Florida U-Turn accident

[CyberB0b]

None of that takes into account the time from when the semi put his signal on (assuming he did - which I do) and started braking. That's part of paying attention.

That's a mighty big assumption, considering the guy can't read or speak English, and attempted an illegal u-turn in the middle of a highway, blocking every lane. It does factor in the time for a semi to slow down and start a turn.

 

[Runwildboys]

That's a mighty big assumption, considering the guy can't read or speak English, and attempted an illegal u-turn in the middle of a highway, blocking every lane. It does factor in the time for a semi to slow down and start a turn.

It's not that big an assumption. You don't need to speak English to know how to use a turn signal, and truck drivers aren't dismissive about them, as so many passenger car drivers are

All that said, the thing that pisses me off most about the truck driver, is that he looked completely unconcerned when the accident happened. I would react stronger than that if it was just a close call.

 

[CyberB0b]

I would react stronger than that if it was just a close call.

You would think so, but when you are in a flight or fight situation, your monkey brain takes over. You devolve into a caveman. Primal instincts override all logical thoughts. Unless you have been specifically trained to overcome these obstacles, you're toast. It's easy to say you would do X or Y from the comfort of your house on a keyboard, but when the stuff hits the fan, it's a different situation. It's a low blow to blame the victims for the negligence of a supposed professional. 5 seconds of reaction time is essentially nothing.

 

[Runwildboys]

You would think so, but when you are in a flight or fight situation, your monkey brain takes over. You devolve into a caveman. Primal instincts override all logical thoughts. Unless you have been specifically trained to overcome these obstacles, you're toast. It's easy to say you would do X or Y from the comfort of your house on a keyboard, but when the stuff hits the fan, it's a different situation. It's a low blow to blame the victims for the negligence of a supposed professional. 5 seconds of reaction time is essentially nothing.

I think maybe you need to reread my comment.

 

[Runwildboys]

 

[rags747]

Minivan in the left lane going 60+ would flip over before you made it to the shoulder. If they were in the right lane, they had a chance. 60 to zero braking on a modern minivan with anti lock brakes probably isn’t good.

115 feet for a modern Honda Odyssey

 

[Vtwin]

Even if the stopping distance is x feet at x mph and you have x-? feet of actual distance ensuring a collision you can bleed off a lot of speed and even have some control of how you impact if you're paying attention and react quickly.

Ultimately and obviously the blame goes to the truck driver but that doesn't mean the other driver couldn't have also failed in their responsibility to be situationally aware.

I have no idea what the driver of the car did in the seconds leading up to the collision, but I do know very well just how fast things can go haywire and just how much each second counts. In my experience five seconds is a heck of a lot of time to react in a situation like that.

All the innovations to make driving safer and easier might be a factor as well. Cruise control, and all the lane assist and collision avoidance warnings which take driving out of the hands of the driver and give to the computer can and will lesson situational awareness and increase reaction time.

At the end of the day in a situation like that it doesn't matter a bit whose fault it is. The only thing that matters is doing what you can do to manage the outcome.

 

[zrinkill]

Hopefully the criminal truck driver goes away for a long time.

 

[Runwildboys]

Hopefully the criminal truck driver goes away for a long time.

He'll probably be deported back to his own country...or maybe worse

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

[/QUOTE]

He'll probably be deported back to his own country...or maybe worse

I haven’t watched/researched anything on the driver. Has it been confirmed he’s on a foreign visa or something?

 

[Runwildboys]

I haven’t watched/researched anything on the driver. Has it been confirmed he’s on a foreign visa or something?
[/QUOTE]
In the video, it stars he snuck into the country illegally "from the South", I believe is how they phrased it.

 

[gtb1943]

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/08/21...-fatal-18-wheeler-crash-caused-illegal-aliens



whoever signed off on giving this illegal a CDL needs to go to jail
and whoever in that company that hired him and anyone in that company that knew what he was should be charged as an accessory

 

[LonnieElam]

Well, if you're paying attention, it helps. The truck didn't go from 60 to 10 mph in less than 10 seconds, and he probably had his signal on. Apparently, not one person in the car was looking forward.

I'm by no means excusing the truck driver, but everyone on the road needs to treat driving as if their lives depend on vigilance.

Are we sure they didn't just come over a hill, or around a curve?

 

[Runwildboys]

I haven’t watched/researched anything on the driver. Has it been confirmed he’s on a foreign visa or something?

