Humboldt Broncos tragedy.

[Inferno]

I heard a rumor a while ago that he may have been texting during the time of the accident. It's not a reliable source so take it with a grain of salt.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by FireFly

He was going fast enough to push the bus all the way across the road. He wasn't just gearing up or the wreckage would've been further North instead of West.

I'm not a forensic expert, but isn't it possible that the truck was much heavier/more solid, and the bus could have cranked to the left as avoiding action, leading to where things ended up?

[dre]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

I'm not a forensic expert, but isn't it possible that the truck was much heavier/more solid, and the bus could have cranked to the left as avoiding action, leading to where things ended up?

The truck probably weighed 130,000 lbs.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Inferno

I heard a rumor a while ago that they discovered he was texting during the time of the accident.

Amazing how far my emotional pendulum swings on this. If it was somehow a legit accident, I feel really bad for the driver, and feel like he's already paying a huge price living with this. If he was texting, I want consecutive maximum sentencing and will gladly see my tax dollars keep him in prison forever.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Amazing how far my emotional pendulum swings on this. If it was somehow a legit accident, I feel really bad for the driver, and feel like he's already paying a huge price living with this. If he was texting, I want consecutive maximum sentencing and will gladly see my tax dollars keep him in prison forever.

I’m in the same boat as well. If he was blinded by the sun or something and didn’t see the stop sign then yeah, I’d probably let him off and just let him live with it.

But texting and driving is inexcusable. If something is really that urgent you can pull over and send the text. Although I don’t want to accuse him yet as these are just rumours.

[MarkGio]

Interesting how the RCMP mentioned examining impairment, log books and mentioned expectations of commercial drivers. I would be interested in knowing if this guy houred out.

I've been told that based on destination, time frame, and collision details, the driver was trying to get to his destination before it closed and blatantly plowed through the stop sign. I've been told many drivers roll the dice in the middle of nowhere when on tight schedules.

[MarkGio]

Originally Posted by Inferno

I heard a rumor a while ago that they discovered he was texting during the time of the accident.

Is there even cell coverage?

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

Is there even cell coverage?

It depends where you are. I know whenever I go to Winnipeg I can still get coverage for about 40 minutes and then it cuts out until I get close to another town.

[chockfullofgoodness]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

Interesting how the RCMP mentioned examining impairment, log books and mentioned expectations of commercial drivers. I would be interested in knowing if this guy houred out.

I've been told that based on destination, time frame, and collision details, the driver was trying to get to his destination before it closed and blatantly plowed through the stop sign. I've been told many drivers roll the dice in the middle of nowhere when on tight schedules.

That is terrifying, if true.

[dre]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

Interesting how the RCMP mentioned examining impairment, log books and mentioned expectations of commercial drivers. I would be interested in knowing if this guy houred out.

I've been told that based on destination, time frame, and collision details, the driver was trying to get to his destination before it closed and blatantly plowed through the stop sign. I've been told many drivers roll the dice in the middle of nowhere when on tight schedules.

I remember hearing that the owner said the driver took a different route or one that the owner never takes.
Of course this is pure speculation, but I think the driver realized that he took a wrong turn and was relying on his GPS. It's not like you can turn a truck with a set of super b's around like you can a car on a two lane highway. I think he was checking his GPS/phone when he came up to the intersection not knowing that it was a stop sign. Inexperienced driver unfortunately.

[Amethyst]

Yeah, I am of two minds as well. If the sun got in his eyes or he even just "missed" noticing it, I have a lot more sympathy for him. If he was texting, then I would lock him up and throw away the key.

I'm not familiar with that part of Saskatchewan, but I drive in other rural areas in Saskatchewan and have never been without cell coverage. Edited to add: Plus, the player whose parents lived nearby and wasn't seriously hurt found someone's cell phone in the wreckage and called home for help.

[Chingas]

There are too many new drivers on the road that quite frankly have no business being behind the wheel of a big truck. I had an encounter with one such driver that had no idea how to connect, disconnect or operate the jack on his trailer yet he was free to cruise down the highway along side cars full of families in a big truck doing 110 km an hour.

Really Scary stuff.

There are also plenty of good/experienced drivers as well so I don't want to paint them all with the same brush but our licensing system is broken at best. It is too easy to get a class one in Canada and there are numerous examples of corrupt licensing companies as well. Just recently a company that's name has escaped me was hit with large fines for basically selling licenses to fast track drivers into the road.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Chingas

There are too many new drivers on the road that quite frankly have no business being behind the wheel of a big truck. I had an encounter with one such driver that had no idea how to connect, disconnect or operate the jack on his trailer yet he was free to cruise down the highway along side cars full of families in a big truck doing 110 km an hour.

Really Scary stuff.

There are also plenty of good/experienced drivers as well so I don't want to paint them all with the same brush but our licensing system is broken at best. It is too easy to get a class one in Canada and there are numerous examples of corrupt licensing companies as well. Just recently a company that's name has escaped me was hit with large fines for basically selling licenses to fast track drivers into the road.

I think I mentioned earlier in this thread my neighbor is a DOT officer and he said long before this crash that over half the big rig drivers on the road couldn't pass a real road test.

[Wormius]

If it was a case or distracted driving or DUI wouldn’t that be one of the charges laid? On the other hand, if it was a “sun in the eyes” accident situation, why arrest him?

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Wormius

If it was a case or distracted driving or DUI wouldn’t that be one of the charges laid? On the other hand, if it was a “sun in the eyes” accident situation, why arrest him?

The collision happened around 5PM, while traveling west in April the sun would have been about 2 o'clock so zero chance "sun in the eyes" could be a real excuse to miss a flashing red stop sign. Until the rumors are real about the texting I'm going to go with what I said from the beginning.

He was in a hurry, couldn't see the bus threw the trees on his left and decided to blow threw the stop sign so he didn't have to shift another 18 gears to get up to speed again

[EldrickOnIce]

Are rigs like that always lojacked?
Like there is a chart or log kept?
Or is that at discretion of the company?

[Resolute 14]

Pretty sure logbooks are required by law.

[dre]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

Are rigs like that always lojacked?
Like there is a chart or log kept?
Or is that at discretion of the company?

Discretion of the company.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Pretty sure logbooks are required by law.

Geo-Data? (cookie crumbs) No that’s 2020.

Last December was USA. The trucking company might have it though.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Chingas

There are too many new drivers on the road that quite frankly have no business being behind the wheel of a big truck. I had an encounter with one such driver that had no idea how to connect, disconnect or operate the jack on his trailer yet he was free to cruise down the highway along side cars full of families in a big truck doing 110 km an hour.

Really Scary stuff.

There are also plenty of good/experienced drivers as well so I don't want to paint them all with the same brush but our licensing system is broken at best. It is too easy to get a class one in Canada and there are numerous examples of corrupt licensing companies as well. Just recently a company that's name has escaped me was hit with large fines for basically selling licenses to fast track drivers into the road.

All classes of licenses are way too easy too attain, but I can't believe how many terrible truck drivers I've encountered since moving east of the city, near the CN rail yard. Some of them are complete strugglers or else complete dickheads. I'll be cruising down the highway at the speed limit (trust me, you are unwise to speed around here) and a truck with a sea can will pull out right in front of me regularly.

Stuff like that is frustrating and dangerous. Most of the time when I'm on my little highway, there are very few vehicles. If I'm literally the only car coming, why the F do you pull out in front of me, causing me to brake hard, and proceed to take 90 seconds to get up to speed?

I guess I know the answer to that. They don't make money if they're slow, so to hell with everyone else; gotta get paid. There is one intersection I go through daily, that I slow right down for, because there are trees blocking the view from where the trucks are coming from. I often see rolling stops from these guys coming from the direction of their yard at that intersection, where the highway has no stop, but they have a stop sign.

I feel bad for the safety-first drivers when I say this, but automated trucking or hyperlinks can't come soon enough. People need to make money to survive. I get that. And the trucking industry is tough. So once you remove the person that needs to hurry up for the sake of getting paid, you're left with autonomous vehicles that DGAF what time they arrive, they simply follow the rules, and get there when they get there.

But for every bad truck driver I've encountered, I have shared the road with 100 of them that were driving just fine. This isn't about all truckers, it's about the dangerous ones that are unqualified and/or reckless.