As I drive for a living, I was horrified at the wreck on I-75 involving six cars and a semi. From what I have gathered, the semi driver didn’t have a logbook (required) and had been driving for over 11 hours that day, 15 hours straight, in fact.
I understand the pressures and stress that driving a semi can have on a person. I also understand that there is a level of personal responsibility and care that goes into this job.
First, considering he had passed by several truck stops, at least five that I can think of, tells me that he had no intention of stopping and resting, which he legally was required to do. Some may put blame on the trucking company, which if he was “forced” to drive, they might be partially to blame. But, he chose to keep driving. He chose to go beyond what we are legally allowed to drive. The keys were in his hands.
I have been in situations where I had to make a choice, to either drive over my legal hours and get it there, or to call and notify whomever that legally, I had to stop. I chose to stop, and the load was late. It still got to its destination, just a day later. Some less than ideal or reputable companies may threaten to fire a driver if they don’t keep driving, but in my opinion, that decision is still up to the person in the driver’s seat.
Whatever the driver was hauling for Amazon, it was not worth the lives lost and the damage to others that he caused. Period. Yes, semi drivers are under a lot of stress, and to follow an entire book full of rules and regulations that at times even contradict themselves. But this was the fault of the driver.
Another opinion piece had put part of the blame on how the 24/75 split is set up. I’m sorry but that is no excuse. There are at least three signs, miles ahead, that notify drivers of the directions to 75 and 24. They are even painted on the road itself. I have seen with my own eyes, cars that will stop in the middle of the freeway to merge onto 24, bypassing the long line of traffic. I have seen them try to squeeze in at the last minute as well.
While I put the blame of exhaustion and not paying attention to the road on the truck driver, there is also blame on cars that hold up traffic going straight onto 75 northbound. There are plenty of other exits to utilize if you miss the exit ramp. Drivers cannot just stop traffic and expect to be let in halfway down the line of cars that stayed in the correct lane, even though traffic was backed up.
John Spencer