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Trapped Under Trucks

propublica.org

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Re: Trapped Under Trucks

#131

Post by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF »

JimtheCoder wrote: post #26
lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote: post #19

I remember reading a claim that logistics companies will often tell their drivers to break traffic laws (ostensibly "only when it's not dangerous") and they consider any citations to be a cost of doing business. While I can't really verify that's true, it tracks with behavior I see of truck drivers in tight quarters; it's been trending towards this "I'm turning and I barely care if you're able to stop in time" kind o…

"I remember reading a claim that logistics companies will often tell their drivers to break traffic laws" I don't think most drivers are waiting for permission from their superiors to break traffic laws...

I get what you mean. The sibling comment about “incentives” helps to paint an even more complete picture. The drivers have a pay incentive to be impatient, increasing the number of instances in which they choose to do this sort of thing regardless of what Management “allows”. They’d just hope to get away with it.

I mean to bring up the point that Management is complicit in this. They might fire this driver as a token measure because someone died (part of me even sees the driver as a victim in such a scenario) but they’re not going to stop encouraging the behavior that gets people killed. It’s not much speculation that one of Management’s primary concerns right now is “how expensive” this is and probably not much consideration is given about how to improve the situation. (Especially not if the solutions are all cost and no gain; it would be irresponsible of them to lower their profitability if they’re publicly traded. /s)

Re: Trapped Under Trucks

#132

Post by dahart »

renewiltord wrote: post #52

Fortunately, if you avoided listening to environmentalists, transit advocates, and people with children and bought a high ride-height vehicle like a Dodge Ram 1500, your vehicle will be tall enough to actually contact the truck or trailer without a decapitation! Pickups and SUVs are way safer, guys. Up to you what you do with the information.

> Pickups and SUVs are way safer

The NHTSA stats seem to somewhat contradict this claim. Looks like light trucks (https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/... - see Table 3, page 23 (Fatal crashes) and page 24 (Injury crashes).

Trucks are heavier and have a longer stopping distance, and for a long time (until 1999) they had much lower safety standards than passenger cars. That’s not to mention it’s maybe short-sighted to ignore many legitimate concerns about air quality, fuel efficiency, children, and where to park, since under-ride crashes are only a teeny tiny fraction of fatal crashes involving any vehicles. I’m pretty sure you’re way better off from a safety perspective just driving a little slower than buying a truck, all else being equal.

Re: Trapped Under Trucks

#133

Post by katbyte »

JimtheCoder wrote: post #18
jmclnx wrote: post #8

>An investigator with the local police department blamed the collision on the truck driver, who was initially charged with negligent homicide, though charges were eventually dropped I wonder why. Another issue is the size of trucks. The state where I lived: * Truck size was limited, large trucks were only allowed on one Highway. Goods were transferred to smaller Trucks for transport to factories. * Driving trucks on…

"If you need 3 trailers, time to go back to freight trains." Trains can only run on train tracks. The tracks/train stations don't always go close to where the freight needs to go. It is bordering on impossible to build new rail infrastructure to get freight where it needs to go. It takes a lot longer to ship something on a train than on a truck. Add on the fact that transport in general is getting more expensive, and…

Nothing is cheaper or more efficient and green then shipping by rail. We used to have an amazing rail network in NA (eu still does) and we basically have letf it fall into ruin and become a shell of what would constitute a functioning railway. It literally has done everything possible to kill passenger rail and make shipping via rail painful / unreliable.

If we had not trucking wouldn’t be the only option and we would be better for it

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jNkYNjADoZg

Re: Trapped Under Trucks

#134

Post by adgjlsfhk1 »

kelnos wrote: post #114
pnw wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NHTSA definitely seems like one of the more dysfunctional agencies. The US headlight standard from 1967 has never been updated to allow modern adaptive headlight designs despite at least two decades of requests from car manufacturers. Congress finally forced NHTSA to take action in 2021 with a timeline of two years, but they still aren't available because now the NHTSA is dragging their feet on testing. Meanwhile Ame…

> Congress finally forced NHTSA to take action in 2021 with a timeline of two years What's the method of forcing them to do it, though? Like, if it's not done in two years, what happens?

they bring the head of the agency into Congress and ask them questions for a few hours

Re: Trapped Under Trucks

#135

Post by droopyEyelids »

pnw wrote: post #98
mastazi wrote: post #12

> Year after year, federal officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the country’s primary roadway safety agency, ignored credible scientific research and failed to take simple steps to limit the hazards of underride crashes. NHTSA officials don't have time to do that of course, they are too busy denying right to repair in order to "protect" motorists https://youtube.com/watch?v=2nXVljRUnoc As…

NHTSA definitely seems like one of the more dysfunctional agencies. The US headlight standard from 1967 has never been updated to allow modern adaptive headlight designs despite at least two decades of requests from car manufacturers. Congress finally forced NHTSA to take action in 2021 with a timeline of two years, but they still aren't available because now the NHTSA is dragging their feet on testing. Meanwhile Ame…

As a related aside, if you have a ford with beam projector headlights, you can turn on the european features using FORSCAN

Re: Trapped Under Trucks

#136

Post by Dalewyn »

csours wrote: post #113

> "In 2022, more than a decade after Brumbelow’s tests, NHTSA updated its rules. Even then, the agency acted only after the passage of a federal law directing it to do so." Not going to defend NHTSA here, but it's a good idea to pass laws like this. NHTSA would likely have been sued if they passed the rule. Having a law really cuts down on the lawsuits. After reading 5th Risk by Michael Lewis, I updated my thinking a…

Even from the perspective of keeping authoritative powers held within the reins of the people, it is better for rules and regulations to be legislated into proper laws by the legislature.

Legislatures are voted in by and answer to the people, at least ostensibly. Government agencies don't necessarily answer to the people.

Re: Trapped Under Trucks

#138

Post by newaccount74 »

elihu wrote: post #130
sn41 wrote: post #105

I saw the PBS documentary yesterday. If I am not mistaken, one of the accidents mentioned involved a Chevy Silverado [1]. If so, then the lobbyists are full of it. On the whole, I don't understand why the objection is there: are bars all that expensive? For comparison, here are Daimler trucks sold in India [2] - side protection is clearly visible. (Admittedly, they are high-end trucks as far as the Indian market is c…

I suspect there's an aerodynamic cost as well. Over time, that might be significantly more expensive than the manufacturing costs. Weight is also an issue, though in this case at least the weight is low to the ground and would improve the trailer's stability.

The article mentions that some trailers already have plastic skirts to improve fuel efficiency because of aerodynamics.

However, for safety, you would have to put steel bars behind the plastic.

Re: Trapped Under Trucks

#139

Post by fooker »

India has an interesting solution to these issues.

Ban large trucks from city roads (including highway sections) during daytime.

The large US cities are getting dense enough to start enacting rules from third world countries.

No amount of safety regulations will make these issues go away.

Re: Trapped Under Trucks

#140

Post by maratbn »

klabb3 wrote: post #116
Drunk_Engineer wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Closed sideguards actually improve fuel economy due to reduced air drag.

Yeah but the article claims they just have a flap without any support, so no improved safety. Having actual sideguards adds weight independent of the aerodynamic issue.

Maybe 1,000 lbs of weight, so instead of 40,000 lbs cargo trailer would be limited to 39,000 lbs, but lots of people would not get decapitated. There is also no reason why states could not allow extra 1,000 lbs of total vehicle weight when trailer is equipped with side-guards.
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