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Post by victory on Mar 14, 2024 16:38:53 GMT -6
Yesterday morning we had very foggy conditions for a number of hours. I spend my winters driving on the roads and it was pretty bad. We haven't had too much fog this winter, but yesterday it resulted in a bad accident.
My nephew was hauling barley with his super B. He was following a guy in a pickup. The guy suddenly slammed on the brakes. My nephew wasn't too happy with the guy until he drove beside him and realized he had slammed on the brakes because he all of a sudden saw the flashing lights of a rail crossing.
My nephew ended up hitting the second locomotive of the train. The truck tractor was destroyed and the lead trailer didn't look much better. The pup was damaged pretty good too.
Somehow my nephew did not sustain any serious injuries. We thank the Lord that his life was spared.
Think I will be driving a little more carefully in the fog from now on.
It's not the first serious accident at that crossing. Should probably be better signage alerting everyone sooner of the upcoming crossing.
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Post by Oatking on Mar 14, 2024 17:08:16 GMT -6
That same type of accident happened to my neighbour , oh about ten or more years ago. He survived that crash as well but suffered injuries. I have not seen him since but hope he has improved!
An accident like the one you described is what influenced me to buy a second home in Winnipeg . My kids and wife both work and go to school in the city .
The ironic thing is before my neighbours crash , the dad , who’s son hit the train criticized me for spending money on owning two homes.
The real reason I bought the second home in Winnipeg is my friend in rosenort lost his wife in a crash east of Morris . She slid thru a stop sign and got side swiped by a super b on her way home from work.
Looking back now , I could have bought more land back in the early 2000s instead of the extra house and been richer , but at the time I thought this was necessary !
Fog is just as bad as a blizzard yet it is usually not taken seriously by drivers.
Maybe one day our gps in our vehicles will have the technology to alert us when trains are running thru intersections.
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Post by OptimallyDismal on Mar 15, 2024 6:34:20 GMT -6
Here was my situation one day:
Hauling canola to ADM at Carberry, semi trailer, weather is clear
Got to suicide corner at #1 and #5 at Carberry, pea soup fog, could see about 200 feet
Stopped at the stop sign, now what? Traffic is 100 KPH on #1.
I shut the truck off and listened for traffic, but realizing that I have 15 seconds if I hear a vehicle 1/4 mile away and sound is muffled somewhat in that kind of fog, starting the truck and getting moving leaves a very small window.
I wished I had never entered that intersection, I also couldn't back up as I couldn't see far enough if someone was coming up behind me.
My point here is to make you think ahead if you are in a similar situation, if I was smarter I would have gone in the right turn lane, merged going west and either drive out of the fog and u-turned around to go east, for another right merge into Carberry or just go home and wait for a better day, knowing it could be foggy for a long time.
Coming back an hour later it was clear.
What would you do?
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Post by Oatking on Mar 15, 2024 6:46:54 GMT -6
Here was my situation one day: Hauling canola to ADM at Carberry, semi trailer, weather is clear Got to suicide corner at #1 and #5 at Carberry, pea soup fog, could see about 200 feet Stopped at the stop sign, now what? Traffic is 100 KPH on #1. I shut the truck off and listened for traffic, but realizing that I have 15 seconds if I hear a vehicle 1/4 mile away and sound is muffled somewhat in that kind of fog, starting the truck and getting moving leaves a very small window. I wished I had never entered that intersection, I also couldn't back up as I couldn't see far enough if someone was coming up behind me. My point here is to make you think ahead if you are in a similar situation, if I was smarter I would have gone in the right turn lane, merged going west and either drive out of the fog and u-turned around to go east, for another right merge into Carberry or just go home and wait for a better day, knowing it could be foggy for a long time. Coming back an hour later it was clear. What would you do? I tend to worry about others safety than getting one extra load of oats in to the elevator . I always wait out the fog . At seeding time , it’s not great to try and seed with a thick fog anyways. Did you find you felt like you were playing with fire when crossing that intersection optimal ? |
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Post by Oatking on Mar 15, 2024 6:50:04 GMT -6
Great reminders to drive safe. We don’t need to make the six o’clock news cast !
It seems truckers always get the bad rap and tends to force government to tighten up our rules and regulations. I guess it’s not a bad thing but the four wheelers are not innocent either
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Post by OptimallyDismal on Mar 15, 2024 8:12:51 GMT -6
Playing with fire would be an understatement, I never want to be in that situation again, it was 30 years ago, hadn't had my class 1 for very long, but you have to think ahead a lot more when you are driving a semi than a smaller vehicle, you are a bigger, slower target!
Have heard lots of fog and train stories from neighbors that make me think too that they were all familiar with the tracks being there and forgot where they were, makes me wonder about the people on unfamiliar roads wouldn't have a chance.
I guess I am getting old and cautious.
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Post by SWMan on Mar 15, 2024 23:07:06 GMT -6
My neighbor drove into a train with a full cattle pot. Main line, high speed, de-railed and he was lucky to be alive!
If the weather is crappy I just don't haul, especially any distance. Not worth it.
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Post by kevlar on Mar 16, 2024 11:32:05 GMT -6
I hate driving in fog, impossible to keep your bearings straight. Just after I got my class 1 I was going to pick up a dozer or track hoe for the guys I worked for. Was thick fog and I knew their was a stop sign coming up, was just poking along and all of a sudden I seen the stop sign right beside me. Thankfully it was on gravel roads but the road I crossed is a busier PR road, felt sick after I ran the intersection, could have been bad.
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Post by shmiffy on Mar 18, 2024 23:51:09 GMT -6
Years ago I didn’t mind driving in fog. But now there will be someone parking the middle of the road. It’s just a matter of where. Same goes with blowing snow. There will be a semi parked across the highway north of town east of town. Or cars just stopped in the lane in a snow bank.
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