Sask. Bus Accident

[shawn7231]

And a quick thing the visor helps alot more then your car visor
Proberly was on the phone they should investergate and get his cell and retrieve everything they can get from the providor prior to the acceident .

[stuphoto]

I am a truck driver as well i been all over canada and the US
And always in areas i dont know but never had problems
Im gonna be honest here listen to the owner of the company speak
All he is concern about is no truck no work like who cares what about what happend to the players and family he makes it out like what about me and when asked about his friend that drove the truck proberly wasent even trained properly sorry i had to speak my mind
But if you truly listen to his video he is concern about him and his trucks guess what i dont care
So many of them dont even know how to drive and hundreds have been giving fake class 1 and our goverment never done nothing
Some of them never step in side of a truck and they got a class 1 but its fake

I feel so much for the players and all family members that has been affected by this my thoughts are with them all

As a truck / coach driver I was thinking the same thing Shawn,

I met three other class 1 drivers for coffee that also drive for Bluestar today, and we talked about the accident.
I hope that I am wrong here, but I will be very suprised if the company and drivers don't just disappear before the smoke clears.

[GenesisGT]

Satellite view of the intersection, the bus was heading north on 35 and the semi was heading west on 335.

humb.JPG

[url]
http://www.google.com/maps/place/53°06'13.3%22N+104°01'35.4%22W/@53.1037,-104.0265,561m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d53.1037!4d-104.0265?hl=en[/url]

[generalposter]

As more images and more information regarding the tragedy come forward it becomes more and more heart wrenching for me.

There are reports from a survivor that the bus driver reacted to seeing the truck in his path and screamed out as he tried to brake and avoid the collision. How terrified and caught off guard he must have been. Unthinkable.

I would like to think the investigators will leave absolutely no stone unturned in getting to the root cause. Accidents usually involve a chain of events that sometimes far pre-date the accident itself. If it is revealed that there was any sidestepping training or licencing requirements or distracted driving then it becomes a situation I don't even want to consider.

I would ask that everyone give a moments thought and prayers to the bus driver who saw it coming and paid the ultimate price while trying to deliver his cherished passengers safely to their destination.

[stuphoto]

If it is revealed that there was any sidestepping training or licencing requirements or distracted driving then it becomes a situation I don't even want to consider.

The first company I worked for did hire 2 drivers straight from India.
They both did have commercial drivers licences neither of them had ever hauled a trailer before coming to Canada.
Thankfully my former employer gave them a quick lesson, but I still found it troubling.
( they got away without getting a Canadian licence by using an International licence )

My former employeer also got me to give them both a quick winter driving lesson, which is better than most companies do.
I was still a first year rookie at the time, however I had at least driven in snow my entire driving life.

Now you know why I welcome the completely automated trucks. They should help get rid of some of these drivers.

[Urban Cowboy]

I was speaking with someone today who is friends with a truck-driver who has driven that highway, and the truck driver admitted that he once blew that stop sign without thinking too. He was just lucky that there was no on-coming traffic and he went right through without any consequence. Not sure what it is about that corner. The first thing I would do is chainsaw down all of those trees on that corner.

GB having lived out there for a decade, I believe a huge factor is plain old simple boredom, that I guess manifests itself in a lesser degree of attentiveness. Long straight flat roads = boring.

I'm of the mind that the trees are fine, the solution is to install rumble strips, a suitable enough distance from the stop sign to allow for the safe stopping of a big rig. They work well to snap you back to attention.

[burnedatstake]

I was speaking with someone today who is friends with a truck-driver who has driven that highway, and the truck driver admitted that he once blew that stop sign without thinking too. He was just lucky that there was no on-coming traffic and he went right through without any consequence. Not sure what it is about that corner. The first thing I would do is chainsaw down all of those trees on that corner.

GB having lived out there for a decade, I believe a huge factor is plain old simple boredom, that I guess manifests itself in a lesser degree of attentiveness. Long straight flat roads = boring.

I'm of the mind that the trees are fine, the solution is to install rumble strips, a suitable enough distance from the stop sign to allow for the safe stopping of a big rig. They work well to snap you back to attention.

pray tell how rumble strips will be effective under ice and snow?

[generalposter]

How far east of the intersection was the plant where the truck driver received his load of peat? How long and far had he driven immediately prior to the accident?

[GenesisGT]

Sun location at 5pm, approximate time of the accident, the orange line is civil twilight 6:39pm

Edit: the sun would be at approximately 26 degree angle in the sky.

sun.JPG

[vinnied]

How far east of the intersection was the plant where the truck driver received his load of peat? How long and far had he driven immediately prior to the accident?

His route was from Carrot river to Melfort. Carrot river to the accident site, according to google maps is approximately 48 kilometers, so half hour give or take. Total for entire trip according to google would have been 1 hr 12 min.

[lesliepaul]

There are some variables in play here when someone states "the sun was not in his eyes". How tall is the driver? How low or high does he have his seat positioned? Was a cell phone in use? All of this is being looked at by the RCMP. They already know the basics of this accident. Speed determinations of both vehicles are probably completed. Did either of these vehicles have GPS systems on board? Blood tests will no doubt have been done on both drivers.................."no stone left unturned" would be the phrase here and I would think a couple of weeks at least for a full police report.

One of the pictures shown in a previous post shows the stop sign and flashing light. That picture is from the opposite direction the truck was travelling. But in looking at the trees in the background the sight lines are poor...........willing to bet those trees will be cut down in short order now.

I have driven for decades on the prairies and this pictured intersection with its poor sightlines are everywhere. Many of them have witnessed fatal accidents numerous times. Myself...........I would ALWAYS use MORE CAUTION when approaching these intersections even though I had the "right of way" so to speak. The variable I had was that I was always AWARE of the potential hazard..........even after driving it a 1000 times.

[vinnied]

One of the pictures shown in a previous post shows the stop sign and flashing light. That picture is from the opposite direction the truck was travelling. But in looking at the trees in the background the sight lines are poor...........willing to bet those trees will be cut down in short order now.

another view from another side. I don't know, personally I don't think the trees would be a problem if you were to come to a complete stop.

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[Urban Cowboy]

https://www.trucknews.com/features/calgary-driving-school-charged-with-fraud/

I watch the show "Highway Thru Hell" on Discovery Velocity a lot, and I can assure you I've seen some of this driving school's graduates.

Someone needs to get some serious prison time for this fraudulent scheme, that is putting all manner of lives in jeopardy.

[Bpeep]

Thank you for that GordonH.
in the news article it stated that the truck driver is claiming the sun was in his eyes. Also IMO, by saying that hes admitting to blowing through that stop sign. If in fact the sun was in his eyes, that would have no bearing to him looking north and south to see if there was any traffic coming if he was at a complete stop.

He also would have seen that flashing red a mile away.

[stuphoto]

https://www.trucknews.com/features/calgary-driving-school-charged-with-fraud/

I watch the show "Highway Thru Hell" on Discovery Velocity a lot, and I can assure you I've seen some of this driving school's graduates.

Someone needs to get some serious prison time for this fraudulent scheme, that is putting all manner of lives in jeopardy.

Please don't believe what you see on Reality TV.
When I am driving on the iceroads the most dangerous thing I see is the newbies that actually think the TV show is based on reality.
They don't usually last more than one or two trips.