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.
Calling Diana's mower post and rainsing a semi.
A second interstate system, a wonderful, progressive, idea.
This is becoming a necessity as there are some Interstates so populated by maniacal truck drivers I won't even use them
How about separating all of us from the arrogant slobs driving the big trucks, and not trying to blame a problem on an inanimate object?
"A second interstate system, a wonderful, progressive, idea."
I hope you're joking.
Here's one for ya when you get home Thursday...
I-81 through Pennsylvania is the worst highway for trucks that I know of. From Scranton to the Mason/Dixon line (or Waffle House/Dunkin Donuts line for you modern people), it is white-knuckle all the way.
We went thru Chicago, up thru Michigan and back down thru Wisconsin last week. I literally found myself holding my breath while next to some of these trucks. Some stray over the line, almost hitting vehicles. Others change lanes without signals. It is frightening.
The railroad tracks run parallel to I-94 through southern Michigan, a freeway where 1 in 5 vehicles are trucks. There are times of day where I feel like I'm playing a dangerous game of horizontal Tetris because of the semis.
There have been numerous attempts to create a railroad depot near Detroit that would alleviate a LOT of the congestion and help with our rotten economy, but it's being stopped by NIMBY mindsets...and that doesn't include environmental worryworts.
My girlfriend was flashed by a pervert trucker and she had her kids with her
However she go t the license # and company name and when she got home she told her hubby and he called the company and read them the riot act and the trucker got fired
How do you propose to do that?
As long as only registered progressives are taxed to pay for it, I guess it's OK with me. Probably destroy a lot of frog and burrowing owl habitat though. They won't like that.
Every truck in the country should be equipped with a governor to limit them to 55 mph. Until the cops are willing to demand that, they are just blowing smoke. They would rather raise revenue than solve the problem.
A governor sounds good to me, as long as cars have them too. (And don't forget the crotch rockets)
Truckers pull out right in front of you without even looking
If they wanna get over you better move or end up a casualty!
Governors don't drive tucks. Some of them, like former Democratic Governor/Inmate Dan here in Illinois, walk instead. I'm surprised at the animosity toward truckers.
How many times have you been hit by trucks?
There's a problem with that. On a two-lane freeway (such as the infamous I-94 Michigan/Chicago route), semis are limited to 55mph in a 70mph passenger car zone. These trucks come up on a vehicle doing 55 or less (think old woman in huge car or environmentalist wacko in tiny Honda), then pass using the speed lane. Drivers in the passing lane have to slam on their brakes, slowing traffic at best or having an accident at the worst. They then must wait for the semi to pass the slow-moving vehicle, then swing back into the slow lane. This is not only very irritating, it's downright dangerous. I-94 is heavily watched by the state police. Semis have been snagged avoiding the weigh station by driving (illegally) through the streets of my small town. While I've got sympathy for truckers, especially through construction zones, they are a hazard just as much as the speeding idiot in the Jaguar. There's talk of raising the speed limit for semis to 60mph. While it makes me cringe, it could allow for smoother traffic flow, not to mention ease in merging with traffic when entering the freeway. 9 times out of ten when I try to get on I-94 there will be a semi in the slow lane, getting ready to exit into the rest area. I'm getting very good at taking back roads.
Yeah, Ok... maybe fine for down in the flatlands... but I dare you to try and shove a governed truck over one of the mountain passes out here in the west... Not fun.
Bruce
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