Hit while parked, new rant, join in

[toonertoo]

Why is it so hard to understand the difference between "at fault" and "avoidable??"

Its not hard to understand the difference. It is hard to accept losing the status of your years of safe driving, when it is called avoidable, when you are not at fault. And Im not quitting, Im here for the money. Use whatever you please when some person not paying attention hits me and then tell me where I shoulda parked. No I didnt lose my sdy, but it could happen.

 

[satellitedriver]

Its not hard to understand the difference. It is hard to accept losing the status of your years of safe driving, when it is called avoidable, when you are not at fault. And Im not quitting, Im here for the money. Use whatever you please when some person not paying attention hits me and then tell me where I shoulda parked. No I didnt lose my sdy, but it could happen.

I saw a bumper sticker today on a BMW.
Classic bleach blond, bot-ox, injected lips, phony white teeth, ....Babe....at the age of at least 60.
The sticker said;
"Touch my car and I will kill you."
My sick brain immediately went to this thread.
Lock and load.

 

[soberups]

I did not say that blocking a driveway would put a driver AT FAULT.

I did say it would AVOIDABLE.

Learn how to read.

In terms of the warning letter that will be issued to the driver, the terms "at fault" and "avoidable" mean the same thing.

 

[over9five]

Barnyard's the type of person who (using Sobers example), if he backed out of his driveway and hit the garbage truck would not only blame the garbage truck driver...
He'd take him to court and sue him for having the audacity to park his truck!

C'mon Barnyard, why won't you take responsibility for YOUR actions????

At UPS, avoidable equals fault. If you can't see that, you've had too much of the kool-aid.


(PS, you're on the safety committee, aren't you?)

 

[Bubblehead]

Barnyard's the type of person who (using Sobers example), if he backed out of his driveway and hit the garbage truck would not only blame the garbage truck driver...
He'd take him to court and sue him for having the audacity to park his truck!

C'mon Barnyard, why won't you take responsibility for YOUR actions????

At UPS, avoidable equals fault. If you can't see that, you've had too much of the kool-aid.


(PS, you're on the safety committee, aren't you?)

I'd bet my paycheck he's on the safety committee.

 

[barnyard]

Barnyard's the type of person who (using Sobers example), if he backed out of his driveway and hit the garbage truck would not only blame the garbage truck driver...
He'd take him to court and sue him for having the audacity to park his truck!

C'mon Barnyard, why won't you take responsibility for YOUR actions????

At UPS, avoidable equals fault. If you can't see that, you've had too much of the kool-aid.


(PS, you're on the safety committee, aren't you?)

You just do not get it.

Let's try and explain it with real simple examples.

When I was a kid, my folks bought me a bike. They told me to put it away when I was done riding it. Didn't always put it in the garage and one night it was stolen. I didn't do it, but it was certainly avoidable if I had put it away.

Wouldn't you agree??

Another example, this one with a UPSer. A UPS driver is in the habit of leaving his key in the ignition while delivering. The person separates the keys in the morning, putting one in the bulkhead and the other in the ignition. He finishes a delivery and cannot find his truck, it was stolen. He did not steal it, yet had he not left the keys in the ignition, maybe it would not have been stolen.

We are told day in and day out that the people driving around us are idiots. We are also told to make ourselves as hard to hit as possible.

Why would you not follow the directions of the people that have the power to fire you???

 

[Bubblehead]

Barnyard's the type of person who (using Sobers example), if he backed out of his driveway and hit the garbage truck would not only blame the garbage truck driver...
He'd take him to court and sue him for having the audacity to park his truck!

C'mon Barnyard, why won't you take responsibility for YOUR actions????

At UPS, avoidable equals fault. If you can't see that, you've had too much of the kool-aid.


(PS, you're on the safety committee, aren't you?)

I'd bet my paycheck he's on the safety committee.

You just do not get it.

Let's try and explain it with real simple examples.

When I was a kid, my folks bought me a bike. They told me to put it away when I was done riding it. Didn't always put it in the garage and one night it was stolen. I didn't do it, but it was certainly avoidable if I had put it away.

Wouldn't you agree??

Another example, this one with a UPSer. A UPS driver is in the habit of leaving his key in the ignition while delivering. The person separates the keys in the morning, putting one in the bulkhead and the other in the ignition. He finishes a delivery and cannot find his truck, it was stolen. He did not steal it, yet had he not left the keys in the ignition, maybe it would not have been stolen.

We are told day in and day out that the people driving around us are idiots. We are also told to make ourselves as hard to hit as possible.

Why would you not follow the directions of the people that have the power to fire you???

Guess we'll never find out if Barnyard is on the Saftey Committee.
Just apples and oranges.

 

[Catatonic]

Just apples and oranges.

Something along the lines of what I was thinking.

 

[barnyard]

Guess we'll never find out if Barnyard is on the Saftey Committee.
Just apples and oranges.

Nope.

