Suicide I 70

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member
It never fails. Every summer construction slows traffic on I 70. Fatal accidents occur. I feel human life merits having state cops at construction site 24/7. Hand out speeding tickets.

I avoid traveling on Suicide 70 near construction site. I use US 40 instead.
semi trash
 
I stay off of 70 in the summer,too much construction. I will admit 70 around the airport is nice. I live right by I65 and they going to add another lane so traffic will be bad for a few years.
 
I drive stop and go rush hour traffic on Detroit area freeways every day. Traffic will be going 80 mph one second and then dead stopped the next. I ALWAYS look in my mirror when I encounter brake lights and leave room between me and the car ahead to be able to dive to the shoulder if I think I'm in trouble. I rarely drive in a center lane where I have no escape path. I have had to use this tactic numerous times and have had cars with brakes screeching enter the space formerly occupied by me. :shock: Luckily, I've never had a [u:bd2743b77d]semi [/u:bd2743b77d]barreling down on me from behind. that would be scary to see in my mirror.
 

2X what JML755 said. In the Boston area. except that speed never gets above 65. You don't need construction to have panic stops.
 
Slowing them down is not the answer. While speed may have been a contributing factor to the severity of the crash, it was likely not the cause. More likely inattentiveness. Like answering the satellite when dispatch calls. Then they get angry if you do not answer them immediately. Then there is the cell phone thing. Or how about the fact that many truckers got rid of the CB radios because of all the trash on the air . This results in not getting timely warnings about slowdowns or stoppages. There could have been many factors involved. One thing is sure, though. The problem will not be solved by a retired guy in Terre Haute sitting in front of his computer telling them to "slow down."
I also would take this opportunity to point a finger at some of these so-called driving schools. They advertise on the radio here that they will train you to drive a semi in 30 days or less and promise you $45,000 the first year. And, when one of their 30-day wonders injures or kills one of my family or friends, you can bet that they will get sued so hard they will end up living under a bridge eating government cheese.
 
(quoted from post at 19:34:41 07/18/17) Slowing them down is not the answer. While speed may have been a contributing factor to the severity of the crash, it was likely not the cause. More likely inattentiveness. Like answering the satellite when dispatch calls. Then they get angry if you do not answer them immediately. Then there is the cell phone thing. Or how about the fact that many truckers got rid of the CB radios because of all the trash on the air . This results in not getting timely warnings about slowdowns or stoppages. There could have been many factors involved. One thing is sure, though. The problem will not be solved by a retired guy in Terre Haute sitting in front of his computer telling them to "slow down."
I also would take this opportunity to point a finger at some of these so-called driving schools. They advertise on the radio here that they will train you to drive a semi in 30 days or less and promise you $45,000 the first year. And, when one of their 30-day wonders injures or kills one of my family or friends, you can bet that they will get sued so hard they will end up living under a bridge eating government cheese.

You need a good lawyer sue. Good lawyers don't sue anyone that does not have a lot of money.
 
So how would you save lives? Semis don't slow down and ram into mini van. Then proceeded to ram into another semi.

There has to be a solution other than blaming the messenger. What would you recommend to solve construction deaths? Every summer people are getting killed because of construction on I70. Only question is how many will die because they are the meat in the sandwich between semis.

News says driver may face charges. News blames semi for not slowing down at construction zone.
 
Well what would you do? Stop the construction? Take all the semi drivers who don't slow down off the road? That'll work. Pretty soon we won't have any roads to drive on or any drivers to transport the goods we all need to survive.

What people need to do is start taking responsibility for themselves and think about what goes on beyond the ends of their noses for a change. But, that will never happen so we have this necessary evil that we must accept as a cost of freedom. All we can do is hope that the needless loss of life will wake others up to be better drivers.
 
(quoted from post at 18:17:18 07/18/17) It never fails. Every summer construction slows traffic on I 70. Fatal accidents occur. I feel human life merits having state cops at construction site 24/7. Hand out speeding tickets.

I avoid traveling on Suicide 70 near construction site. I use US 40 instead.
semi trash

We had a woman up here mow down dozens of traffic cones after ignoring all the signs, flagmen, equipment, etc and drive into a 10 foot deep cut for a culvert. After the lawsuit, we now have Troopers working construction sites to help convince the idiots of the world that driving into 10 foot deep culvert cuts isn't a good idea............
 
You would get a lot better results if you turned your anger towards the car driver's than towards the truckers. It's a fact that truckers and trucking are safer now than at any time since they started keeping track of accidents. And it is also a fact that in most accidents it is the car driver's fault, 80% of the time by statistics. In this case it looks like the trucker was not playing attention, and will most likely go to prison for it. But that is a very rare occasion and most often results in prison for the trucker. Statistically the more likely cause would be the van driver and several other cars running up past the truck s andd cutting in front taking up all the stopping space leaving the trucks no where to go. I'm not saying that is whgat happened here since I didn't see it, but that is the most likely.
 
I think they should completely shut the road off and hire plenty of people to work and get it done fast and work 24 / 7
A lot of road workers die too !
 
The issue is not whether the semi slowed down, but rather WHY it did not slow down. Whether it was going 40 or 70 is not as relevant as why was the driver not paying attention. Was sufficient warning given? Was the driver somehow distracted? Was the truck in good mechanical condition before the crash? A;; of these factors come into play.
Keep in mind that I drove one of those trucks for 20 years. I know what is out there, and I have seen most of it.

some suggestions:
Warning signs, markings, and the like warning drivers of construction zones. Make them more prominent. Start slowing traffic farther before the actual construction.
Driver distractions. Remove some of them. For example a satellite dispatch system could be made to be disabled while the truck is moving and only give a warning that a message is coming in. These devices are hard wired into the trucks that use them. dispatchers need to learn patience to go along with that.
Cell phones. More laws will not help. What will help is more training and education.
For that matter, how about the initial training? Do you think that a driver in a driving school is ready to turn loose with a 40-ton truck on a 70 mph highway in 30 days or less? My opinion is that a new driver should spend no less than 60 days with a trainer out on the road before going solo. And, the ones that don't make the cut should not be licensed.
In my opinion, these are better answers than the "slow down" feel good answer.
 
there are some bad cdl mill drivers out there, but from the perspective of driving everyday, its the car drivers that need to be fixed, there far worse, every car driver should be required to take the general knowledge test for the cld license, it has little to do with trucking, but it does make them know the rules of the road, no pass, no drive, simple
 

I believe they should make Cell Phones IN-Operative while the vehicle is in motion...

People in 4-wheelers go nuts if a truck is in front of them..I have seen them drive up steep banks to get around a truck slow in traffic..!

It is really impossible to FIX Stupid....
 
(quoted from post at 17:17:18 07/18/17) It never fails. Every summer construction slows traffic on I 70. Fatal accidents occur. I feel human life merits having state cops at construction site 24/7. Hand out speeding tickets.

I avoid traveling on Suicide 70 near construction site. I use US 40 instead.
semi trash

Speed does not cause many wrecks. It is an enhancer when a wreck happens, but it is rarely the root cause. Inattention causes thousands of wrecks but you cannot really patrol for that successfully.
 

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