Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/357935
132 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | AUGUST 2014 PREVENTABLE or NOT? Blue Pony pounces on Doe's delivery O n the morning of the accident, refrigerated straight-truck driver John Doe was rolling along Friendly Road toward Greensboro, N.C., en route to the Fiesta Fresh restaurant with several boxes of Mrs. Hotstuff's Chili Con Carne. At the moment, Doe was listening to a dramatic account, on Channel 19, of a heroic Quebec-based trucker who'd taken a trailer load of broccoli hostage – as a protest against unsafe working conditions – before his capture in Iowa. Holy Hollandaise! Ah hah … there was the "Trucks Only" delivery entrance to Fiesta Fresh, dead ahead. Doe slowed to a crawl, cautiously entered the tiny dock area behind the restaurant and began a wide swing toward the right, at 5 mph, in anticipation of backing to the loading area. His right-turn signal was flashing. Without warning, tragedy struck. Betty Brashly, a sleep-dazed late- for-work waitress, accelerated wildly into the gravel-covered dock area be- hind the wheel of her blue Mustang, seeking a short cut to the employee parking area. Suddenly aware that Doe was turning across her bow, Brashly leaned on her horn, hit the brakes and started to slide. Simultaneously, Doe saw a flash of pink enter the yard and panic-stopped within a few feet but … WHUMPO! Egad! Brashly's pony car had skidded right into, and slightly dented, Doe's right-side saddle tank! Since Doe contested the preventable-accident warning letter from his safety director, the National Safety Council's Accident Review Committee was asked for a final verdict. NSC immediately ruled in Doe's favor, not- ing that he'd proceeded with caution and was stationary when struck by the speed-crazed Brashly. John Doe was preparing to back up to the restaurant's loading area when an employee who was late for work skidded her Mustang into his truck. Was this a preventable accident? Friendly Road Fiesta Fresh Trucks Only