Posted on 08/21/2006 6:50:52 PM PDT by SJackson
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation trumpeted it as good news.
Accidents involving big trucks on our state's roads and highways declined in 2005.
In fact, the State Patrol's Bureau of Transportation Safety said that the 7,762 truck crashes during the last year represented the lowest number in 16 years. Just 10 years ago, large truck crashes totaled more than 9,400, it said.
The number of people killed in crashes involving semis and other large trucks in 2005 was 94, the fewest since 1992, when 90 people perished in such collisions.
State Patrol Capt. Chuck Teasdale credited the better numbers to the patrol's "extensive safety inspections" and "close monitoring of drivers."
"Traffic law enforcement is another key component because it focuses on truck drivers' decisions and behaviors that often cause crashes," he said. "We also are working with trucking companies and organizations to educate drivers about safety issues."
Frankly, we could all use some good news about the growing dangerous mix of passenger cars and ever-more-powerful semis on the roads. Only a few days ago, another tractor-trailer rammed into the rear of stopped traffic on the Beltline, the driver unable to bring its heavy load to a stop. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, although traffic was stopped dead on the busy Beltline for most of the morning.
Drivers on the Jersey Turnpike last week weren't as fortunate. Four people were killed and four more injured when a flatbed truck loaded with bricks slammed into stopped traffic. The truck wasn't able to stop. It pushed one car under the trailer of another truck, killing three of the four people in it. It then careered over a guard rail and overturned, spilling the bricks onto a second car, killing the woman who was driving it.
Now it's true that trucks don't always run into the rear of passenger cars and it's also true that many of the accidents are more the fault of the car drivers than of the truck drivers. Trouble is, the car drivers don't stand much of a chance in an encounter between the two.
And it's also true that the lethal mix of the two is becoming more volatile as the increase in the number of cars and the growth of the trucking industry continue unabated. We may have had a good year in 2005, but that's bound to change as the unhealthy mix of the two gets more severe.
The time will come when passenger cars and trucks will have to be separated, either through a redesign of our national highway system or encouraging even more use of railroad rights of way.
Congratulations to the State Patrol for a good year, but don't hold your breath for the future.
Hi Chi Minh trail. UGH!
Ho, not hi.
Oh, Dave, you tired old Communist!
How about asking your pal Governor Doyle why he stole nearly $700 MILLION from the Wisconsin Transportation Fund last year to "balance" the budget?
Maybe if the DOT was allowed the funding to manage the roads properly, add a few more lanes here and there, traffic wouldn't be a problem!
What? "Progressive Dane" won't allow any more roads in our county? Well, THAT'S progressive. *Rolleyes*
From their creed:
* Develop affordable, available and accessible multimodal public transportation plans along with an implementation budget; avoid service cutbacks and fare increases in existing public transportation; support subsidies for elderly, disabled, and low-income residents using public transportation.
* Expand pedestrian and bicycle routes
* Avoid major new highway construction, including construction of a North Beltline
* Provide incentives for all county employees to use public transportation, carpooling, biking or walking to get to work; the county should further establish a purchasing pool with county-funded agencies to purchase reduced-fare Metro bus passes for employees
http://www.prodane.org/about_us/county_platform/#Land
Now, everyone get back into your shoebox sized high density compartment apartments and don't even THINK about traveling anywhere other than by foot, bicycle or bus back and forth to work so you can pay your taxes to Mother Government.
Truckers are an easy target. Morons try to bounce of them all the time. 98% or more are good professionals, amking their living on the road, while some ditz in her excursion, who has never really driven anything bigger than a schwinn 10-speed tries to feed her kids while popping in a fresh dvd, do her makeup and finish a call to sally decides to get off at the next exit (50 yards ahead)from the far left lane right infront of a o'weight permit-loaded truck.
They people who complain about trucks the loudest are generally the worst drivers.
I recently drove my Dodge PU across country (I-40) pulling a 38 foot enclosed trailer filled with motorcycles. I-40 in Tenn and OK. should be blasted and repaved. It is impossible to drive in a straight line with all those ruts worn into the roads there.
