Tractor Trailer driver doesn't notice he's dragging a car along. car passenger ok.

[Demovictory9]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/tractor-trailer-drags-sedan-down-illinois-highway-in-jaw-dropping-video/vi-AARoVRl

[Duppers]

1. Unbelievable!! nt

[love_katz]

2. Wow!

Obviously, the truck driver wasn't checking their mirrors like they should. And how could they not notice the extra drag on the truck, let alone the noise from the cars skidding tires and the smell of burning rubber?

[TrogL]

3. I've driven large trucks

You can't see shit out of the mirrors, especially that low down.

The noise in the cab is nearly deafening. Many drivers wear hearing protection. A few squealing tires will be inaudible.

Trucks are designed to haul huge loads. The engines are insanely powerful. A dinky little car being dragged along would be barely noticeable.

There's a lesson here. Stay well away from trucks!!! We can't see you. We can't stop on a dime. Physics doesn't work like that.

[love_katz]

15. I spent over 23 years driving school busses.

I a,so worked as a driver trainer for over 21 years, and I was a Third-party examiner for my state. I would be tempted to say that if the driver couldn't see the car in their right side mirrors or their cross-over mirror, then their mirrors weren't properly adjusted. I also paid close attention whenever I was on the passenger side of a truck to be sure and stay out of their blind spot. Unfortunately, I all too frequently observed tunnel vision on the part of the driver. I am well aware that heavy commercial vehicles can't stop on a dime and use extreme caution around them. As far as noise in the vehicle goes, try driving a school bus with 84 screaming kids sitting behind you. When there is a lot of noise inside the vehicle, the driver needs to use their eyes more, including mirror checks. My employers would never have accepted the excuse that noise in the vehicle caused me to fail to notice that I was dragging a car along with my bus. With that said, I am painfully aware of how many stupid moves that the general motoring public makes. If I had a quarter for every time someone put my bus at risk for a collision, I could have afforded to retire a lot sooner than I did. Respectfully, and happily retired, love_katz.

[TrogL]

20. Point well taken

I've seen plenty of stupid things especially cars getting in under the trailer trying to njp in past a turning truck.

[2naSalit]

4. Wow...

That driver must've had some good drugs! Or having a seizure/heart attack.

You have to be totally unaware to not have noticed that for that long, not only the drag on the engine but certainly by looking in the fucking mirror. Those mirrors are huge and if you can't see a straight line to the trailer tires, they aren't adjusted correctly - driver's fault.

So that's a big WTF? going on there.

[PJMcK]

5. Read the post above yours

DUer TrogL (Post #3) is a truck driver. His experience belies your ideas of truck driving.

Thankfully, the car's driver was okay.

[2naSalit]

6. I beg to differ...

As I was not only a semi driver for 15 years, several of them in Chicagoland, I also owned a small fleet of trucks and was a licensed driving instructor in California for a couple years. I have a clue about which I speak.

The driver was clearly inattentive. If you are even a halfway decent driver, you check mirrors, both sides, at least five times in a minute.

Next?

[PJMcK]

7. Thanks for your insights

I drive cars. Small ones, generally. I constantly avoid big trucks because their mass makes them much harder to control than a car.

TrogL represented themselves as an experienced truck driver. Your experiences seem to differ from theirs. The truck driver in the video is clearly the responsible party in this accident and I hope it didn't appear that I was defending him. Like I wrote, I avoid those behemoths as much as possible.

I appreciate your views. Enjoy your weekend.

[2naSalit]

8. It's okay...

I can't say whether the car or the truck was at fault initially but the driver of the truck was wrong for not noticing and not stopping immediately. The car may have driven under the trailer, seen that happen a number of times, which would put the blame on the car driver for the initial contact.

Best to keep clear of the big monsters when in small cars, they bounce off or get pulled under if you get too close. I only drive cars now and I avoid the Interstate at every opportunity, I prefer two-lane roads and can make it most of the way across the country on them.

Have a good weekend, winter weather is heading east and south.

[fwvinson]

11. I did too. For 25 yrs.

I have a hard time believing you. Sounds like you don't know what you are talking about.

[2naSalit]

13. Glad I'm retired and stay off the roads theses days...

With drivers like that, not safe anywhere.

