Woman killed by Wheel

I hope the driver turns himself in. I'm sure when he stops he will notice that he is missing a tire.
 
I'm not a trucker, don't know much about the business, but it seems a little unfair that the driver is responsible for the trailer condition. Don't they just pick up trailers from various people? How are they supposed to know if the truck is safe? Terrible tragedy though..scary stuff.
 
Its not unfair at all to expect that people make sure that whatever they are driving on the road is safe.
 
What ever the case this is really sad.....the poor husband and kids....married 30 years!
 
Might never know what happened for sure with the punishment for admitting it was from your truck so over the top, the driver will likely never be found. Really sad for the family.
 
OpenGambit said:
Its not unfair at all to expect that people make sure that whatever they are driving on the road is safe.
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So you're saying everyone should be able to write a safety for their vehicle? So you rent a car and you do a safety on it before you drive it? That seems unreasonable to me. The rental company should be liable..not sure the driver should be.
 
Truck drivers ARE supposed to check over their entire rig before going out on the road, and that includes the condition of the trailer tires (and brakes and lights - and the wheel bolts). It doesn't matter who the trailer belongs to - they're responsible for checking it. This is not anything new, either.

Have they found the truck yet?
 
Brian P said:
Truck drivers ARE supposed to check over their entire rig before going out on the road, and that includes the condition of the trailer tires (and brakes and lights - and the wheel bolts). It doesn't matter who the trailer belongs to - they're responsible for checking it. This is not anything new, either.

Have they found the truck yet?
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Yes they are supposed to check it every time but what does this check really do? Would a truck driver be able to spot an issue just from a visual check over???
 
Brian P said:
Truck drivers ARE supposed to check over their entire rig before going out on the road, and that includes the condition of the trailer tires (and brakes and lights - and the wheel bolts). It doesn't matter who the trailer belongs to - they're responsible for checking it. This is not anything new, either.

Have they found the truck yet?
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I get that Brian..but what if it's a bearing problem? Suppose the spindle shears? How can the driver spot that? I understand they can do a visual check of the obvious and if it was something like that, ok, I understand. I'm just not sure you can expect the average person to be able to spot all possible causes of a wheel separating from the vehicle.
 
I agree on that could have been a fluke that something let go?

rafiki911 said:
Yes they are supposed to check it every time but what does this check really do? Would a truck driver be able to spot an issue just from a visual check over???
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invictus43 said:
I get that Brian..but what if it's a bearing problem? Suppose the spindle shears? How can the driver spot that? I understand they can do a visual check of the obvious and if it was something like that, ok, I understand. I'm just not sure you can expect the average person to be able to spot all possible causes of a wheel separating from the vehicle.
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You stop and if the cause was beyond your ability to predict then you are off the hook. The equipment owner is still on the hook for damages but money won't be able to do much.
It will be a whole different matter if there is negligence on the part of either the driver or owner.
 
nobbie48 said:
You stop and if the cause was beyond your ability to predict then you are off the hook. The equipment owner is still on the hook for damages but money won't be able to do much.
It will be a whole different matter if there is negligence on the part of either the driver or owner.
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Well, they said the driver might not even have known. I really don't know the business and whether he/she could tell. I'm in no way condoning knowing and leaving the scene. That's obviously not cool. As I understand it though, they can hold the driver responsible for brake or whatever issues. Honest question, do they have the level of expertise to recognize brake or structural issues with the trailer?
 
There is a list of things that they are supposed to check when doing a walk-around, and those are the things that the truck driver is responsible for. The process of getting a commercial driver's license plus the process of getting an air-brake endorsement involves plenty of how-to concerning vehicle inspections (disclaimer: I've not gone through this).

Fluke conditions that no reasonable inspection could catch, are not held against the driver. My nephew was killed in a collision 8 years ago in which it was eventually found that a steering arm on the truck that hit his car had fractured. No reasonable inspection could have caught that. Driver had a logbook, truck had all its maintenance inspections and records up to date, nothing was amiss, but the steering arm broke.