There is no amount of money anyone could pay me to drive an 18 wheeler. My hats are off to you guys (and gals) who do that for a living.
totally agree about the dangers of our wonderful multispeed highways. the majority problems i have encountered on highways comes from the fact that trucks need to go 55. makes merging from the cloverleafs in lansing a real pain.
Thank you for understanding.
Everyday when I leave for work in the morning I kiss & hug my wife & kids, knowing that the odds of having a fatal accident in my profession are higher than most people.
I've always thought that was a great idea, and even more so lately. (Oddly enough, they do this in Caracas, Venezuela -- and did it well before Chavez, thank you.)
Here in South Florida, there are an awful lot of trucks who get right into the left lane on six-lane highways and stay there in heavy, bumper-to-bumper/stop-and-go rush hour traffic. (There are few, if any, restrictions on trucks in the left lanes here.) As you note, they are slow to accelerate, which makes traffic even worse when it is stop-and-go (that is, where it will drop down to 5-10 mph and then suddenly speed up to 35-45 and then slow down again). Some of them tailgate, which is terrifying.
I would love to see a no-trucks-in-left-lane-EVER rule on six or more lane highways and no trucks EVER during rush hour on highways in urban areas. Those highways are used overwhelmingly for commuting, not for delivering goods.
See my post# 53 earlier in the thread. I can count on one hand the unprofessional truckers I've witnessed in the past thirty years. I'd need a calculator to track the number of insane car drivers I've seen in the past week!
~ Blue Jays ~
No trucks allowed on the roads during rush hour?
Can we park them in your driveway?
Think about it...where do you park all those rigs while they have to stay off the road?
"I would love to see a no-trucks-in-left-lane-EVER rule on six or more lane highways and no trucks EVER during rush hour on highways in urban areas. Those highways are used overwhelmingly for commuting, not for delivering goods."
______________________________________________________________
Why is it that the guys who are on the job already, most of whom do not get any extra pay for getting stuck in traffic, should be banned from the highways until you get to and from work?
Kick us off the highways and your local city streets will be a mess. We can't manuver very well around the city.
But YOU can. Maybe you should be banned from the highway during rush hour, and let us guys rolling the economy forward do our jobs a little easier.
Think man think. Think with your head, not your selfish, impatient heart.
Wrong. Maybe we've seen the accidents involving semis. Often the driver isn't at fault; sometimes it's unexpected road construction, a low bridge, a nitwit who cuts him off, etc., but the accidents are spectacular and often lethal.
Trucks are, by their nature, extremely dangerous. I try to stay as far away from them as I can get, but when you've got a line of 15 blocking your entrance ramp it's very difficult.
No, I'm not!
Dude, you forgot the sarc tag - don't you think apack might be a girl who has a female friend, rather than a philanderer?
95% of fatalities involving trucks is the CAR's fault. Sitting up in a cab, watching the four wheeler scurry around you, and I cannot tell you how comical is is to watch, like little spoiled rotten brats getting in line for candy. That is EXACTLY what it looks like from above!!
I cannot tell you how many times cars have been behind me, cannot wait 3 seconds for their turn off to come, so they race around me, cut in front of me and then hit their brakes to make the exit. This happens 100,017 times a day out on the big road.... and we are maniacs!! LOL... gimmie a break!!
Cars on the road resent truckers, because we need to gain speed to make it up the next hill, they stay out in the hammer lane(That trucker is not going to pass me!!) talking on the cell phone, oblivious to the elements of physics.
Without trucks, you would parish....
I was frankly surprised at how bad the roads in California are getting. They were once the best. I drove down to the Bay Area last month, and I-5 was really rough in a lot of spots.
I agree - I see pleny of insane auto drivers.
Folks just need to understand - Semis have a right of way based on physics. Teey can't stop, accelerate or manuever as quickly as a car. In nautical terms they are the "privledged vessel" and have the right-of-way.
I never could understand why the feds didn't invest more in trains and rail travel back in the "gas crisis" of the 70's. If they would have, we would all have light/fast rail travel by now, an alternative to both automobile and airline travel. Peanuthead Cah-tah was president -- oh, never mind -- I just answered my own question!
(BTW -- I agree with you about the I70-I71 intersection. Scares the bejeebers out of me, so I try to avoid it when I am in Columbus. We used to live in Westerville.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.