Slow Driver at Fault?

[Busdriver1964]

Hmm from the info I see.. This Judge is an idiot.. The MAX Speed is 110.. I would use caution when overtaking extremely slow moving vehicles

[Auto1]

If a slow driver was found to be at fault (it was only 10%), why were the two truck drivers also not found 10% guilty?

That doesn't seem fair, or sound fair.

It was the idiot that HAD TO PASS NOW that was the problem. He should be found 100% guilty.

[Dizzy1]

The camper was in the far left lane doing 25kmh less then the posted speed limit on a 3 lane highway - I'm pretty sure that that is the deciding factor in the judges ruling. It would have been prudent, defensive and courteous to have stayed in the middle lane following the truck at 70kmh.

A camper isn't a sports car, going up hill the acceleration is lacking. One should know the limits of their vehicle and apply them accordingly to the dynamics of traffic.

It could very well have been that the camper may have pulled into the left lane pretty close to the pick up as it was coming up - that could very well have been another deciding factor.

[Auto1]

Good points... Here is a link to the article for others, if they would like to read up on it.

http://www.castanet.net/news/BC/150304/ ... t#comments

[Dizzy1]

It was the idiot that HAD TO PASS NOW that was the problem. He should be found 100% guilty.

One could argue that the camper driver was just as guilty of having to pass now ;)

[Busdriver1964]

The camper was in the far left lane doing 25kmh less then the posted speed limit on a 3 lane highway - I'm pretty sure that that is the deciding factor in the judges ruling. It would have been prudent, defensive and courteous to have stayed in the middle lane following the truck at 70kmh.

A camper isn't a sports car, going up hill the acceleration is lacking. One should know the limits of their vehicle and apply them accordingly to the dynamics of traffic.

It could very well have been that the camper may have pulled into the left lane pretty close to the pick up as it was coming up - that could very well have been another deciding factor.

Yes I would think that the camper was close to it max speed/limit going up the hill but still passing the trucks at reasonable speed.. Maybe she pulled out in front of the suburban.. But i f he had taken his foot of the gas for 20 seconds I am sure there would be no accident.. 20 seconds.. small amount of time in the big picture

[Dizzy1]

Many countries I've driven in would have made it illegal for the camper to have been in the far left lane with signage. The two right lanes would be fine but the left lane would be for passenger cars/trucks only.

[Always Sunny]

It was the idiot that HAD TO PASS NOW that was the problem. He should be found 100% guilty.

One could argue that the camper driver was just as guilty of having to pass now ;)

I tend to agree with Dizzy on this one.

If I'm on a multi-lane highway and wish to pass, I ensure that the speed I'm capable of achieving is not unsafe to those traveling behind me (in the fast/passing lane). If I come around a corner and find myself behind a transport doing 50km/h below the limit, the first thing I make sure of is that I can safely get around that vehicle and get up to at least highway speed to pass.

Absolutely the SUV should be found most at fault. But it's also a nice change to see discourteous slow traffic being responsible for their role.

[Auto1]

To be clear, I feel that either ALL of the slow drivers should have been charged, not just one.

Sorry that my thoughts were not clear.

I strongly dislike slow drivers... But the horn on my car works :)

Seriously, I agree that the slow drivers should have been more conscientious, but the fast guy should have problem solved differently as well.

[rustled]

But why would you fine the semi drivers?

Loaded semis can't do the limit going up steep hills. That's why the highway has those extra lanes, so they can keep hauling all our stuff up those steep hills without blocking the rest of us.

[LoneWolf_53]

But why would you fine the semi drivers?

Loaded semis can't do the limit going up steep hills. That's why the highway has those extra lanes, so they can keep hauling all our stuff up those steep hills without blocking the rest of us.

True, but you also need to factor in that semi drivers are supposedly professionals, and thus held to a higher standard, yet I always tend to question their competence, when I encounter two of them side by side going up a hill, and it doesn't take a genius to note that the one thinking he can pass, clearly can't, so in essence rather than actually acting like a pro, and following the other rig up the hill, he opts to effectively block a lane, and sow the seeds of road rage.

How is that professional?

Time and time again I see scenarios like that, and I for one, think they should be subject to hefty fines for such stupidity.

If that's what passes for professional these days, I'd have to assume the bar has been lowered a lot from days gone by.

[Always Sunny]

Would the outside lane of a three-lane highway on an uphill climb not be considered a climbing lane? Because of that the remaining two lanes would act as your traditional travel/passing lanes.

In this scenario the truck traveling 70km/h would be in the "travel" lane, while the camper was doing 85km/h in the passing lane. That is 25km/h below the posted limit. Why on earth would someone towing a camper decide that passing while traveling uphill was a reasonable idea?

[rustled]

True, but you also need to factor in that semi drivers are supposedly professionals, and thus held to a higher standard, yet I always tend to question their competence, when I encounter two of them side by side going up a hill, and it doesn't take a genius to note that the one thinking he can pass, clearly can't, so in essence rather than actually acting like a pro, and following the other rig up the hill, he opts to effectively block a lane, and sow the seeds of road rage.

How is that professional?

Time and time again I see scenarios like that, and I for one, think they should be subject to hefty fines for such stupidity.

Semis routinely catch up to slower-moving, usually heavier trucks. When they are fully loaded and this happens on an uphill climb, they try to maintain forward momentum for as long as possible. In this case, one semi was passing the other, but it's not all that unusual to think you'll be able to pass and then discover you can't, after all. The driver doesn't necessarily know what's under the hood of the other truck, or what it's hauling. They just know they've caught up and need to pass if possible, or lose momentum and make their trucks work harder for longer to crest the hill.

On a three-lane hill, like Larsen, this shouldn't matter much to the rest of us. The inside vehicle just zips around the slower-moving trucks, and the traffic behind does the same. Some of us are very briefly delayed and then all of us can move forward at our normal at-or-just-over-the-limit pace while the big guys sort it out.

It's much less convenient for us when it happens on two-lane hills, but we still shouldn't assume the driver in the passing lane knew it was going to happen and did it anyway just to hold us up.

I used to think some less than flattering things about semi drivers. Then I had to spend a few years riding in one. It's a very different view from up there, for a whole lot of reasons. Some semi-drivers are idiots, yes, but all of them have to contend with far more than I had ever realized.

[LoneWolf_53]

^^^ I understand what you're saying, and yes there certainly are times where we need to cut some slack, but one of the places I've noted this is bridge hill, where it was far worse when it was just two lanes, but I'd driven it enough to observe that it was often the same, or same type of trucks.

I simply felt that given how steep the hill is, and the fact that they drove it repeatedly, the lights should have gone off and clued them in. It's not like they'd have built up much momentum coming off the bridge.

[hotsummer09]

Here is how I see this scenario. The chip truck was doing 25km, the semi was doing 70km which is 45km faster than the chip truck. The camper was doing 85km which is 15km faster than the semi so theoretically it shouldn't have taken her very long to complete the pass. The suburban was travelling at 128km which is 43km faster than the camper, so when the camper pulled out to pass the semi the suburban probably wasn't even in the vision of her mirrors. Personally I cannot see how she could be in the wrong, every licensed driver has the right to use these roads if she is travelling faster than the next slower vehicle she has every right to pass. The judge called her a timid driver, she probably had her foot in it trying to complete the pass. As far as I am concerned people on the roads nowadays are completely psycho with their driving habits and should be charged accordingly!