Lakewood Colo freeway pile-up STRONG LANGUAGE

SawMaster

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Happened 4/25/2019 on I-70 the Semi-driver seen speeding in the beginning has now been charged with vehicular homicide. VERY STRONG LANGUAGE WARNING.

 
Stong,,,, well ears of the beholder i guess :D
TBH i hope i never get so sick i would have to stream me walking or driving around talking about BS with myself,,,,, have this decease been given a name yet ?
And i sure as hell don't get anyone would watch such a video unless they are hardcore minecraft or Lego players and so used to a blocky world.

Do like the people running towards (y),,,,,, thats the real heroes, not the police and firemen and what not that will arrive later.
 
THe driver was 23 years old, will be charged with 4 counts of vehicular homicide, among other things.

The vehicle total was up to 24 cars, 4 trucks. Not sure if they have identified the victims, yet?

The accident happened at the end of a long downgrade as you drop east on I-70 from the mountains into the Denver metro area.

There are plenty of truck restrictions, reduced speeds for trucks, lane restrictions, runaway truck ramps, and warning signs.

The traffic was backed up due to a separate accident ahead. The truck apparently lost control as soon as it hit the downgrade.

I think there are enough traffic cams on the downgrade they can pretty much trace the truck all the way down until the wreck.
He was detained pretty quickly.

The driver wasn't paying attention, or totally inexperienced. I can't figure out how long he had been driving, although there was some report this was not his first trip into mountains.


I wish 'streamer boi' would get a ticket, also.
 
I wish 'streamer boi' would get a ticket, also.
What are your rules on hand holding of phones while driving, and driving across the grass to reach the off ramp? Both would get tickets here.
 
Each state is different but most have "hands-free phone" laws and crossing the grass is never legal. This was the only vid of the incident I could find; I thought for sure some dashcam vids would appear. Related vids on youtube from this same guy show him speaking with a street beggar who was at the top of the ramp, and ran down to pull 4 people from their wrecked cars before the fire got too intense. It seems from other comments he went back to begging while promoting his actions as the reason people should be giving him money- hero? You make the call but at least he did help while the youtuber didn't.

The trucker had a runaway ramp he could have used, but he didn't and people on the scene when it happened said they did not smell hot brakes at all as he passed, so my guess is that he was hot-dogging it in a very dangerous place to be doing that- he gambled and lost with many others paying the price for his mistake. I could be wrong but that's what it looks like to me.

Phil
 
The trucker had a runaway ramp he could have used, but he didn't and people on the scene when it happened said they did not smell hot brakes at all as he passed, so my guess is that he was hot-dogging it in a very dangerous place to be doing that- he gambled and lost with many others paying the price for his mistake. I could be wrong but that's what it looks like to me.
Seemed to be going far too fast for it to be a brake problem anyway, didn't seem to be on a steep hill and a truck that size has a lot of air resistance that will slow it fairly quickly at that speed, might take ages to actually stop but it wont do 70 for long without either a steep hill or a lot of power. Plus, the engine brake would provide a fair amount of deceleration at that speed too.
 
The laws for phone use vary by state, and some are very vague. Can't figure out if streaming is included in CO?

That's a long downgrade over ten miles or so, where you drop 3-4000 feet. I've been over it many times, but maybe not in the last year or so.
If you don't reduce the the truck speed at the beginning of the downgrade, and control the speed via brakes, engine brakes, and additional downshifts, you can get into trouble pretty quickly. Miss a downshift, or get caught between gears, and you maybe can use the brakes to correct it ONE time. Meaning you have once chance to get your head out of your butt.

The process for a loaded truck is usually going through a cycle of drop to speed 'X" by braking, let the truck pick up 10 MPH or so over that speed, brake again to reduce the speed to under the posted truck speed, or often 5-10 MPH under the truck speed limit. Repeat every 30 seconds or so as the truck picks up 10-15 mph.
This way you are not using your your air pressure and the brakes aren't in use 100% of the time, allowing them to cool. Brake hard to reduce speed, release brakes, allow truck to pick up speed, brake again.
When at a normal loaded weight the engine brake will NOT keep the truck at a given speed on any downgrade of any consequence by itself.
It helps, that's about it.

They're not as effective as they used to be due to noise and maybe emissions restrictions.

Most trucks are a lot more aerodynamic than they used to be, for MPG. (even though they may not look like it, and there is a lot more they can do to improve it)

This guy had a load of finished lumber, almost always close to max weight, and I'm not sure where he loaded at, and where he was going?

