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My brother-in-law drives a semi. He was in the right lane and noticed a car driving from the breakdown lane signalling that he was going to merge.
BIL had no choice but to hit the brakes and pray the guy in the car saw him and wasn't foolish enough to try merging in front of him. BIL could not swerve to the left because there was a car there.
The guy in the car DID merge in front of him. BIL had slowed down as much as he could but trucks don't stop on a dime. He couldn't avoid the collision.
Thank God and BIL's driving skills that nobody was hurt. He stopped, checked that everyone was OK, then called the police and his dispatcher in that order. His training was not to say anything about fault to the other driver but only tell the truth to the police.
Of course the other driver had *plenty* to say while waiting for the police.
"Didn't you see me? I had my signal on!"
Of course BIL saw him. That's the only reason the guy was still alive. But merely seeing someone pull in front of you when you don't have time to stop is not going to magically keep you from hitting him. All he could do was minimize the damage.
And while turn signals are great for giving people a chance to react to something stupid that someone is about to do, like merging in front of a truck, they can't alter the fabric of space or time or make large objects stop instantly. So yeah.
More lame attempts followed to get BIL to admit fault, interspersed with threats to sue and get BIL fired. It must have killed him, but BIL just bit his tongue and calmly kept telling the guy that help was on the way and then they could both give a report to the police.
What was funny was that after the police checked the scene and took the reports, they immediately told BIL that he wasn't at fault and commended him for his quick reaction. They even helped him find the company approved motel his dispatcher had told him to use (since his daily hours were up).
BIL doesn't know what they told the other guy but he certainly didn't appear to be happy to hear it.
And yes, the other guy tried to change his story when he filed a report with his own insurance company. AND the other guy's insurance company tried to trick BIL into filing a new report by sending threatening letters to his house, then following up with phone calls when he ignored the letters.
None of that worked. BIL might drive a truck, but he didn't just fall off one. He calmly told the insurance rep that the matter was being handled by the company, he was not going to discuss it, and gave them the phone number of his company's legal department.
BIL had no choice but to hit the brakes and pray the guy in the car saw him and wasn't foolish enough to try merging in front of him. BIL could not swerve to the left because there was a car there.
The guy in the car DID merge in front of him. BIL had slowed down as much as he could but trucks don't stop on a dime. He couldn't avoid the collision.
Thank God and BIL's driving skills that nobody was hurt. He stopped, checked that everyone was OK, then called the police and his dispatcher in that order. His training was not to say anything about fault to the other driver but only tell the truth to the police.
Of course the other driver had *plenty* to say while waiting for the police.
"Didn't you see me? I had my signal on!"
Of course BIL saw him. That's the only reason the guy was still alive. But merely seeing someone pull in front of you when you don't have time to stop is not going to magically keep you from hitting him. All he could do was minimize the damage.
And while turn signals are great for giving people a chance to react to something stupid that someone is about to do, like merging in front of a truck, they can't alter the fabric of space or time or make large objects stop instantly. So yeah.
More lame attempts followed to get BIL to admit fault, interspersed with threats to sue and get BIL fired. It must have killed him, but BIL just bit his tongue and calmly kept telling the guy that help was on the way and then they could both give a report to the police.
What was funny was that after the police checked the scene and took the reports, they immediately told BIL that he wasn't at fault and commended him for his quick reaction. They even helped him find the company approved motel his dispatcher had told him to use (since his daily hours were up).
BIL doesn't know what they told the other guy but he certainly didn't appear to be happy to hear it.
And yes, the other guy tried to change his story when he filed a report with his own insurance company. AND the other guy's insurance company tried to trick BIL into filing a new report by sending threatening letters to his house, then following up with phone calls when he ignored the letters.
None of that worked. BIL might drive a truck, but he didn't just fall off one. He calmly told the insurance rep that the matter was being handled by the company, he was not going to discuss it, and gave them the phone number of his company's legal department.
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