DS
Fenderbender
You shot the dog didn't you...
Anyone want to investigate an accident?
- Thread starter dannyboy
- Start date
dannyboy
From the promised LAND
Sorry about the delay. Had some intense storms here the past few days. Had a tree fall on my 70 442, and some others took out the internet and electric as well. Been spotty as far as service.
As far as the accident, the investigator went to the building to inspect the front of the vehicle. There was a lot of metal damage to the steering and suspension on the vehicle. But what was of the most interest was one of the tie rods. While it was broken, there was a large area of rust in the break. The rust indicated that there was a failure that very well could, and most likely did cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The area that was not rusted was very small, and almost any type of movement could have caused it to break.
And as I mentioned earlier, the seat belt also malfunctioned. That malfunction, even though properly buckled, allowed him to be thrown through the windshield.
The follow up on this accident was that the policeman admitted that he did not actually talk much with the driver, he relied on snippets of what was said to the rescue personnel, and assumptions he made. Like for instance the old burger wrappers throughout the cab, along with the statement made to the squad led him to believe that the driver had been eating and driving, which was wrong.
The main reason I am posting this thread is that there are many accidents at UPS. Some are very clearly the fault of the driver. Some clearly not so. But then there are times when it is not so clear.
Couple that with the fact that UPS has a background of allowing vehicles out on road that are not particularly safe (see thread on mechanic being fired for whistle blowing on cracked frames), It makes me wonder how they would try to handle this type of situation.
As for the UPS driver involved in something like this, the police report would have a major impact on the investigation. And the package car would either be repaired very quickly or towed away to where followup investigation would not be possible. There is not much of a safety net for drivers in this case, should UPS decide that the police report in this single vehicle accident is to be relied on, and the driver either fired or suspended.
For sure there would not be an admission of guilt from UPS that they had an equipment failure.
End result of this investigation was that the paper had to print a retraction, and the police report was changed to reflect the new evidence. Of course the retraction in the paper was a 1X2 inch spot buried on page 27.
d
As far as the accident, the investigator went to the building to inspect the front of the vehicle. There was a lot of metal damage to the steering and suspension on the vehicle. But what was of the most interest was one of the tie rods. While it was broken, there was a large area of rust in the break. The rust indicated that there was a failure that very well could, and most likely did cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The area that was not rusted was very small, and almost any type of movement could have caused it to break.
And as I mentioned earlier, the seat belt also malfunctioned. That malfunction, even though properly buckled, allowed him to be thrown through the windshield.
The follow up on this accident was that the policeman admitted that he did not actually talk much with the driver, he relied on snippets of what was said to the rescue personnel, and assumptions he made. Like for instance the old burger wrappers throughout the cab, along with the statement made to the squad led him to believe that the driver had been eating and driving, which was wrong.
The main reason I am posting this thread is that there are many accidents at UPS. Some are very clearly the fault of the driver. Some clearly not so. But then there are times when it is not so clear.
Couple that with the fact that UPS has a background of allowing vehicles out on road that are not particularly safe (see thread on mechanic being fired for whistle blowing on cracked frames), It makes me wonder how they would try to handle this type of situation.
As for the UPS driver involved in something like this, the police report would have a major impact on the investigation. And the package car would either be repaired very quickly or towed away to where followup investigation would not be possible. There is not much of a safety net for drivers in this case, should UPS decide that the police report in this single vehicle accident is to be relied on, and the driver either fired or suspended.
For sure there would not be an admission of guilt from UPS that they had an equipment failure.
End result of this investigation was that the paper had to print a retraction, and the police report was changed to reflect the new evidence. Of course the retraction in the paper was a 1X2 inch spot buried on page 27.
d
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