As far as I can tell, the truck involved in this incident has not turned up. It's quite possible that the driver may not have noticed right away if a trailer wheel came off, but it's practically a certainty that someone would have identified that a wheel was missing when the truck got to where it was going. If the truck hasn't turned up by now, either the incident is being covered up, or someone's talking to their lawyer.
 
invictus43 said:
So you're saying everyone should be able to write a safety for their vehicle? So you rent a car and you do a safety on it before you drive it? That seems unreasonable to me. The rental company should be liable..not sure the driver should be.
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Surely you are not comparing a commercial endeavor to me renting a car for personal use. Completely different worlds

Insurance/ safety inspections are a cost of doing business. There is a million and one cases of companies being smacked down when they compromise public safety for a higher profit margin.
When an airline buys a plane, its their job to make sure its safe before its flown. Same idea. My sympathy is reserved for the victim. Not the truck driver, unless the truck driver was either a, negligent, or b, uninsured, there is no reason for him not to come forward. If he is either of those things, then I don't see why he shouldn't be fried.
 
OpenGambit said:
Surely you are not comparing a commercial endeavor to me renting a car for personal use. Completely different worlds

Insurance/ safety inspections are a cost of doing business. There is a million and one cases of companies being smacked down when they compromise public safety for a higher profit margin.
When an airline buys a plane, its their job to make sure its safe before its flown. Same idea. My sympathy is reserved for the victim. Not the truck driver, unless the truck driver was either a, negligent, or b, uninsured, there is no reason for him not to come forward. If he is either of those things, then I don't see why he shouldn't be fried.
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Using your analogy, it would be equivalent to the pilot being responsible for the condition of the brakes on the plane. Is that reasonable? Would a pilot be found liable if the brakes failed and 200 people died? Seriously doubt it. To quote from The Star:

Flying truck tires are also punishable by fines of up to $50,000. The law puts “absolute liability” on the truck operator, meaning charged drivers cannot use a due diligence defence. The only defence would be to prove the wheel did not separate from the truck.
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So even if the driver inspected as he was supposed to and did absolutely everything he could do, he would still be fined. I understand these things are a tragedy, but I really don't know how the driver can bear the responsbility of ensuring absolutely NOTHING can go wrong with the trailer.
 
no its not the same because employees are different than owner/operators.
If you are bascially defending the right of profit making endeavours to endanger the public, you aren't going to find much support.

Its interesting you are just assuming that the guy driving the truck is a saint who did everything could to prevent it. when the reverse could also be true.
Note also that the fine is "up to" 50,000. Obviously it varies due to culpability. So yes, if the guy was a negligent **** who killed a woman, I really don't think 50,000 is anywhere close to the amount he should be fined.
 
OpenGambit said:
no its not the same because employees are different than owner/operators.
If you are bascially defending the right of profit making endeavours to endanger the public, you aren't going to find much support.

Its interesting you are just assuming that the guy driving the truck is a saint who did everything could to prevent it. when the reverse could also be true.
Note also that the fine is "up to" 50,000. Obviously it varies due to culpability. So yes, if the guy was a negligent **** who killed a woman, I really don't think 50,000 is anywhere close to the amount he should be fined.
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I'm not assuming anything. My question is: can drivers be reasonably expected to be able to find ALL mechanical problems with a trailer? I don't care specifically about this case. He could be a complete ****** and ignored obvious problems..if so, charge him with criminal negligence causing death and have at it. My problem is, how can you hold someone responsible for something that he is not expected or cannot reasonably be expected to discover in the course of his daily work? Are drivers trained and given time to inspect ALL of a trailer's mechanical systems? Is a pilot? I don't see the difference. If anything, I would hold the pilot to a higher standard.
 
invictus43 said:
I'm not assuming anything. My question is: can drivers be reasonably expected to be able to find ALL mechanical problems with a trailer? I don't care specifically about this case. He could be a complete ****** and ignored obvious problems..if so, charge him with criminal negligence causing death and have at it. My problem is, how can you hold someone responsible for something that he is not expected or cannot reasonably be expected to discover in the course of his daily work? Are drivers trained and given time to inspect ALL of a trailer's mechanical systems? Is a pilot? I don't see the difference. If anything, I would hold the pilot to a higher standard.
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its not about what "you" would do, this is about the duties the law places on employees vs owners and personal vs business activities.

what makes you think he would be responsible for anything other than a claim on his insurance?
If a wheel fell of my car and hit something it would be my insurance. You are looking for injustice where there isn't any.
Do you expect anyone to shed tears for the insurance company? whose business is the management of risk?

EVERY car accident we get into has no due diligence defense. you cause the damage you pay for it, it doesn't matter if you were duly diligent or not. Thats why we have MANDATORY insurance. you want an exception for the truck driver ? why? because he killed someone ?
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