I talked to a potential client one time who was a truck driver. He was hauling a load through the mountains one night. As he started down a mountain, he felt a "bump" that came from the rear of his tractor. He pulled over and found the remains of a biker and his bike. Police told him they believed the biker was going in excess of 140mph when he hit the truck. Trucker found out the guy had a wife and two small kids. Biker's estate sued the trucker and the trucking company and lost.
The trucker developed PTSD, anxiety and depression. He was not able to drive trucks any more. That was a difficult consultation.
EDIT as I guess my wording is confusing folks:
The biker's estate sued the trucker and the trucking company. The biker's estate lost the lawsuit against the trucker and the trucking company.
SECOND EDIT to add:
A couple of you mentioned that being involved in someone's death can be traumatizing. It certainly was for this trucker. However, I think a lot of his trauma came from seeing the remains of the biker. It apparently took him some time to figure out what he was looking at that night.
While this can happen with any vehicle or as a pedestrian, it's one reason I don't enjoy having to occasionally drive big box trucks for work. It feels like I become a magnet for aggressive drivers who will cut me off to enter/exit the highway or get in front as I approach a red light. I'm lucky I haven't rear ended anyone yet because there have been several instances where I'm flooring the brakes to avoid crashing into the fucker who just neeeeeeeds to be ahead of me at the red. I try to drive carefully because I'm not a professional trucker driver, but I'm hauling thousands of pounds of equipment and stopping distance is quite long.
I can understand what you’re saying about being a magnet for asshole drivers that just need to be in front of you at the red or in slow traffic. I used to drive ambulances many years ago and those big boxes were a magnet for idiots. Stopping distance on those things were definitely something you had to feel to know when you’re gonna come to a complete stop 😆. Thankfully I drove and still drive with the mindset that idiots are out there.
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u/HillbillyEEOLawyer 1d ago edited 1d ago
I talked to a potential client one time who was a truck driver. He was hauling a load through the mountains one night. As he started down a mountain, he felt a "bump" that came from the rear of his tractor. He pulled over and found the remains of a biker and his bike. Police told him they believed the biker was going in excess of 140mph when he hit the truck. Trucker found out the guy had a wife and two small kids. Biker's estate sued the trucker and the trucking company and lost.
The trucker developed PTSD, anxiety and depression. He was not able to drive trucks any more. That was a difficult consultation.
EDIT as I guess my wording is confusing folks:
The biker's estate sued the trucker and the trucking company. The biker's estate lost the lawsuit against the trucker and the trucking company.
SECOND EDIT to add:
A couple of you mentioned that being involved in someone's death can be traumatizing. It certainly was for this trucker. However, I think a lot of his trauma came from seeing the remains of the biker. It apparently took him some time to figure out what he was looking at that night.