sherman

DEAD IS STILL DEAD !!!!!!!!!!!!!

bkrukow

I agree but everyone is yelling "IT WAS OVERLOADED" and most likely it was not. Maybey but more likely it was just improperly loaded. That is all I am saying. It is not like there is a invisible line in the sand so to speak where at one wheight you are perfectly fine and then bamb, one pound later someone is dead. It just comes down to driver ability and a properly loaded trailer. Now if it is loaded so far that the hitch is ripped off the vehicle then fine, but that is not normaly the case.

DanTana

There are two conflicting ideas of what happened. The first poster stated rig and bobcat lost control and went over bridge went over and struck truck below. Later stated by another poster rig lost control hit trucker and trucker went over side. Nothing is said about rig coming apart. It is amazing how easy we speculate what may have happened. Maybe his overloaded 2 axle trailer axle has not been greased since Christmas day 1995. The inner wheel bearing exploded blowing a bearing thru the 15" 8ply greatly overloaded tires. The exploded tire flung forward striking the newly installed 4" stainless exhaust. This exhaust pipe struck his new rear sway bar. The rear swaybar struck the road causing the driver to over react and cross the centerline. Striking the 18 wheeler causing him to go over the guard rail to pavement below. It may soon be determined that his trailer although not overloaded was equipped with a fifth wheel hitch. It was also determined that the truck was equipped with a ball type hitch using a ball to fifth wheel adapter. Although the adapter did not fail the wheel bearing was the beginning of this bad chain of events.

I am making fun of all the speculation regarding the cause of the accident that any of us could be involved in. May GOD bless both families involved.

kingofdodge7131

This is where the term accident comes into play. Yes it is very very sad that the driver died. And if it were a case for a drunk driver or something of the sort id be very upset. But it was an accident. Nothing more nothing less. People loose control all the time. It just happens

J BODY

....of course we could have some "stereotype" vision of a guy hauling a bobcat. The first thought that comes to my mind is some contractor with a beaten worn out poorly loaded trailer with bad tires and a truck in similar condition. Overloaded and just plain overdriving the conditions in which they've placed themselves in......come to think of it that IS what I see alot of out here. I had a customer that came in with a new 03 Dually. He had broken a rear brake line at a job site. None in stock and he refused to leave his truck until the part came in. I saw him driving through town with a large trailer with a case front end loader on it. Made me pretty sick considering I knew what condition that truck was in. Luckily he didn't hurt anyone and the truck was repaired the following day. What an idiot.

Floridacamper

That sounds like it was close to Destin Florida. Destin is one of the hottest real estate places in the Country right now.

RickG

I've been through Destin after a hurricane . Why some people would consider that hot real estate is beyond me .

edwinsmith

Be careful with real estate. It's in a bubble right now and the bubble is about to pop. Lots of people with ARM's will get hurt when interest rates rise. When rates rise, property prices will fall like a rock.

Hannibal

I have to disagree that accidents just happen. There is always a degree of neglegence involved in every accident. Whether it was neglegence on the part of the pickup truck driver or some other source. Some one was neglegent. If a tire blows out and causes an accident, someone along the line was neglegent be it the tire manufacturer, tire owner, or the person who let a sharp object fall from his vehicle in the path of the next vehicle, someone was neglegent.

darkvader

Jbody: Customer was not smart but I can see his fustration(all to common today). NEW O3 AND COMMERICAL ACCOUNT AND NO PARTS FOR NEW TRUCK AND NO LOANER, WHAT CUSTOMER SERVICE!. Been there.suffersd that.
Clark

upersleder

in my opinion THIS thinking is what is ruining america! lawyers started the lets blame someone else game, now its regular practice for people to place blame on everyone else but themselves. some, as in this case, go a bit overboard and try and get involved with someone elses business and start the random blame game. this is absurd!

WHAT IF....... like the good Dr. said, it was an acccident? would you go shoot yourself because you could not blame someone? then i spose someone would be at fault there too......probably blame it on the people who made the in-animate object......

