Hypothetical question. WWYD

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
You are on route, you notice because you are aiming high in steering that an acura is coming around a corner at a high rate of speed for conditions and they lose it. You pull as far over as you can, and set the parking brake and wait for the impact.
Car is totaled, driver of car is hurt, and driver of UPS car is hurt.
If you are leaving your self an out,
There is an empty lot,(Leave yourself an out) you may get stuck, you may get property damage, but you will avoid the oncoming car, which will probably gain control and drive on.
Which would you do, and would you do differently in personal vehicle vs, Ups vehicle.
 

cosmo1

Perhaps.
Staff member
You left out "make them see you."

Personally, I'd try my damnedest to get as far out of the way as possible without hurting myself, and deal with the consequences later.

So, what happened?
 

brown bomber

brown bomber
I would of sought the ditch.........I'll take a hit on my own safety record VS. a hit to an oncoming vehicle......head-on encounter w/ a pkg. car......I don't want to see the results
 
S

splozi

Guest
Management would prefer that you call them for advice if such an incident was to occur.

:mobile1:
 

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
Interesting, I didnt bother with "the make sure they see you" as the young girl driving had her hands full of Acura skidding around a bend in a road too fast.
I dont have all the facts, this is what I know.
we were told at the pcm that the driver did everything right. (Which doesnt mean he wont still be charged).
So I hypothetically asked a sup, one on one, what if that happens in the future just so I know. wouldnt it be best to drive in a ditch, yard, field, median, if available, anything to avoid impact?
I know that is what I would do in my personal vehicle. If the driver regains and goes on, so be it. There was no impact. I may need a new muffler, fender, might need a tow. Might even turn in a plate number or hunt them down myself. I know the police and the insurance compnay would be happy I avoided an accident, and that they would believe me.
But we are so trained to do whatever makes mgmt happy, that I think we may make wrong decisions when it comes to life and death. Let this car hit me, its their fault anyway, Im doing everything right. Crassshhhh.
Im with the driver, he did what he was told, but the answer from my sup, was, "no I wouldnt drive off the road, I dont think that would be the right thing to do.
 

UPSGUY72

Well-Known Member
Interesting, I didnt bother with "the make sure they see you" as the young girl driving had her hands full of Acura skidding around a bend in a road too fast.
I dont have all the facts, this is what I know.
we were told at the pcm that the driver did everything right. (Which doesnt mean he wont still be charged).
So I hypothetically asked a sup, one on one, what if that happens in the future just so I know. wouldnt it be best to drive in a ditch, yard, field, median, if available, anything to avoid impact?
I know that is what I would do in my personal vehicle. If the driver regains and goes on, so be it. There was no impact. I may need a new muffler, fender, might need a tow. Might even turn in a plate number or hunt them down myself. I know the police and the insurance compnay would be happy I avoided an accident, and that they would believe me.
But we are so trained to do whatever makes mgmt happy, that I think we may make wrong decisions when it comes to life and death. Let this car hit me, its their fault anyway, Im doing everything right. Crassshhhh.
Im with the driver, he did what he was told, but the answer from my sup, was, "no I wouldnt drive off the road, I dont think that would be the right thing to do.

If your Sup was put in that situation who knows what he would have done. He can say what ever he wants but everybody reacts differently especially when things are happen to them. Some people freeze up and take a defense stand while other people try to take control of the situation a best they can. Even someone put in a similar predicament again might do something totally different.

At the end of the day who cares if they charge you with an accident or not as long as you can make it home to your family in one piece every night should be the only thing you should be worried about.
 

Inthegame

Well-Known Member
Im with the driver, he did what he was told, but the answer from my sup, was, "no I wouldnt drive off the road, I dont think that would be the right thing to do.[/QUOTE]


Thirty two years ago I avoided a car spinning out in front of me by taking the ditch as my "out". It was a snowstorm and an elderly woman lost control and was driving at me in my lane. I was charged with an avoidable accident even though I only needed a tow to get out, not a scratch or any damage. I'd do it again as I would always avoid contact with any vehicle in every instance regardless of what a nitwit sup would say or do.
 

tourists24

Well-Known Member
Interesting, I didnt bother with "the make sure they see you" as the young girl driving had her hands full of Acura skidding around a bend in a road too fast.
I dont have all the facts, this is what I know.
we were told at the pcm that the driver did everything right. (Which doesnt mean he wont still be charged).
So I hypothetically asked a sup, one on one, what if that happens in the future just so I know. wouldnt it be best to drive in a ditch, yard, field, median, if available, anything to avoid impact?
I know that is what I would do in my personal vehicle. If the driver regains and goes on, so be it. There was no impact. I may need a new muffler, fender, might need a tow. Might even turn in a plate number or hunt them down myself. I know the police and the insurance compnay would be happy I avoided an accident, and that they would believe me.
But we are so trained to do whatever makes mgmt happy, that I think we may make wrong decisions when it comes to life and death. Let this car hit me, its their fault anyway, Im doing everything right. Crassshhhh.
Im with the driver, he did what he was told, but the answer from my sup, was, "no I wouldnt drive off the road, I dont think that would be the right thing to do.
I dont think it would matter in UPS world which one you would do because no matter which decision you make will be the wrong one in their eyes. I would hope that I would do what I thought was the safest for everyone involved. If they dont like it then let em do whatever will make their boss happy
 