I can't find any video of i-70 in that area going east, but there are a lot of warning signs, explanatory signs, for trucks, as well as specific speed and lane restrictions.
There is also at least one UPGRADE on that section, going east, so he may have been in trouble initially, but survived to get to the point there was an uphill section he could have stopped or dramatically slowed the truck on to get back under control, and he didn't take advantage of it. (As well as multiple truck escape ramps)


I think there are enough cameras on the part of the highway they'll be able to piece together the trucks descent to the point of the wreck. The computer crap on the truck should also have a record of his speed, gear, braking, etc.


FWIW I threw a rod on a long, steep downgrade on I-17 in Arizona 15 years ago, while I was on a permitted oversize load that was 25% heavier than most loaded trucks.
This meant I had to bring the truck to a stop only using the brakes, no engine braking available, no engine compression, and I was leaving a trail of oil behind me as I tried to slow down the truck. I was lucky there wasn't much traffic, but there still was a minute or so time frame I was not sure I was going to make it.
 
Annoying blog nerd.

,,,,,, thats the real heroes, not the police and firemen and what not that will arrive later.

And I hope this was meant as some sort of joke, albeit a terrible one.
 
Police and Firemen are expected to perform at least some 'heroic' actions; it kind of goes with the job. Ordinary citizens have no such expectations placed on them, and while we should do what we can to help each other (like the street beggar did) many people are not that considerate of their fellow human beings (like the self-centered youtuber was).

A philosophical thought: If everyone was regularly 'heroic' in matters like this, would our actions still be 'heroic' or would they then become 'normal'?

Phil
 
The process for a loaded truck is usually going through a cycle of drop to speed 'X" by braking, let the truck pick up 10 MPH or so over that speed, brake again to reduce the speed to under the posted truck speed, or often 5-10 MPH under the truck speed limit. Repeat every 30 seconds or so as the truck picks up 10-15 mph.
This way you are not using your your air pressure and the brakes aren't in use 100% of the time, allowing them to cool. Brake hard to reduce speed, release brakes, allow truck to pick up speed, brake again.
Bold bit is not true, the average amount of heat generated is the same so the average temperature will be the same, but with peaks heading towards the danger area!

The reasons that technique is good are:
1. If you are driving to a maximum speed then your average speed will be lower, thus increasing the descent time and giving the brakes more time to get rid of the same amount of heat = cooler brakes.
2. If when you apply the brakes you do it firmly, then all the brakes will do their job properly, including any poorly maintained ones, while if you apply them very gently the poor ones may not engage leaving the good ones to do all the work and take all the heat. Firm braking results in all the brakes being closer to the average.

- the important things are to maximise the descent time and that when you use the brakes you apply them hard enough to clearly feel the deceleration so that all the brakes are sharing the load, not applying them only enough to maintain speed.
 
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Police and Firemen are expected to perform at least some 'heroic' actions; it kind of goes with the job. Ordinary citizens have no such expectations placed on them, and while we should do what we can to help each other (like the street beggar did) many people are not that considerate of their fellow human beings (like the self-centered youtuber was).

A philosophical thought: If everyone was regularly 'heroic' in matters like this, would our actions still be 'heroic' or would they then become 'normal'?


Phil
If an untrained member of the public pulled me or my family out of a burning wreck then I would consider them a hero even if it was normal. If a fireman does it, well that is their job, and I have paid them to do it through my taxes, and I assume that they are not taking any risks since they are trained to know what they are doing and trained not to take risks, so really they are not heroes, and the odd one that goes beyond the call of duty? Maybe they are reckless rather than heroes, we don't want all that training that we have paid for to go to waste and for them not be able to continue their job and save others!
 
I've been told that the now-mandatory CDL training follows what @dash riposki said. In theory it takes the same braking energy either way to achieve the same results, but in practice the un-applied cooling times becomes the important matter. It also gives you better feedback as you're less likely to notice fading brakes with constant application until just before failure while you're more likely to notice loss of braking ability between one application and the next, giving you earlier warning and thus more time to do something about it. Either way in this instance nobody smelled hot brakes so hot brake fading wasn't involved here, but another form of brake failure could be.

If indeed it is the same truck in the second video it's pretty clear from him 'cutting the corner' that he knew he was going too fast, and in that vid you can see the signage and entrance for a 'runaway ramp' he clearly could have used but didn't. I don't want to judge not knowing all the facts, but if it is the same guy that second video is pretty damning evidence and he's going to be in deep doo-doo.

Somewhere there's a poor slob like me who is just trying to earn a living but can't get the lumber he needed now- a small consequence in comparison but still there.
Phil
 
Police and Firemen are expected to perform at least some 'heroic' actions; it kind of goes with the job. Ordinary citizens have no such expectations placed on them, and while we should do what we can to help each other (like the street beggar did) many people are not that considerate of their fellow human beings (like the self-centered youtuber was).

