Bash Head Here Thread

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

I thought I could leave this behind in the old Adults Table club, but guess it's still happening, so... 

Quote

Truck hits Hwy 1 overpass in North Vancouver, causes delays

 

A large truck collided with an overpass leaving North Vancouver on Tuesday night, causing significant delays for those trying to get off the North Shore. (Courtesy Twitter/@DriveBC)

By James Paracy

Posted Sep 19, 2023, 7:28PM PDT.

Last Updated Sep 19, 2023, 10:30PM PDT.

A large truck hit a North Vancouver overpass Tuesday evening, causing significant delays for those leaving the North Shore via the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge.

The truck hit the Main Street overpass during the evening commute as it was headed east on Highway 1.

DriveBC confirmed the incident, telling drivers to expect “delays due to heavy congestion.”

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CityNews has reached out to the North Vancouver RCMP for more details.

DriveBC says it will provide another update at 11 p.m. and asks drivers to take the Lions Gate Bridge as an alternative route to get to Vancouver.

 

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2023/09/19/north-vancouver-overpass-truck/

 

In case that Xitter thing doesn't show up embedded in the article, here it is below:

It really begs the question: do transport truck drivers really not give a fuck?  

[Ds4quality]

2 hours ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

I thought I could leave this behind in the old Adults Table club, but guess it's still happening, so... 

 

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2023/09/19/north-vancouver-overpass-truck/

 

In case that Xitter thing doesn't show up embedded in the article, here it is below:

It really begs the question: do transport truck drivers really not give a fuck?  

Probably overworked and underpaid to care.

[Bounce000]

I don’t blame the drivers themselves for these things, unless they’re self employed and a one man show. Most of them aren’t even from here and are not experts of the area.

It’s the dispatcher/load coordinator’s fault for not routing the driver and getting directs from the permit office for these oversized loads, I hope they get held responsible.

[Bob Long]

8 minutes ago, Bounce000 said:

I don’t blame the drivers themselves for these things, unless they’re self employed and a one man show. Most of them aren’t even from here and are not experts of the area.

It’s the dispatcher/load coordinator’s fault for not routing the driver and getting directs from the permit office for these oversized loads, I hope they get held responsible.

I do. I drive the sea to sky 2-3 times per week, and I've lost count of the number of semis and dump trucks doing 110-120 on an 80km/hr road with many blind curves. These guys are nuts and don't give a rats hiney about the risks they are creating. One even lost control and took out the sign for Furry Creek this summer. 

If you're going to be a professional driver, then act like it. 

[Gurn]

Weird- driver fled, so they ticket the owner of the vehicle.

Also if that's all that happens it is going to become way,way more dangerous out there.

"Let's see, if I screw up, I can run and the only punishment is an under $400  fine to my boss?"

Just another cost of doing business

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

43 minutes ago, Gurn said:

Weird- driver fled, so they ticket the owner of the vehicle.

Also if that's all that happens it is going to become way,way more dangerous out there.

"Let's see, if I screw up, I can run and the only punishment is an under $400  fine to my boss?"

Just another cost of doing business

Thanks @Gurn - I didn't realize they updated the article.

Below is the updated article, URL remains the same:

Quote

North Vancouver Hwy 1 overpass struck by truck in hit-and-run: RCMP

 

A truck collided with the Main Street overpass in North Vancouver heading toward the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge on Tuesday afternoon. (Courtesy Twitter/@MillerCapilano4)

By James Paracy and Hana Mae Nassar and Charlie Carey and Sonia Aslam

Posted Sep 19, 2023, 7:28PM PDT.

Last Updated Sep 20, 2023, 8:48AM PDT.

Highway 1 in North Vancouver reopened to traffic early Wednesday morning, after an hours-long closure caused by a truck hitting an overpass the night before.

In an update posted around 3 a.m. Wednesday, DriveBC confirmed the highway was “clear in both directions” after the incident in the eastbound lanes.

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The truck hit the Main Street overpass during the Tuesday evening commute, causing significant delays for those leaving the North Shore via the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge.

Speaking to CityNews early Wednesday, Const. Mansoor Sahak says the incident was a hit-and-run.

“During the course of the investigation, it was determined the driver of the vehicle fled the scene of the accident.

“We’re still investigating at this point, but the registered owner of the company [that] the vehicle belongs to was issued a failure to remain at the scene of an accident violation ticket,” he said.

He says that violation ticket is $368.

Sahak notes that the North Vancouver RCMP is working with partners from the Ministry of Transportation’s Commercial Vehicle Safety Inspection department to determine how the truck ended up striking the overpass.

“Structural engineers did come out. They assessed the bridge, and after assessing it, they reopened it,” he said.

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It happened just before 7 p.m. Tuesday, with DriveBC telling motorists to expect “delays due to heavy congestion.”