rocket man

Well-Known Member
You are on route, you notice because you are aiming high in steering that an acura is coming around a corner at a high rate of speed for conditions and they lose it. You pull as far over as you can, and set the parking brake and wait for the impact.
Car is totaled, driver of car is hurt, and driver of UPS car is hurt.
If you are leaving your self an out,
There is an empty lot,(Leave yourself an out) you may get stuck, you may get property damage, but you will avoid the oncoming car, which will probably gain control and drive on.
Which would you do, and would you do differently in personal vehicle vs, Ups vehicle.
pretty wierd question ? got any others?
 

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
pretty wierd question ? got any others?
Why rocket man is it a weird question?
I question stuff I dont agree with, Im just asking how others feel, to see if I am a lone wolf, and idiot, or just because my thoughts differ from protocol, that I am indeed right or wrong.
 

satellitedriver

Moderator
You are on route, you notice because you are aiming high in steering that an acura is coming around a corner at a high rate of speed for conditions and they lose it. You pull as far over as you can, and set the parking brake and wait for the impact.
Car is totaled, driver of car is hurt, and driver of UPS car is hurt.
If you are leaving your self an out,
There is an empty lot,(Leave yourself an out) you may get stuck, you may get property damage, but you will avoid the oncoming car, which will probably gain control and drive on.
Which would you do, and would you do differently in personal vehicle vs, Ups vehicle.
Hit the ditch.
Old-(wise)- military shout, when an opposing force is attacking you.
I have had my favorite face go through a windshield and ended up bloody lying in the road.
I wish I had the option to drive into a ditch that night.
Anyone can Monday morning quarterback an accident.
Two years ago, my neighbors 18yr old son died after hitting a cow on the road.
I drive over that spot everyday and the paint is still on the road that the Texas DPS left on the road.
The paint is just 3 letters.
POI
Point of Impact.

 
I dont think it would matter in UPS world which one you would do because no matter which decision you make will be the wrong one in their eyes. I would hope that I would do what I thought was the safest for everyone involved. If they dont like it then let em do whatever will make their boss happy
Well said. No matter what the driver does or doesn't do in this situation, he/she will have "failed" to do something in management's eyes. This is a no win situation for the driver, even though he/she has no control whatsoever over the other vehicle. Just a bad situation all the way around.
 

Brownslave688

You want a toe? I can get you a toe.
Had a similar incident at our center driver ran off the road to avoid a car in his lane. He then did thousands of dollars of damage to the truck and someone's personal property. Driver was fired and is still going through the process of if he will get his job back. From the outside the answer looks simple. However the vehicle in this case didn't stop and as far as ups is concerned there is no "proof" it was ever there.
 

Johney

Well-Known Member
Had a similar incident at our center driver ran off the road to avoid a car in his lane. He then did thousands of dollars of damage to the truck and someone's personal property. Driver was fired and is still going through the process of if he will get his job back. From the outside the answer looks simple. However the vehicle in this case didn't stop and as far as ups is concerned there is no "proof" it was ever there.
This would be my concern also, but like someone said before you don't really know what you'd do in that situation until it happens to you. Instinct may put you in the ditch or fear may freeze you and CRASH.
 

old levi's

blank space
Path of least resistance / coupled with doing anything I can to avoid or reduce personal injury to them and especially to faded jeans
 

AKCoverMan

Well-Known Member
We were hit with freezing rain one day, I was running with chains because you could not get going on any incline with the ice. Chains are great to help you move but don't help you stop much on ice.

So I on a long slow downhill road and I am starting to slip and slide, can't brake as wheels are locking up and skidding if I give any pressure to brake. Tried to downshift but did not slow me down enough fast enough and the street ended about a block ahead at a T intersection with a stop sign. Added to that trees and houses obscured the view of the intersection in both directions.

It quickly became obvious that the choices were to put the car in the snow berm on either side of the road, or slide through the intersection ahead and if I was lucky enough not to hit anyone, bury the nose of the car into the snow berm there. No brainer really I put the right tire into the snow, soon I was stopped.

The center called a tow truck, he also got stuck on the side of this road and had to winch himself out. An hour later with a 2nd tow truck and winch lines strung up to the top of the hill they got me out of the snow and inched down to the intersection.

I drove back to the center and sheeted the remain 30ish stops ECD.

Didn't hear a word the next morning.
 
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