It finally happened

Troy Whistman said:
Why don't truck drivers install the same kind of "in-dash" cameras and recorders that cops have?
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I know there was one guy who did that, but I also know the company frowned upon it. Not sure why.

In this case, it wouldn't have mattered - The guy never would have even made the frame, although we'd have some interesting video for about two seconds before we slammed into the wall, which would have knocked the tape off the heads (unless it was some kind of digital recorer).

Of course, now that I have to buy a new laptop myself, I'm not sure I'd want another expensive gadget that could be destroyed. :(
 
Troy Whistman said:
Why don't truck drivers install the same kind of "in-dash" cameras and recorders that cops have? I know it's not cheap, but it's way less expensive than lawsuit payouts. Most of the truck drivers I know are very careful drivers, professional about what they do; it's the idiots around them that cause most of the wrecks.

All that other evidence, yes, I can understand; but a jury would have a hard time ignoring a time-stamped video with speed imprinted on the screen, showing the driver tracking straight and true in his lane and some idiot crossing over, overtaking from the right (illegal, you pass on the LEFT), and impacting the truck with no signal after changing lanes too early...
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A police officers camcorder is not activated unless the emergency equipment is on. A truck driver's driving day is atleast 10 hours long, so there wouldn't be enough tape for 10 hours of driving.
 
flyifrvfr said:
A police officers camcorder is not activated unless the emergency equipment is on. A truck driver's driving day is atleast 10 hours long, so there wouldn't be enough tape for 10 hours of driving.
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You just need a digital loop recorder that'll catch the last 10 minutes. Heck, accidents happen so fast, the last 2 minutes would be sufficient. The thing would have to be smart enough to turn off x-seconds after a certain G-load, or something.
 
I just realized I never posted my accident report here.

http://www.joshuamanor.com/Accident_report.pdf

I initially wrote it for my company, but their insurance company asked me for a copy as well. I'm pretty proud of their response: "I have to tell you, your report is the best I have ever seen. It is better than most Investigators. If even half of the drivers could do something like this, there would be a lot of claims would never end up in litigation."

Oh, and I finally got a check for my laptop through homeowners insurance - About two weeks ago.
 
judypilot said:
... When we all got stopped I tore out of the truck and gave him a basic physics lesson. I hope he'll never do that again. He did seem sufficiently intimidated. (Must have been all the equations I wrote out for him--my students seem intimidated by that, too. Guess what? This stuff really does matter!)
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That is awesome, Judy! The way most people feel about physics, I bet he was wishing you'd just taken a crowbar to his car like normal people do.:D

Chris
 
Wow, great write-up, Kent. Things certainly turned out pretty well, considering what could have happened.
 
Kent, I'm glad you and your trainee came out relativly unhurt. I have been lucky where auto accidents are concerned. I have not been invloved in one since I was 16 (1977) when someone made a left turn across my lane and I totaled my '63 Impala wagon. I am a carefull driver but also a lucky one because no mater how carefull you are there are others who figure it your job to avoid them.
 
Wow. You're one lucky guy. Both the good and the bad sorts.
Now I have an example of a great accident report if ever needed. (I hope not.)
 
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