In the video, it stars he snuck into the country illegally "from the South", I believe is how they phrased it.
[/QUOTE]


Wow, what happened here?^^^^^^^ I didn't write what's in the box. I responded to that...and in my response, I meant to write, "...it says he snuck..."

 

[Flamma]

A semi making a U-turn also has to consider the traffic coming in the other direction, which is why you don't do it. I get the perfect view of that every night at work. People making U-turns through the cone line right in front of cars going 60mph through EZ-Pass. I cringe sometimes when trucks make that U-turn. They can't see the oncoming traffic because the booths are blocking their view. Sometimes it's close.

 

[Runwildboys]

A semi making a U-turn also has to consider the traffic coming in the other direction, which is why you don't do it. I get the perfect view of that every night at work. People making U-turns through the cone line right in front of cars going 60mph through EZ-Pass. I cringe sometimes when trucks make that U-turn. They can't see the oncoming traffic because the booths are blocking their view. Sometimes it's close.

At least back in the day, they had to actually stop for the tolls (or nearly stop, anyway). There must be times, sitting in that booth, that you get a little nervous about someone crashing into you.

 

[pete026]

At least back in the day, they had to actually stop for the tolls (or nearly stop, anyway). There must be times, sitting in that booth, that you get a little nervous about someone crashing into you.

Remember this Runny? The start to the end of toll booths in Connecticut.
https://www.wtnh.com/news/politics/crash-survivor-recalls-accident-that-removed-connecticuts-tolls/

 

[Runwildboys]

Remember this Runny? The start to the end of toll booths in Connecticut.
https://www.wtnh.com/news/politics/crash-survivor-recalls-accident-that-removed-connecticuts-tolls/

I don't remember that actually. I'm not surprised at all. Hell, they still let us back up onto the highway during truck inspections, once in a while, but they've gotten better.

 

[Flamma]

At least back in the day, they had to actually stop for the tolls (or nearly stop, anyway). There must be times, sitting in that booth, that you get a little nervous about someone crashing into you.

Some trucks come through my lane at 50-60 mph. At some point I have to get a trooper there.

There is a maintenance yard just in front of my building. Every morning they go home, they do the illegal U-Turn through the cones. Semis too. I cringe when they do it. There's only a couple of 100 feet between them and EZ-Pass traffic, but the cars slow down. They're all paying attention because even if they are going fast, they're going through a booth. They have to be looking forward. But in an open highway, it just takes 2 seconds for you to give up the ghost. Does it matter if it's the other person's fault?

I'm amazed at what people do on the roadway. I worked road maintenance for a major highway for 5 years. I have a class A CDL. I've seen on multiple occasions people parking in the left shoulder, turning off their lights, and going to sleep.

I've seen people get hit with a tire, or something else, and stopping in a live lane. If you stop in a live lane you're probably going to die. Because not everyone is paying attention, and they're driving fast. In just 5 years I've dealt with cleaning up dozens of fatalities. It's usually a combination of factors that contribute to the disaster. Rubber necking an accident. One person slows down to look at the accident. The person behind him does not slow down but also is looking at the accident. The results aren't pretty.

 

[Runwildboys]

Some trucks come through my lane at 50-60 mph. At some point I have to get a trooper there.

There is a maintenance yard just in front of my building. Every morning they go home, they do the illegal U-Turn through the cones. Semis too. I cringe when they do it. There's only a couple of 100 feet between them and EZ-Pass traffic, but the cars slow down. They're all paying attention because even if they are going fast, they're going through a booth. They have to be looking forward. But in an open highway, it just takes 2 seconds for you to give up the ghost. Does it matter if it's the other person's fault?

I'm amazed at what people do on the roadway. I worked road maintenance for a major highway for 5 years. I have a class A CDL. I've seen on multiple occasions people parking in the left shoulder, turning off their lights, and going to sleep.

I've seen people get hit with a tire, or something else, and stopping in a live lane. If you stop in a live lane you're probably going to die. Because not everyone is paying attention, and they're driving fast. In just 5 years I've dealt with cleaning up dozens of fatalities. It's usually a combination of factors that contribute to the disaster. Rubber necking an accident. One person slows down to look at the accident. The person behind him does not slow down but also is looking at the accident. The results aren't pretty.

I was going up 95 in New Haven, about to take the left exit for 1-91 (before they rebuilt it to the right side).
Suddenly in front of me were 2 cars, backing down the hammer lane because they missed their exit. Not just 1, but 2 people stupid enough to back up in the left lane of an interstate highway.

That might be the stupidest thing I've ever seen.