A philosophical thought: If everyone was regularly 'heroic' in matters like this, would our actions still be 'heroic' or would they then become 'normal'?

Phil
^^^If I could I would give you several likes for this one...
 
Bold bit is not true, the average amount of heat generated is the same so the average temperature will be the same, but with peaks heading towards the danger area!

The reasons that technique is good are:
1. If you are driving to a maximum speed then your average speed will be lower, thus increasing the descent time and giving the brakes more time to get rid of the same amount of heat = cooler brakes.
2. If when you apply the brakes you do it firmly, then all the brakes will do their job properly, including any poorly maintained ones, while if you apply them very gently the poor ones may not engage leaving the good ones to do all the work and take all the heat. Firm braking results in all the brakes being closer to the average.

- the important thing is that when you use the brakes you apply them hard enough to clearly feel the deceleration, not to maintain speed.

Even if the brakes are adjusted well, there is often one side of one axle that is heating up up quicker, and will smoke or catch fire before the other brake sets.
This isn't dangerous, in itself, but makes people nervous to see smoke coming off of a brake.

Indicated speed is important to both keep under the posted speed limit, or at least around it, and also to judge your deceleration. I use the term 'maintain speed' but probably 'keep within a range of speeds' is more accurate. It's kind of rare there is a consistent downgrade without any curves or modest upgrades, but if you don't pay attention to your speed you can look away for a few seconds and notice you are now going 15 mph faster than you thought you were, and with a curve or more severe section of downgrade approaching. You have to pay attention to your speed.
 
some sort of joke

No i don't think a police man - a paramedic - a firefighter or a serviceman are heroes.
They occupy jobs that do give them a good chance of going above and beyond once or once in a while, and so become a hero, but in every day doings they are just working folk's

Of course on this the American and Danish culture are much different, American service men don't just the purple hearts thrown at them, and so it should be IMO
I have been offered a accommodation, but i turned it down, i did CPR on a man in severe need of it, and then i drove on to work "covered" in his blood, and did my 11 hour work day,,, after my colleagues told me to clean myself.
But it was nothing special, though far from all Danes have the knowledge to do CPR, then really i just did what i had to do, actually the law here say i must do that.

I will honor all people i think are made of the right stuff, but i stand a little taller when its a person from whom such deeds wasent really expected.
June 6 i will in my own little way honor some people who i feel i owe a lot, they are not my people, hell most of them are sadly dead now, but they are certainly people who i measure myself up against,,, and most often fail though that much was never asked of me.
But they was not all heroes in my eyes, but each and everyone of them certainly demand a whole lot of respect.


For me it is sort of the same when i drive along in town and approach a crosswalk ( not light regulated ) in which case i must then yield if there is a person standing there and want to cross.
But what i then hate is when i do what the law dictate i must do, then the person walking get all happy and smile and wave to me, as if i did something special.
What they should do is scream and flip off the people that do not obey by the law, cuz it is those idiots that have not lead to just doing what you are supposed to do is to be celebrated and applauded.
NO ! thats the norm, people falling outside of that norm is what should be the focus, and in the case of traffic safety should be hated upon.

Doing what you are supposed to do as per the communal rule sets should be the norm, and you should only celebrate or attack what lie outside of that norm.
 
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https://kdvr.com/2019/04/28/trucker...ked-for-company-with-history-of-brake-issues/


https://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS/Carrier/3029296/CompleteProfile.aspx


Small, ratty company, probably older, beat up equipment. POSSIBLY some gray area stuff going on, using new drivers who wouldn't qualify for normal, larger companies.

(No actual training program, Inadequate english skills, possibly CDL obtained by questionable methods)
That does not inspire confidence in our government to help with safety on the roads.
 
It's better than it was, but......

Smaller, 'rattier' companies draw more attention at the weigh stations and inspection areas. I don't totally understand the newer electronic stuff, but if your company has a higher incidence of violations, you are more likely to be screened/checked/inspected. Some of the weigh stations have license plate readers, other times they just punch in the DOT/ICC number in the computer, and see if the company is 'flagged'.
 
My drivers card ( not license ) for use in the newfangled digital loggers in EU trucks, ( chip on the back side )
46075


Saw in one of the cop programs on TV a truck being pulled over for inspection, on the trailer one of the brakes dident even have the brake drum there at all.
And that was a Danish truck which generally are in better order then some of the trucks we see here from other EU countries.

Brian,,,,,,, licensed to truck. :giggle:
 
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