Accidents Don't Just Happen

1. Accidents Don’t Just Happen In the first days of July, I was in a safety meeting talking about a story that was in the news. The story read, “About 3:20 a.m., the Salt Lake City Fire Department said, “an asphalt oil tanker” that was not connected to a truck and was left in a parking lot overnight began rolling for an unknown reason.” Interestingly enough, every driver in the room started to chuckle. I asked, “what makes this story so amusing?” One of the groups more outspoken participants said, “Unknown reason my… Somebody didn’t take the time to chock and block and make damn sure that trailer was going to stay where he left it.” Accident? Yes. Preventable? 100% In the days since the story I’ve witnessed several other “accidents,” or the aftermath of accidents, as I’ve traveled around town. First, I watched a horse trailer uncouple from the truck that was pulling it on the freeway. No safety chains, no emergency brakes, just a horse trailer, coasting on auto pilot, until the right barrier wall lifted it up on two wheels and it did some fancy solo maneuvers across all lanes of traffic. Magically, no one was hurt and as far as I could tell, the trailer was empty (no horses). Accident? Yes. Preventable? 100% I watched the front driver side wheel come off a ford explorer on the freeway. The explorer came down on the brake rotor making a really cool shower of sparks as the driver wrestled it to the right shoulder. The wheel, one of those real tall ones with the low-profile tires, kept on rolling for about a ½ mile, changing lanes twice and then coming to rest on the middle barrier wall. Accident? Yes. Preventable? 100% I also saw the aftermath of 3 other “accidents” involving two vehicles during the last 4 weeks. Two involved a car crossing the double yellow lines into the opposite turn lane, to be hit by an oncoming vehicle. The most serious was the classic, turn left on yellow while the guy coming the opposite direction has already committed to “making the yellow” going straight. Oh dang… Boom. Accident? Obviously. Preventable? 100% Accidents happen, but with a little more care, they may not happen as frequently. Double check that vehicles and trailers are blocked from rolling away (even if it seems impossible). Double check connections on trailers and verify that loads are secure in the back of trailers and trucks. If you get new tires, or have the old ones rotated, have the lugs re-checked before you leave the shop, or check them yourself. Never cross double yellow lines into the opposite direction’s turn lane. Don’t rush the light, the next one is only minutes away. Always be on the lookout for motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians. A little extra care may save a life and who knows, that life may be your own.