Was a bunch of years ago. Got sick of the hypocrosy when my Ford P1000 was crushed and replaced with a GM P1000

 

[toonertoo]

Why would you not follow the directions of the people that have the power to fire you???
Because there is only so much you can do, and then you have to make a decision, and go with it, or mark it "not safe to park", and see how that goes over. I could spend 3 or four minutes at every stop, or walk a block. That dont fly either. A certain part of daily life is just luck. You cannot control the world. And you cannot always pick the perfect place. Sometimes there just isnt one.

 

[browned out]

Back in July I was hit while parked and charged with an avoidable.

The safety snitch agreed in the "meeting", and the union did not back me.

I was making a delivery and there were no turnaround points in this narrow apt building parking area ( was driving an old P700, no psteering etc etc). There was a guy coming out of the apts near where the delivery was, so I asked him where apartment was. He said it was one of several buildings.

So I went and parked 1/2 on pavement 1/2 off, with hazards on, behind where the guy was parked. I assumed that when he left I could turn around in his spot since there was enough room).

I came back from delivery and did my back into spot, reversed direction and was leaving. The guy drives back, and on my way out of complex, tells me he backed into my truck. He showed me his crumpled up rear bumper and the rest of the damage to his car.

I was parked the best I could, 15 feet away from any vehicles w/ plenty of room, nowhere near the point of delivery and had just talked to the man.

No damage to truck, no ins claim( he admitted it was 100% his fault on the accident write-up)...

The only thing avoidable is common sense at UPS.

This is a case where everyone needs to grieve the discipline. As far as I know you can not grieve the at fault part. You can grieve the discipline. If it is a suspension; get it reduced to a warning letter; if it is a warning letter; you can get it reduced to a verbal warning.

 

[browned out]

I have to respectfully disagree on that one.
Don't know about Mass but in GA both have a shared responsibility and usually both parties are given a ticket and each is responsible for their own vehicle damage repair.
Another example that is similar, you park going against traffic and someone hits you, the parked vehicle is ticketed and is responsible for damage to both vehicles.

This is insane logic. There are neighborhoods where it is impossible not to block driveways; either because the houses are very close together and the package car is longer than the distance between the driveways or most new subs where the driveways are staggered on either side of the street.

If you are hit while parked; make sure to call the local police and get a police report; this will help you in the hearing or grievance procedure.

 

[toonertoo]

This is insane logic. There are neighborhoods where it is impossible not to block driveways; either because the houses are very close together and the package car is longer than the distance between the driveways or most new subs where the driveways are staggered on either side of the street.

If you are hit while parked; make sure to call the local police and get a police report; this will help you in the hearing or grievance procedure.

While I agree, a police report doesnt do diddly. UPS can still find it avoidable, even when you are not at fault.

 

[rod]

There were one or two times I put a minor scratch in a UPS truck that I got charged with that afterwards I thought to myself, "Damn - why didn't I wrap it around the tree and get my moneys worth"?

 

[satellitedriver]

Why would you not follow the directions of the people that have the power to fire you???

Good question.
Maybe, that is why I am still here.
After 24 yrs of driving, 95% of the people that had the "power" to fire me no longer work at UPS.
In my Center, most were fired for falsifying records.
-( still an on going practice)-
Good luck with keeping the safety numbers looking good.

 

[Coldworld]

Good question.
Maybe, that is why I am still here.
After 24 yrs of driving, 95% of the people that had the "power" to fire me no longer work at UPS.
In my Center, most were fired for falsifying records.
-( still an on going practice)-
Good luck with keeping the safety numbers looking good.

good point sat!

 

[thessalonian13]

hit while parked is the most common accident in our center. We have had a couple unavoidables, but most are avoidable. None of our trucks that were hit were legally parked. We block driveways and get hit, we park at a yellow curb and someone backs out of their space and hits us. The problem that i hear time and time again is that we (meaning ups drivers) think that the hitters should have seen us. Did the ups guy tap the horn? Nope. Wave to make eye contact? Nope.

It is the same story times a thousand. The exact same thing happens every day. Driver pulls up to driveway, thinks customer saw us, blocks driveway, goes in back to get package, customer backs into us.

Every day that exact scenario happens to a ups driver.

Is there really nothing we can do to avoid that???? Really???

A driver in our center has been putting dr notes on cars for a couple of years now. She works in a downtown area and has gone 15+ years accident free. She says she tags a couple cars a day. She also says that she is always looking for people that might be approaching cars near her and asks that they be careful pulling out around her.

I don't double park anymore. If i have a really good parking spot, i load up my 2 wheeler and walk a bunch off. I watch my numbers and they have not changed. I walk a heck of a lot more than i ever have, but no matter, i am paid well.

the problem is people drive around clueless and distracted..... How the hell can you not see our big brown obnoxious trucks!!!!!!!!!! If someone backs into us, it means they were not looking while they were backing. If somebody hits our back bumper, it means they were probably on the cell or texting while driving. Is that our fault? It's easy to blame the big company with the deep pockets.