Photos of the scene show how the pickup and the rear of the service truck absorbed most of the energy before it reached the trailer. Based on early reports, there was about 30 feet between the two vehicles (as required) prior to the accident. The service truck was parked directly behind the trailer with the wheels facing straight ahead. In that instance, there was plenty of room to work as the tractor-trailer and service truck were easily five feet from the fog line. It appears that everything was done by the book, so the carnage was limited to the pickup, the service truck, and the rear of the disabled trailer. The pickup and service truck were totaled, but the technician was not injured because he followed the proper safety guidelines for servicing a truck tire on the side of a road or highway. On the other hand, a recent accident in South Carolina tragically claimed the life of a Florida man and seriously injured a teenage girl when the pickup they were traveling in struck the back of an emergency road service vehicle. Sadly enough, there was an exit about a half mile down the road with plenty of room to replace the tires. A vehicle in the right lane struck the service vehicle and drove it under the trailer and on top of the technician. I worked on a case where a technician tried to change a trailer tire on the curve of an interstate highway in the middle of the night with the vehicles literally parked on the fog line. That same prideful blindness to the dangers of emergency road service has led to fatalities in the truck tire service industry. I wanted to be respected, so I believed that taking the side-of-the-highway calls would prove I was not there just because I had the same last name as the owners. The rank and file already had plenty of reasons to dislike me, but I never cared. There were definitely instances where I wasn’t concerned for my own safety when I clearly should have been.Īs a family member in the family tire dealership, I always felt I had to prove something. I’m just glad my times on the shoulder of the interstate were limited to when I was young and fearless. Ask truck tire service technicians what scares them the most and they will say working on the side of a highway.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |