Local man dies for freedom of choice

[gemini5362]

Here's a sad occurence that just happened last week in the city 4 miles north of me..

A school bus was stopped on the 4 lane.. stop sign deployed, lights flashing.. unloading kids at the end of the day... A semi-truck driver, on his cell phone, plowed into the back of the bus.. no sign that he tried to stop... crushed the rear of the bus.. pushed the bus a couple hundred feet.. semi-cab and bus erupted into flames.

A few brave motorists and people in the area jumped into the burning bus and grabbed as many kids as possible.. one 13yr old child, sadly, was pinned behind crushed chairs in the back of the bus and was not able to be rescued.. she died. It is our only school bus fatalaty in our county.. ever... Now.. on the front page of our local paper.. victoms parents are pushing for more stringent 'school bus safety rules'.. yada..yada..yada..

Is it just me.. or does it seem like the bus was plenty safe as there have been no bus fatalities ever until now....

maybee they should clammer to put rules into place to keep semi-trucks from slamming into the back of stopped busses ? Ya think?

What this illustrates is that grief stricken people lash out and try to make the wrong people responsible for something.. instead of simply focusing on the REAL responsible party.. in this case.. the truck/trucking company/truck driver.. etc. ( the truck had been grounded by DOT earlier that day for a brake probelm.. but was released.. presumably because the brakes were 'fixed'.. investigation is ongoing into that issue to see if dot released the truck too soon.. or the brakes really were fixed.. etc.. etc.. )

soundguy

Soundguy I found your post interesting. A few years ago we had a semi-driver that left the interstate on a long exit ramp that had a slope to it. The semi's brakes failed and just as he got to the end of the ramp a school bus drove in front of it and 4 kids were killed. It makes me wonder how well semi brakes are inspected. Is there a government requirement for them to be checked at a certain mileage.

 

[Soundguy]

I think the original note boxed everyone in. I offered the word uneducated into the mix to show that it can also be a learned/aquired or not behavior.

In your future example (based in the future context of time, looking back at the now) I would use the word - uncivilized.

davinci would be neither.

I parse 'uneducated' to mean not awar of current information.. Whereas.. that menaing would not apply back in the day.. when people were not using something not invented yet.. IMHO.. poor choice of words.

soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

Soundguy I found your post interesting. A few years ago we had a semi-driver that left the interstate on a long exit ramp that had a slope to it. The semi's brakes failed and just as he got to the end of the ramp a school bus drove in front of it and 4 kids were killed. It makes me wonder how well semi brakes are inspected. Is there a government requirement for them to be checked at a certain mileage.

At a minimum.. a comercial truck will have an annual vehicle inspection ( and the sticker must be attached tot he cab somewhere.. with the paper available for inspection by DOT.. etc.. ).. hopefully more often for routine maintenance though..

soundguy

 

[riptides]

I parse 'uneducated' to mean not awar of current information.. Whereas.. that menaing would not apply back in the day.. when people were not using something not invented yet.. IMHO.. poor choice of words.

soundguy

Sure.

ROPS exist in the here and now. Back in the day no. Talking about my post, I was uneducated in ROPS and other safety features of my tractors operation.

I beleive that is what I wrote "I was uneducated".

Nothing more was implied, and your parsing of uneducated (not aware) of current information is OK by me.

How about we go drill some ROPS together! :^) :^)

 

[Soundguy]

I beleive that is what I wrote "I was uneducated".

Yes.. you wrote that in the 2nd or 3rd paragraph.. however.. inthe paragraph above that.. you made fairly blanket statement wondering why older tractors didn't have them.. thien went on to say that not using them must be stupidity or lack of education... I've included your direct quote.. in case you have forgotten what yuo said.:

Now why earlier tractors did not have them is perhaps a topic for discussion. Operating tractors that do not have them is what? Stupidity, or just not being educated?

Since we are talking about 'the old days int he first part of this paragraph.. with no other clues that we are jumping ahead in time for the 2nd sentence.. i can only assume that the 2nd sentence is also refering to that same time period.. IE.. when those old tractors were made. Thus.. you are in effect saying that people using those old tractors, back then.. were either stupid.. or uneducated.. even though the rops were not designed for them back then.

That's the aprt of your statement I object to.

Nothing more was implied.

As you can see.. it was implied... and in a blanket fashion.. since no other qualifiers were used.. and to other contextual info was given to say otherwise.


soundguy

 

[tallyho8]

Geeez! I didn't realize we had to have a major in grammar to reply to a thread in a tractor forum!

 

[riptides]

I can actually remember typing in the word ignorant instead of uneducated.

I thought it to be more negative than uneducated.

 

[gemini5362]

Yes.. you wrote that in the 2nd or 3rd paragraph.. however.. inthe paragraph above that.. you made fairly blanket statement wondering why older tractors didn't have them.. thien went on to say that not using them must be stupidity or lack of education... I've included your direct quote.. in case you have forgotten what yuo said.:





Since we are talking about 'the old days int he first part of this paragraph.. with no other clues that we are jumping ahead in time for the 2nd sentence.. i can only assume that the 2nd sentence is also refering to that same time period.. IE.. when those old tractors were made. Thus.. you are in effect saying that people using those old tractors, back then.. were either stupid.. or uneducated.. even though the rops were not designed for them back then.

That's the aprt of your statement I object to.





As you can see.. it was implied... and in a blanket fashion.. since no other qualifiers were used.. and to other contextual info was given to say otherwise.


soundguy

wow does anyone besides me watch the television show heroes. This post could be in that show

 

[JimmieT]

Soundguy I found your post interesting. A few years ago we had a semi-driver that left the interstate on a long exit ramp that had a slope to it. The semi's brakes failed and just as he got to the end of the ramp a school bus drove in front of it and 4 kids were killed. It makes me wonder how well semi brakes are inspected. Is there a government requirement for them to be checked at a certain mileage.

The driver is required to check the operation of the brakes daily, and adjust if necessary. The mechanic is required to inspect and or adjust every 90 days, and document it. According to Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the documentation and a random sampling of the trucks in question are inspected bi-annually. This is all under the umbrella of B.I.T. or Bi-annual Inspection of Terminals. States can mandate more frequent inspections, never fewer. It's a start, but for the most part all it does is make sure that all the documentation is retained. I had several mechanics that would "pencil-whip" an inspection rather than actually crawl under a rig. As long as the paperwork indicates that an inspection took place, their job was safe, if not the truck. The most important part of the whole process is the driver, of course. If he does a thorough pre-trip inspection daily as required by law, he'd spot and make note of any defects. It was MY job to read and sign off on the pre-trip or pre-operation document. Note that NObody has the authority to sign off on a safety-related defect, ie lights, tires, brakes, wipers, etc. Random D.O.T. truck inspections are effective until the CB radio chatter warns other trucks, then the cops pick up and move to another location. The game has serious consequences...

Edit: I may be talking out my butt about B.I.T. falling under the Feds--might just be what was required of me in California...

 

[Egon]

Darned, I'm thinking I should go get a job so I could get a paycheck for just roaming/postulating/disseminating on the INTERNET!