Fiery accident was avoidable: Report
The coroner’s report on the fiery truck accident on the Met in August 2016 says it was avoidable on two counts. As was reported before by the CNESST, the initial truck that stopped unexpectedly was known to have that problem, but it hadn’t been fixed. But the coroner also found that none of the drivers (a chain of four trucks was involved) was keeping a safe stopping distance, as if they ever do in traffic slowdowns.
One man, Gilbert Prince, died in that crash, and I sometimes wonder how the other driver is doing who was unable to free Prince from his impacted cab before the flames overtook the vehicle.
John B 09:01 on 2021-02-24 Permalink
If a truck keeps a safe stopping distance several cars will immediately be in it. The only way for a truck to keep a safe stopping distance somewhere like the Met is to remain stopped.
steph 11:21 on 2021-02-24 Permalink
@JohnB, are you saying the Met wasn’t designed for the current capacity for trucks AND cars?
dwgs 13:51 on 2021-02-24 Permalink
@steph I think that what John B is saying is that if a vehicle, any vehicle, tries to maintain the stopping distance recommended by drivers’ ed on the Met that gap will be constantly filled by people pulling in front of you from the adjacent lane in a bid to get ahead. The best you can do is keep a gap not quite large enough for that to happen and be hyper aware at all times.