[fwvinson]

9. I was a truck driver for 25 yrs.

Blind spots are common, a real powerful engine can pull a car a long way and the driver doesn't know it. My trailers and my tractor have both been hit by autos, each time I never felt the hit, not at all. My rigs weigh up to 80,000 lbs. My engine had 525 hp. So, yea. A driver in a big rig, probably didn't know.

[fwvinson]

10. You don't know a damn thing about a big rig, consisting of a 30' tractor with a huge engine, pulling

a 53' trailer. The mirror, especially the passenger side mirror, has lots of blind spots. The mirror can be moved up and down and left and right. I have to adjust the mirror when backing, to make sure nothing is in the way. I have to get out of the tractor to be for sure. Every time.
Driving down the road you can't do that. The truck driver has to depend on the auto drivers abilities to be safe and considerate. It looks like the dragged vehicle had run a stop sign/light and slammed into the trailer. A big rig can be 80,000 lbs. And, the tractor/trailer driver didn't know and didn't feel anything. So, don't assume what you don't know.
Also, one time going north on Pennyrile Parkway in West KY, a car full of little old ladies coming back from playing Bingo at Ft. Campbell, slammed into my tractor. Of course, I knew immediatly, the car hit me, but I really didn't feel the hit. The auto was trying it's best to drive me, the truck and trailer, into the median. I was able to keep the truck and the auto attached to my right front bumper from flipping into the interstate median. The weight of the car, compared to the weight and size of the large rig, is minuscule. It's about like if a cardboard box had slammed into the rig. Didn't rock the truck at all.

[Demovictory9]

12. City bus..car hit bus from behind and drove off. We passengers had to tell bus.driver

As.he had no idea. Impact wasnt felt

[2naSalit]

14. Somehow, I don't think you know what you're doing...

Behind the wheel. I could tell which tire was a few pounds low on air and if I hit a rabbit with the trailer, I knew it and I ran 650 Cats and damn near everything else. I'm not buying that you couldn't tell when someone hit you.

Sorry. Have a nice day.

[love_katz]

16. I'm with you on this one.

Inattention on the part of the driver. If they can't see the car, then probably their mirrors weren't adjusted properly, and they weren't checking them frequently enough, or maybe not at all. As far as noise in the vehicle goes, I drove school busses. Tell me about noise in the vehicle when I had over 84 kids sitting behind me. Too often when I would be on the right side of trucks I would observe tunnel vision on the part of the truck driver. I could see the driver in their mirrors. Too many of them don't do their job with mirrors checks, and don't get me started about safe following distance. I also worked over 21 years as a driver trainer, and put in a number of years as a Third party examiner for my state. I also spent most of my last 4 years that I was working doing accident retraining of drivers. Lack of mirror checks was a frequent cause of making contact with something. Other frequent causes were mirrors not adjusted properly, as well as the driver not putting their training to work. My employers would never have accepted the excuse that the driver didn't notice that they were dragging a car! Thank you for speaking up about the standards that commercial drivers are expected to adhere to.

[2naSalit]

17. Thanks for the support.

It's not that hard to see what the problems were with the incident in question. I guess the caliber of drivers has seriously declined since my time in the cab.

[love_katz]

18. You're welcome.

I noticed, over the last 5 years or so, that I was seeing a lot more young faces behind the wheel of trucks. I am very aware that it is a tough and difficult profession. Hard on bodies and often damaging to health. It also takes a long time to gain expertise. Lack of experience and the knowledge that can come from experience often contributes to accidents. Probably most of the newer drivers haven't learned yet that they need to take the training they were given and put it to work. You definitely understand that. To the commenters upthread: you were not correct in what you said to 2naSalit. Commercial drivers are held to much higher standards than the rest of the motoring public. It is the driver's job to properly adjust their mirrors, check their mirrors about every 8-10 seconds, and be aware of any limitations of the particular mirrors on your vehicle. Rock and roll when checking mirrors, which increases your field of view in the mirrors, and can help you see around blind spots created by the vehicles body. Driving a commercial vehicle is a huge responsibility because their size and weight can do immense damage and they can kill very easily.

[2naSalit]

19. Exactly.

That's what I was taught and it's what I teach. But I'm old school, so there's that.