Semi Hits College Van, Killing 5 (and solution to the problem)

CNN.com ^ | Thursday April 27 | AP

[arthurus]

what about gravel roads in the country are those of us that do more than travel in major population areas going to have to have two cars?

Try that again. If you proofread it before you post it maybe you will change the word order or the words or something and it will make sense.

[Flightdeck]

"The fact that it is not being done is ipso facto evidence that it would require the consumption of greater resources than the present system,"

I guess I won't start up that small business I was planning. It doesn't exist yet, therefore it must not work.

[azhenfud]

I know, I used the most extreme case, with the worst of carriers - my bad. I've gotten only one or two packages through UPS where it was a miracle the contents stayed contained within. Prolly the carton damage was more attributable to the packager and type of contents than the actual carrier, though...

[gas0linealley]

"The highway on which this accident occurred is four lane concrete, limited access, straight and flat."

ahh, made for sleeping.

[sticker]

Excuse me for not having an being an English major:

What about gravel roads in the country? Will those of us that drive outside of major population centers be required to have two types of transportation units.

Does this meet you requirements or would you care to diagram my post to reflect the correct structure?

[Crispus Attucks Patriot]

[arthurus]

Where did you get that from? I presume the relevant people are continuously looking at such problems to discern opportunities. Thus far no opportunity has been seen.If you see an opportunity and a profitible way to engage it then go for it. You're not going to do it? That must be perversity on your part. Are you saying that American businessmen are just too stupid to see what is so plain to you? If they are so stupid then just how do you suppose they are going to build a high order system such as you propose?

[Corin Stormhands]

ping for prayers for the Taylor College Community.

[sticker]

Should have said: Excuse me for not having been an English major

[arthurus]

I didn't mean an insult. I honestly couldn't discern your meaning. That you rearranged it to make it perfectly lucid indicates haste on your part, not lack of ability.

[RedStateRocker]

Simple solution.
Drivers licenses should be HARDER to get than pilots licenses. If you couldn't do a nighttime landing on an aircraft carrier, do not understand at least college level physics and cannot read any sign known to humankind in under one second you should not be allowed to drive.
Drivers should be retested at six month intervals, with a program pretty much equivalent to that of the Mercury astronauts.
If they couldn't race in NASCAR or qualify to fly the space shuttle a person should not be in control of 5000lbs of mass moving in close proximity to innocent people. It is a privilege, not a right. Blame the drivers, not the roads. Cell phone users, music listeners and coffee drinkers should get the Rodney King tratement.

[blue-duncan]

"ping for prayers for the Taylor College Community."

Is Taylor still a strong Methodist College? Way back when, this was one of the Colleges I was looking at. I seem to remember that Sammy Morris had a connection with the school.

[Mr. Lucky]

That was my thought. The semi-driver was northbound, which means he had been out in the country for about an hour and a half. It's tough even to pick up a radio station on that stretch of road.

[eastforker]

Boy you are gonna have the funeral directors lobby all over your ass!

[Smokin' Joe]

If you want to reduce highway fatalities, start using the nomenclature the NTSB uses for aircraft crashes.

Quit calling the majority of wrecks "accidents" and lay attribution to "operator error", mechanical failure, etc.

If someone in a Cessna whipped through the traffic pattern at a major airport and tried to land in front of a 747 on final, (sort of analogous to a Geo Metro cutting off a semi on an off ramp), you would not call it an "accident".

[Flightdeck]

In the original post, I clearly outlined a few reasons why it is unfeasible at this point. I also don't know why you and a few others are apparently so angry at the mere suggestion of such a system. For instance, your argument that this is somehow a communist idea. Are you raising hell about taxes paying for our current road system?

[Final Authority]

The correct solution is much simpler. Presently, drivers are allowed to drive legally 11 hours straight (I think) at one would assume the speed limit. They do not however, they drive much longer hours and at higher speeds, they just offer false documentation to highway patrols.

The solution, and truckers are vehemently opposed, is to require tachygraphs on every truck. A tachygraph records time and speed and is prima facia evidence on inspection. The tachygraph can be digital or electromechanical. It can transmit back to the terminal in the case of fleet trucks (but they use GPS presently anyway, but GPS is not evidential). The problem is independents who drive 18 hours a day at speeds over 75 mph. They cause the deaths, not the drivers for UPS, WalMart, and the big fleet operators.

[metesky]

I see, so these are not tragedies?

I never said they weren't tragedies, of course they are.

They are preventable.

I never said that either. They are accidents. Look it up.

Well, in that case, never mind.

You double the statistical realities and then try to slam me for pointing it out? How liberal of you.

Adding a gratuitous slam at the end does nothing for your point.

What was your point anyway? You made a proposition and then proceeded to demolish it on economic grounds. Why bother at all?

[kanawa]

I'm leaning more towards trebuchets...

There has been some research and testing...here and here.

[xzins]

Taylor used to run a program called "Wandering Wheels" that took youth groups on bus and/or bike trips all over the country. Our church used them a few times (way back when I was a youth pastor). They were awesome, with wonderful Christian credentials, and responsible each time for steering the kids into an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

God's blessings on them.

It did have Methodist origins, but is now interdenominational.