Another fatal accident involving a tractor-trailer; a hit and run.
This news story is in French; the incident happened in Québec. In a nutshell, not to be insensitive to the victims but for brevity; there were 4 men in the Acura, one man, a passenger in the backseat, was killed, the 3 other occupants were severely injured, and are in hospital. The vehicle was hit by a tractor-trailer who fled the scene. (Yeah, no way did he not know. IMO, this is murder, plain and simple.)
There has to be a re-vamp of the industry. Not just driver training, increased surveillance by the departments of transport, country-wide but far more scrutiny of trucking companies. They are out there, operating as if they are consequence free. Changing company names, owners, like most of us change our underdrawers.
It is not just the disregard for public safety, thumbing their collective noses at highway codes but the rights of the drivers as well. (A topic for a whole other blog.)
Are there incompetent and downright dangerous operators out there? Abso-freaking-lutely. Professionalism as drivers seems to have disappeared at an alarming rate. Unsafe speed, lane changes, dangerous conditions of trucks, tires, the use of electronic devices while driving – handsfree or not – bloody dangerous (4-wheelers included). There simply aren’t enough safety checks, by a long shot, going on. Monitored weigh stations are, obviously, not enough.
As an aside: not just trucks – those monstrous RVs are included. Paw-paw and Mee-maw (grandpère et grandmère) do not have the training to control a vehicle of that size. New licensing categories must be introduced.
Our roads are not the wild west; all drivers deserve to be safe out there.
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