So this was a one lane road? What happens when traffic comes from the other direction, since you've made it clear you could not pull over?

A dock is not a highway.

That wasn't your judgement to make.

So I ask again, you certainly saw the officer approaching, why did you not roll your window down?

 

Sorry for not answering all your questions before you reposted, I hit Post instead of Preview.

 

I did have it rolled down. I never rolled it up.

 

My 2 cents you should have pulled over as much as possible to the right and stopped.@ things would have haoppened there 1 he would have gone passed you or 2 he would have got on his PA and told you to keep going.you should have stopped no matter what.

 

ben45750 The law is quit clear on yielding to a "emergency vehicle." I quoted you the law.

As bouncer said he would made the call on what to do.

If you couldn't move over (and I have doubt that was true) you should have set the air brakes and turned on the four ways.

kc0iv

 

This is why I said a call to the supervisor might be in order.... pretty much to explain his reasoning.

It wasn't clear from his first post, but it SHOULD be now... that his window was DOWN, and the officer was spitting at him through an OPEN window.

Also, he has made it quite clear to all but the Rev., that this was a two lane road with absolutely NO ROOM to pull over without going in a ditch, or at least risking it.... You all HAVE heard of a "soft shoulder" right?

So, had he stopped immediately, it would have been IN the lane of traffic, and ON a curve. The officer would be blocked behind him and in a VERY unsafe and risky position to try to pass him (from a point of no acceleration on his part.)

Ben, did the SMART thing.... something GOOD truckers are often called on to do! HE slowed but kept moving until he was on a STRAIGHT stretch of road, so that the officer would have a line of sight for a distance in which he could judge whether it was safe to pass, while having at least somewhat of a "running start" at it.

EVERY law that was quoted, ASSUMED that there was a portion of "roadway" to move over into, and at least partially out of the traffic lane. Had Ben stopped immeditately in this case, the officer would have been stopped dead behind him IN THE LANE. Being on a curve would put the officers life (and possibly Ben's) at risk had he tried to pass. Every law ALSO seemed to allow for some judgement by the motorist as to IF and WHEN he could follow the LETTER of the law.

Ben did the RIGHT thing, whether some idiot politician has worded that eventuality into the LAW, or not. I'm not saying his attitude was the best, but I would've reacted out of SHOCK myself, had an officer that I had tried to HELP jumped up on my truck and berated ME, too!

If you want to get so dang "technical" about the LETTER of the law, I'm sure you can find one against stopping IN THE TRAFFIC LANE, as well. I think it is GOOD to know what the law says, but there is no substitution for common sense!

 

When he didn't even receive a citation? There is no police report on this. :roll:

Again, more than likely another exaggeration. I seriously doubt the officer was "spitting at him through an open window".

I never said he should have moved over. I said he should have stopped if he couldn't move over. Perhaps you need to have your eyes checked.

That wasn't his problem. It was his duty to obey the law, which stated he should have stopped for the emergency vehicle.

Obviously it wasn't very smart, as it was illegal.

Is this an opinion, or do you have available to you the court's interpretations of these laws? :roll:

You assume the officer wouldn't have continued around him.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Now you're just getting ridiculous.

You sure can find stuff regarding stopping in the traffic lane. What's your point?



The part I still haven't figured out is this:

If there was no shoulder, and "nowhere to go" as ben and golfhobo have claimed (even though golfhobo wasn't there), where the heck did these other two cars go to "get out of his way"? A big truck isn't that much wider than an auto.

Hmmmm....... perhaps they stopped their vehicles so the officer could pass them, just as the law states.

 

He should have just stopped and wait for the officer to tell him what to do.It's like when your at a red light and you get a police officer behind you.And you can't move left or right the officer will tell you to run the light when clear.HE should have just stopped and let the officer pass.

 

Why do you doubt that it is true? Are you unfamiliar with the back roads of West Virginia?

It's pretty obvious that there are drivers (and former drivers) that have no clue as to the reason's a HazMat truck, is not to stop on the roadway.

Unlike a van full of furniture, layed over in a ditch, there is more involved in recovering a tanker full of gasoline, or anyother hazardous material, that is laid over in a ditch. The fines for laying a van full of furniture over are miniscule, compared to the fines involved with hazardous material.

That trooper could have passed Ben in the curves he as talked about. He could have done it quite easily, as many many motorists do every day (yes, motorists that have no patience for the driver performing his duties safely, pass tankers on curves and shoulders as well). However, since that trooper waited for the straight stretch of roadway, before passing Ben...the trooper was well aware of his responsability to pass only when it was safe to do so.

Those of you whom have any doubts about whether Ben did the right thing...contact your local State Highway Patrol office, and ask what thier policy is, when it comes to emergency vehicles under response conditions, and passing hazardous material transports on narrow roadways. They do have a policy, and it does not involve the truck stopping in the roadway or on soft shoulders. Hazardous Material transportation is 90 percent of what I have done since 1979. I have never been issued a traffic citation while moving a load, and I have been in this exact type situation, as Ben has described, more times than I can count.

In roadway segments that are curved I always maintain my truck speed. If I slow down, that only delay's the emergency vehicle that much longer.

I activate my emergency flashers, as soon as I see an approaching emergency vehicle, with it's response lights activated. My flashers acknowledge to the driver of that Emergency Vehicle, that I am aware of its presence. The flashers also make the driver of the emergency vehicle aware, of the dangers my truck posses, to themselves, as well as to the public in general AND the enviroment.

Once I am into a straight stretch of roadway, that will provide for safe passage, I move to the FOGLINE at a constant speed, then reduce speed once the emergency vehicle is in the opposite lane.

Skywalker, Cyanide, Mike3fan, Muddpuddle, Maniac, and several others here all haul haz-mat. Each of them is completely aware, I am sure, of exactly how bad, situations can and will become, if they put their trucks over into a ditch. They and I have hauled chemicals, that kcoiv and the good rev would not like to have in their cities, safely contained in a vessel, let-alone rolled over in a ditch.
Once a chemical (gasoline is a chemical) is loose, it is to late to think about safety. You don't take chances, ever.Some of these chem's are so bad, moonsuits are worn to handle them.

oh yeah...I also activate my emergency flashers on multi-lane roadways, when I am approaching stopped traffic in a city, such as Kansas City, just to make other motorists aware something is happening.