The driver of that gray car wasn’t driving a safe stopping distance and then cut off the semi.
There’s no shortage of idiots and dumbasses on the roads.
I do roadside mowing for my local highway department. I am supported by two flaggers that cover my 6 and 12. I concentrate on my job, so I don’t witness much of anything. However, the back chatter on the radio between those two is damned scary from what they deal with.
I would have to agree. Since temporarily coming back to Maryland to start a new job, I have resolved to never complain about Florida drivers.
On some roads in South Georgia, there are signs that indicate turtle crossings and some may think they advise to stop for turtles in the road. They read something such as “Be careful as turtles cross highway”. If the turtle was in my lane, I would navigate so to go over it with tires on either side. If the turtle was on the edges of my lane, I would swerve slightly as needed, reasonable, but safe to avoid crushing the turtle.
However, in heavy traffic, with everyone going a 60 plus speed limit, I would NOT stop suddenly to avoid crushing the turtle. I certainly wouldn’t swerve into another vehicle and risk killing another person in order to save a turtle! Stuff happens. The turtle should have waited until after rush-hour to go to where ever he/she/it was going.
That is so true. You should always be able to stop in time by following a safe distance behind.
I agree with you that we should always maintain a safe distance. I do that. But you cannot do that when a car suddenly darts a few feet in front of you and slams on the brakes.
That’s completely different; if that was what happened then the pickup driver bears full responsibility. From what I had read in the comments there wad no reference to any vehicle darting in front of the semi driver.
It’s in the video.
Addendum to previous comment; while none of this was referenced in the comments prior to my comment, there are two full-blown idiots in that video - semi driver was in NO WAY at fault in this accident.
Personally, I would have corn-holed that gray car if it was me in the truck.
I agree. The semi driver was keeping a safe distance from the car ahead of him, before the grey car pulled directly in the path of the semi without leaving a safe distance between it and the semi. The semi driver was clearly not at fault.
Right you are but apparently several previous posters did not view the video. The driver of the gray vehicle made a highly unsafe lane change, likely never looking to see if there was another vehicle approaching in that lane. There was no way that the trucker could have stopped but he would have been able to come to a safe stop if the gray car driver had not pulled directly in front of him. I expect that after viewing the video, the insurance companies will find the driver of the gray auto at fault.
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