Distracted Trucker Rams Six Emergency Vehicles, Killing Officer (with Dashcam)

[Dr. Gonzo GED]

I see one very small blue and one small red light flashing at the top of a tinted rear window for maybe a second or so before the wreck. Also two very large taillights that aren't blinking, or lit up...giving the appearance of a moving car. The view of which is easily blocked by the cop car.

The only thing obscuring the drivers view was his Facebook page.

I don't disagree, but I think there is a bit of lack of diligent care on the part of the cop.

The guy was surfing the internet and didn't see a whole mess of official vehicles and wreckage ahead of him but a rear blinker would have made all the difference and caught the truckers attention?

Right...

[Aggressive Perfector]

The EMS and police crews were working a crash. The car that got hit was there to close a lane of traffic for the other first responders to work the crash. I saw activated lighting although not an exterior lightbar. To suggest that the trooper somehow shares abrogated responsibility in this is ridiculous. I don't feel any particular animus toward the truck driver. He obviously was inattentive. He will get his day in court.

I'm not blaming the officer, I'm just saying I don't like how the highway patrol handle these situations. It seems border line suicidal. There are millions of idiotic and inattentive drivers on the road. With or without the lights on, it's not hard to believe this could happen. There's no reason to have a man sitting in a parked car in the middle of the highway. If you must block the traffic, put up a large sign in that lane and a warning sign further down the line stating the lane is closed.

[1 Patriot-of-many]

That driver is fucked, not as fucked as he should be, but fucked nontheless.

[Kadmos]

The only thing obscuring the drivers view was his Facebook page.



The guy was surfing the internet and didn't see a whole mess of official vehicles and wreckage ahead of him but a rear blinker would have made all the difference and caught the truckers attention?

Right...

It didn't look like the driver was all over the road. Nor did he run off the road miles back. He hit something that was stopped right in the middle of the road, something drivers even paying full attention have done before.

Forget the screen on the left and just look at the one on the right, at what second would you have said "I'd better brake, he's not moving!"

[blacksheep]

Well then police departments and Highway Patrols better start thinking about finding another way to do this. Because idiots like this are everywhere.

I've seen some states use a DOT salt/plow truck with the crash block attachment on the back, this seems a better alternative to a cruiser, but how do you defend against an idiot in a 80,000 pd. tractor trailer ?

[Dr. Gonzo GED]

...at what second would you have said "I'd better brake, he's not moving!"

The moment I see something in the lane ahead. Be it a car (moving or otherwise) piece of debris or the frickin' Mothman / Jersey Devil / Sasquatch. If something is up ahead I slow down and prepare to break completely if necessary while simultaneously checking to see if it's safe to make a lane change.

You wanna know why? Because "safe stopping distance". That's why. And I've done just that, in the same situation as Mr. Facebook more times than I can count. Almost daily when I commuted in California, actually. I've had closer calls than in the OP too (read big fat mule deer running out directly in front of the car on the highway in pitch blackness) and I've avoided them handily through plain old diligence and competent driving. No wrecks in over ten years with literally thousands of hours on the road (professional driver).

If you can't handle these basic driving fundamentals (watching the road, not crashing into obstacles) then you shouldn't be behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.