Tmc243

They are all accidents, (unless someone is trying to commit suicide) I think the point Hannibal is trying to make is virtually all accidents could be prevented if the cause of the accident didn’t exist. We don’t have enough facts in this case to determine what actually happen, but if the trailer did start swaying while going over the bridge, why did it start swaying then? Had it been swaying all along? Was it over loaded? Was it not properly loaded? Was there a sudden gust of wind? Did a wheel bearing fail? Did a tire fail?
If you remove what ever caused the trailer to start swaying would there have been an accident?
Something caused the accident, it’s tragic and unfortunate, but something caused it.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say all accidents are preventable, but I would say 90%+ could be. I’m as guilty as anyone is, I don’t talk on my cell phone any more than necessary, but if it rings I’ll answer it, change radio stations, change CD’s, eat, drink, (diet cokes, alcohol is another whole subject) I regularly do all these things, and I consider myself an above average driver. My dad taught me drive like everyone else is out to hit you, and leave yourself an out. This was years before the whole defense driving thing, the older I get the smarter he was.

Hannibal

Boy you sure jumped to a conclusion and are as wrong as wrong can be. Maybe your kind of thinking is what's ruining America. Where in my post did I say anything about someone not taking responsibility for his or her own actions? You are the one who is saying accidents are of no ones fault. That's not taking responsibility for your actions. That's saying if you kill someone due to your neglegence, oh well, it's not my fault, it was an accident.
What I'm saying is people need to quit with the it's just an accident and take responsibility for their actions. A man is dead and his family has to go on with out him because of someone's neglegence. I talked to my daughter again this morning. She said the trailer was overloaded, something broke and the Bobcat shifted and started swaying. The Bobcat came off of the trailer and hit the cab of the semi truck. If you think, oh well, it's just an accident... screw the family of the dead man, then you're what's wrong with America. If the investigation turns out that the driver of the Dodge pickup was neglegent in the way he loaded his Bobcat on his trailer and caused an accident that killed a man, then yes, he needs to take responsibility for his actions and support the family whose father and husband he took away. Not say, screw him and his family, it was an accident.

upersleder

i didnt mean that either, but if something broke no fault of the operator, you would be wanting to go after some poor slob that made a chain ten years ago on second shift half way across the states.........my point was some were hanging the driver of the truck out before anyone knew what was what........

Hannibal

No, I'd want to know if the ten year old chain had been checked and maintained by the operator or owner, the person most responsible for the safe operation of his vehicle. There are ways to check a chain. We use chains in chain hoists to lift heavy equipment. Any cracks or elongated links are a sign the chain has been damaged and is no longer useable. No fault of the chain manufacturer. The investigation is still going on. A failed chain could have been over tightened, not rated for the job, damaged, made in China of inferior material, or even pulled through a damaged slot in the trailer which could have also been under rated for the job or ill maintained. Bobcats are hauled all over on proper equipment by people who don't take risks. If it turns out that the Bobcat was rented from a business that hooked it up to the Ram and sent them on their way, then that business might be responsible and should be held accountable for "their actions". We don't know yet but I'm sure we'll find out when it's over but for now all we know is someone's dad and husband is dead through no fault of his own. Yes there's a lot of risk going out on the road and we're willing to take that risk. But a Bobcat getting loose and taking out another vehicle will more than likely lead to someone's neglegence.
Speaking of neglegence, three of my daughter's friends were killed last night in Defuniak Springs. They ran a stop sign way out in the sticks and got t-boned in their little incono box by a Ford Explorer. Josh died at the scene while a friend held him. They couldn't find Justin at first but then found him in what was left of the car. Must have been ugly. I think she said the girl was thrown from the car. The driver of the Explorer had compound fractures in an arm and leg and is in critical condition. Yep, her friend was at fault. He paid for his mistake. The driver of the Explorer tried to pass another car in a no passing zone as he approached the intersection. Don't know if the driver of the other car saw what was unfolding and slowed down to avoid the teenagers in the econo box but he managed to stay out of the wreck. You never can tell when a load of carefree teenagers is going to go blowing through a stop sign just about the time some careless speedball will go blowing past you for slowing a tad for a dangerous intersection.