Trip ends in tragedy

[Scott & Heather]

Funny how anti dash cam you guys are lol. Why is it that nearly every trucking company is now installing them in their trucks? Because they are banking that it's going to protect them and their drivers from the "he said she said" syndrome. I know there are ridiculous lawyers and cases but there are a lot of cut and dry cases too every day just like Richards where a camera simply proves that someone made a fatal error. End of story. To each their own. I have cameras covering every square foot of my coach front back and sides and they are rolling 24/7 whether the bus is moving or not. Someday I'll either be incriminated by them because of my own error or exonerated by them cause of someone else's. That's my gamble.


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[luvrbus]

I am not anti dash cam I have 2 but if I was involved in a accident it would take a court order for me to release the info I sure wouldn't put it out on you tube is what I am saying for all the crooked a** attorneys to see.Richard has enough to worry about dealing with the insurance co's now any ways without this.PS Scott if check the dash cams in trucks they face the driver not the front   

[Scott & Heather]

There's some truth to that no doubt cliff. I agree it makes me think twice how many cameras are out there in the world....but I guess I believe in fighting fire with fire I suppose


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[windtrader]

Scott,
What's wrong with that car changing lanes? Out here in Ca, that would be considered very courteous since the blinker was used. There are days here I see multiple cars zooming and swerving across multiple lanes that you'd think you were in a NASCAR race. Or those who think merging means just keep creeping into your lane, irrespective of the fact there is a car there and no space. could go on and on and ... LOL

Quick funny story. When I drove the bus from Denver a few months ago, it was so pleasant, even leaving Denver, that drivers were so calm and driving sanely. In a 1500 mile journey I rarely saw any CA driving moves, for that matter hardly any excessive speeding. I saw a bit of craziness rolling through SLC during rush hour. But as soon as I got into Dave's neighborhood (outskirts of Sacramento) did it instantly turn nuts. Then I knew I was home.

[Zephod]

I have 4 cameras on the work bus. One shows the driver and stairwell, one shows in front of the bus and two give different vantage points down the aisle. Newer schoolbusses have a camera that records the plates of anybody driving through the stop sign. I had three people do that today.


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[akroyaleagle]

I agree with S&H, Don, Clifford and some others on most of their discussions.

I am not afraid of lawyers or law enforcement.

I would not provide the tape to a plaintiffs legal team. It is MY property and I will do with it as I see fit. If it sheds light on what happened for law enforcement or my own benefit, I will provide it. If it would incriminate me, I would erase it and plead the fifth, if necessary.

Don, I am in my seventies. I have driven everything imaginable except maybe pro-fuel dragsters for 60 years, including doubles/triples/tankers and commercial buses, throughout all 50 of the States, most of the Canadian Provinces and several trips in my coach far down into Mexico. I've driven all over Europe, Greece, Korea and Kenya. I have heard all my life of "LA drivers/California drivers. I have driven many miles in LA and other parts of CA. My experience is that most drivers there will try to accommodate you if they know your intention and can get their heads out of their phones/laptops or whatever else distracts them. There are a lot of folks that must use the roads there. You must "Get with the program" or the opportunity afforded will quickly be withdrawn! Folks out there must and do know how to drive.

On the other hand, I live in South Dakota. We ain't got many people here. It seems sometimes that all of them decide to go somewhere at the same time. We have two Interstates. The speed limit on both of them is 80! All other divided roads it is 70 and single lanes is 65 unless conditions mandate lower. There are times I can be on the Interstate and cannot see another vehicle for miles in either direction. We have lifelong friends that manage to collide at rural intersections and kill each other because neither has ever met another vehicle there and ignore the stop signs, while maintaining speed. Because we don't have public transportation except in two cities nearly 400 miles apart, by necessity, everyone in the rural areas must drive to medical care or shopping. In SD, for some reason, it appears one either dies young or lives to near 100! There are folks still driving here in the Upper Midwest that have been driving nearly 90 years! There is no requirement to recertify ones' driving ability save an eye exam!

Ponder that a minute!

When Frankie was in the hospital a couple of years ago, our youngest Daughter, that lives in Thousand Oaks, CA, rode the 135 miles home with me to get more clothes and the mail. She was snapping photos on her phone for two hours. I said what are you taking all those pictures of? She replied "No traffic"!

That's me! You may have other ideas!

[eagle19952]

There's some truth to that no doubt cliff. I agree it makes me think twice how many cameras are out there in the world....but I guess I believe in fighting fire with fire I suppose


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further..those huge companies have lawyers from .... and wads of cash i can only imagine.
a lawyer will take the case that nets him the big fish.
i will get the lawyer that eats minnows, not sharks.

