Don't leave vehicle running

[Midniteoyl]

And leaving an unattended vehicle running in city is not "stupid"? doing something stupid is one of the things tha falls under "contributory negligence" for insuirance adjusters . One of the reasons for making it a illegal is to cut down on police time due to begin called to 'car theft' when most of them are just "joy rides" (as was the one under discussion - dthat kid had a habit of it.

Some things are made "illegal" for the good of the community.
Harry K

Harry K

Thats what I said - being stupid. If you leave it running and its stolen, too bad, the insurance company need not pay. Having to deal with being charged with a crime ALSO is not cool, and, well, just plain stupid. Like we dont have enough idiotic laws on the books..

 

[cletus99]

The vehicle is a very old truck, 60s or early 70s year model at least. There's no other way it could have happened except for it jumping in gear. As I said, there are two gates to his property. He opened the first gate. Drove in and shut the gate. Walked around in front of the truck to open the second gate when it ran him over. If it had been in gear prior then it would have already ran into the front gate while he was shutting the gate behind the truck. The gate was already shut and locked behind him when he was found.

 

[Ken45101]

Then change the law. Until then, any idiot who pulls a gun and shoots at someone driving away is committing unjustified homicide and should go to jail. I don't want self appointed executioners dispensing their personal version of justice on the fly.

Depending on where you live, the law does not "have to be changed". Some states allow lethal force against a thief, even if unarmed and leaving. Others, obviously, do not.

Texas, for example, allows lethal force to stop a thief after dark.

I'm not saying I agree, I'm just pointing out that the law varies from state to state.

 

[Midniteoyl]

The vehicle is a very old truck, 60s or early 70s year model at least. There's no other way it could have happened except for it jumping in gear. As I said, there are two gates to his property. He opened the first gate. Drove in and shut the gate. Walked around in front of the truck to open the second gate when it ran him over. If it had been in gear prior then it would have already ran into the front gate while he was shutting the gate behind the truck. The gate was already shut and locked behind him when he was found.

I could see, if there was enough slop and wear in the shift linkage, forks, and gears, where the weight of the shifter and linkage might be enough engage (3rd gear?) enough to cause the truck to roll. 3rd, if I recall, is simply straight down from 2nd and is easy to slip into from Neutral. The teeth would only have to be slightly engage or even just rubbing and skipping, to roll the truck. Especially if there was a slight dip towards the second gate already. Even that slow, the mass of the truck and couple HP of thrust would be enough to trap a man.

 

[dmccarty]

Doesn't look very hilly:

From:
Worth News Monday - Unfortunate Accident is Fatal | Worth County GA Online NewsWorth County GA Online News

View attachment 345862

Hard to imagine a truck in neutral having enough force to roll over someone in the terrain in the photo. But 50 yards away may be a hill...???

If it went into gear, with enough energy to not stall and to roll over someone, what finally stopped the truck? The gate?

Bruce

Yeah, it really does not make any sense. The ground looks really flat.

Apparently the vehicle was not in gear, moved forward and pinned Etheredge underneath the vehicle.

It does not take much of an incline to move a vehicle. Maybe there is an incline near the gate that is not visible. I had my truck move once when the parking brake was not set all of the way. The truck started to move as soon as I got out of the cab but it was easy for me to push the brake the rest of the way in. No way could I have physically stopped the truck from moving. If I had been behind the truck and tried to physically stopped the truck it would have been ugly. The driveway is inclined at the gate, enough of an incline that the truck will stall if put in gear and not given some fuel.

If his parking brake was not fully set like mine was that one time and he was on an incline, I could see the accident happening. He was too young too.

When I get off the tractor, I put down the FEL and ground whatever 3PH implement is attached. My tractor has three levers required to put the tractor in gear. I try to remember to move two of the levers to put the tractor in neutral if I get off the tractor with the engine running. If I do these things that tractor is not moving irregardless of the parking brake.

Later,
Dan

 

[cletus99]

Why do you all keep trying to speculate and claim it doesn't make sense and try to over rationalize everything. The article is not completely correct on its details. What I've posted is from what my coworker told me that is a volunteer firefighter that was on the scene and what the investigators found. My point of the post was just to bring awareness to the danger of leaving a vehicle running when not attended. Accidents can happen.

 

[dmccarty]

Why do you all keep trying to speculate and claim it doesn't make sense and try to over rationalize everything. The article is not completely correct on its details. What I've posted is from what my coworker told me that is a volunteer firefighter that was on the scene and what the investigators found. My point of the post was just to bring awareness to the danger of leaving a vehicle running when not attended. Accidents can happen.

To try to figure out what really happened. I leave my truck and tractor all of the time with the engine running. I am not about to stop either because of one accident but I would like to know what happened to the man. How he died simply does not make any sense. I find it hard to believe his manual transmission just jumped into gear. I just don't see how that can happen in any car I have driven since the early 70s. There is some odd sort of circumstances that led to his death. THOSE circumstances are what is important to understand. I think it is more likely the car rolled over the guy while the tranny was in neutral.

A few days ago, a husband and wife got into a domestic. Long story short, he got into his truck and ran her over. From the first report, it sounded like the truck knocked her down but the tires missed her. In actuality, the tires DID roll over her and broke her pelvis. Given she was in the street with hard pavement I am surprised she is alive. She did say she tensed up her muscles and maybe that kept her from being more seriously injured.

So here is a lady that should be dead, but is alive, yet a guy opens his gate and his truck turns into Christine and kills him. Knowing how the man died is important. Saying to turn off the engine when stopping is not going to save someone's life if the brakes failed or where not set. The details are important but I suspect we will never know.

Later,
Dan

 

[cletus99]

This happened just around the corner from my house. The man's land is flat and there is no hill for the vehicle to roll. I'm telling you what happened which are the facts which is what the investigators determined. I don't know how much clearer I can be. Weird things happen all the time and this is one of them. Believe it or not.