[Scott & Heather]

Hey don, I know it, she was from jersey so maybe that explains the erratic exit. She hit her brakes in front of us too. Yikesz


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[DoubleEagle]

I side with Clifford about how lawyers can be very diligent in spreading the blame around and causing unexpected grief. I believe it is a mistake to put the video on U-tube, and I would recommend removing it immediately. I have looked at it a number of times, and since I have been down the road a few million miles in trucks and buses, here is what I see: If you look at the shadow of the bus on the right in relation to the road edge, you see that it is steady as you go down the road, even when the car is starting to drift over. At no time during this event did the bus move to the right even though there was some room to do so while still on the pavement, instead, quite likely, at the time braking and blowing the horn commenced, the bus moved slightly to the left just prior to the collision. A lawyer, with his team of experts, would regard this as a contributory factor, in my opinion. Because of uneven tire pressures or unevenly adjusted brakes, the bus apparently pulled a little to the left. I hate to sound severe or critical, but that is exactly what I see, and I think it could be argued that while the other driver set up the horrible situation, can it be said that everything possible was done to prevent the accident?

The trucking company that I worked for last had a situation during winter driving where an oncoming car had lost control (with semi-bald tires) on a snowy road and was headed towards the tractor-trailer. The driver went completely off the road into a field to avoid the car, but the car did as well and they collided causing the car driver's death. Even though the truck driver did everything possible to avoid the collision, the company was sued. They argued that if the truck had stayed on the road, the collision would not have occurred. The trucking company vigorously fought the claim, and even requested a jury trial; they still ended up having to pay out.

These situations are really sad, all around, and it affects everybody involved. We should be afraid of lawyers in situations like this, and if they get wind that the video exists (private property or not) they can subpoena it to compel production of evidence.

[eagle19952]

matters not who prevails.
there is already two or ten lawyers sitting in mrs dead guys den...
little car.
big big bus.
did i say i hate lawyers.
thank the LORD for insurance.
i hope.

[kyle4501]

Enough with the fear mongering - I understand the possibilities, but lawyers lose interest pretty quickly when the pockets aren't deep.
Trucking companies have multi million dollar insurance policies. Few individuals have more than $100,000.

The most likely scenario -- the biggest difficulty will be finding a suitable replacement motor home.



Truth & justice seldom make it past the first step at the courthouse - inside the court room is all about interpretations and perceptions. The trick is to have the court perceive the the reported events so the laws interpreted in your favor.

[belfert]

I have I think $500,000 liability on my auto policy and then a $1 million umbrella liability policy.  I had to increase my auto policy to the max to qualify for the umbrella policy.  Initially, I was looking for the umbrella policy for a hobby I participate in, not for the auto portion.

These days I figure if someone is killed in a crash that is ruled my fault that the liability is easily going to be $1 million.

[Jon]

This thread has gone off the rails relative to the original post, but the discussions have been instructional.

There are two topics that are important. The first is insurance. All of us who drive conversions regardless of age are between a rock and a hard place. There is a lot of money associated with them that goes unrecognized by insurance companies if you have an ACV policy. The short version is an ACV policy enables the insurance company to decide what they will pay you and if you disagree the burden is on you to challenge their valuation. You will lose.

The safest and most likely way to recover your loss is to buy an Agreed Value policy. In some cases it may be more expensive but at least you and the insurance company both understand what you will be paid in the event of an accident that totals a coach. Depreciation may be considered, but if the appraisal is recent it will not be significant. If you feel you cannot afford Agreed Value you are rolling the dice.

The second topic is dash cams. It doesn't matter what your personal thoughts are about a dash cam. In today's environment it is foolhardy to ignore that cheap technology that may return substantial rewards.

First of all, you are the only one who has to know about it and if you feel the video is working against your interests never reveal its presence or trash the camera and data on it. But with morons on the highway and lawyers waiting to stick it to you I cannot think of anything better than a dash cam to record a moron pulling in too close and slamming on the brakes and then suing you for damages when they caused the accident. There are scumbags that do that in concert with crooked doctors and lawyers to take your money and there are stupid people who have no clue your bus cannot stop as fast as their Prius. At least provide yourself with the option of making a video available to show you were blameless.

[windtrader]

Jon, you're assuming you are able enough to hide the dashcam if you think it might work against you.

You may be dazed, surely distracted, forgot about it, hurt, etc. and not able to get to the camera to remove it if you feel it might be used to show you are at fault in any part.

Worse, if you think you did mess up and hide it, the other party tells the officer you hid the camera.

Dashcams cut both ways. I'd much rather go he said, she said route. Personal opinion, it would be interesting to learn from studies if the overall favor the user.

[luvrbus]

If an attorney stopped at the limits of your liability policy it would be one thing but those guys check your assets and go for those when they drain the limits stated on your policy,the insurance co is only liable for the terms written out on your policy if it exceeds that he going for you not the insurance co.Insurance Co's have laws written to protect their sorry @$#