The incident comes as several collisions involving large vehicles and highway overpasses have occurred across the Lower Mainland this year.

In July, Highway 99 in Delta was closed overnight as a truck hit the Highway 17 overpass. The closure, which lasted almost 20 hours, was done so workers could conduct what maintenance crews described as “extensive concrete removal.”

Last year, the BC Trucking Association called on the province to be more transparent about incidents in which large vehicles hit public infrastructure, and publicly share findings when it looks into these types of incidents.

Since tweets embedded in the article don't want to show, here's the tweet from the updated (8:48am) article.

 

[gwarrior]

Shit like this makes me so happy I don't work in North  Van and having to commute back out to maple ridge.

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

A follow-up on the smashy-smashy on Hwy 1 in North Van - a driving instructor chimes in.

 

Quote

'It's the driver's responsibility', driving instructor says of Metro Vancouver truck overpass crashes

 

Crews work to clear a dump truck from Highway 1 in Abbotsford, B.C. on Monday May 29th, 2023. (CityNews Image)

By Mike Lloyd

Posted Sep 22, 2023, 7:30AM PDT.

Last Updated Sep 22, 2023, 10:39AM PDT.

 

The search continues for the driver responsible for the overpass crash on the North Shore that snarled traffic for hours Wednesday night — just the latest of more than two dozen bridge strikes on B.C. highways over the past two years.

 

Since December 2021, the province has handed out at least 19 violation tickets and two companies have faced suspensions of operations.

 

One Metro Vancouver truck driving instructor is weighing in on how to help prevent this kind of collision, explaining that it’s included in their training.

 

“It’s always part of the training, it’s always been at the very beginning when they get their learner’s licence,” said Harminder Singh, instructor at Apna Professional Driving School.

 

Singh asserts that avoiding overpass strikes comes down to driver awareness and responsibility.

“We are always blaming the government,” he told CityNews sister station OMNI News.

“It’s your responsibility to check the load and the overhead clearance of the truck … it’s the driver’s responsibility.”

However, he does have one suggestion for the provincial government that he feels would improve safety, explaining that it would be good to have some sort of warning system about bridge or overpass heights a kilometre before the structures, indicating if a truck’s load is over height.

 

The investigation into Wednesday’s collision with the Main Street overpass on Highway One in North Vancouver is ongoing.

 

The driver still hasn’t been found after he ran from the crash and the company’s trucks remain parked.

 

The B.C. government says Whistler 99 Courier and Freightways Corporation has been “suspended pending investigation.”

 

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2023/09/22/metro-vancouver-truck-overpass-crashes/

[Gurn]

Almost as often as mass shootings:

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/news/truck-ignores-low-clearance-warning-gets-peeled-open-by-bridge/vi-AA1hCHzp?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=e1191d089212404fb644ea539d91acd2&ei=34

Truck ignores low clearance warning, gets peeled open by bridge

This is the moment a truck driver ignores a low clearance warning in Clearfield, Pennsylvania on August 28. The vehicle hits a low bridge and gets peeled open like a can of sardines. 

[Rook]

On 9/20/2023 at 7:32 AM, Bounce000 said:

I don’t blame the drivers themselves for these things, unless they’re self employed and a one man show. Most of them aren’t even from here and are not experts of the area.

It’s the dispatcher/load coordinator’s fault for not routing the driver and getting directs from the permit office for these oversized loads, I hope they get held responsible.

It’s literally their job.  Ask any competent trucker, they will tell you. 

[PhillipBlunt]

On 9/20/2023 at 7:32 AM, Bounce000 said:

I don’t blame the drivers themselves for these things, unless they’re self employed and a one man show. Most of them aren’t even from here and are not experts of the area.

It’s the dispatcher/load coordinator’s fault for not routing the driver and getting directs from the permit office for these oversized loads, I hope they get held responsible.

That's ludicrous. Any driver, regardless of where they're from, has to be able to understand the capabilities of whatever vehicle they're driving. The onus is on the driver completely.

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

On 9/20/2023 at 7:32 AM, Bounce000 said:

I don’t blame the drivers themselves for these things, unless they’re self employed and a one man show. Most of them aren’t even from here and are not experts of the area.

It’s the dispatcher/load coordinator’s fault for not routing the driver and getting directs from the permit office for these oversized loads, I hope they get held responsible.

 

A bit late to the party, but that's like saying because my wife maps my route today, if I hit an overpass with my lifted truck with truck nuts and deployed rooftop tent, then it's her fault because she mapped the route and she should bear the legal consequences of it.  

 

As the operator of the vehicle, I'm responsible for making sure that wherever I drive I can do so safely, or come up with an alternate route that allows me to do so.  Offloading that responsibility onto a third party without eyes on the road is naive at best, and criminally negligent at worst.

[Bounce000]

27 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

A bit late to the party, but that's like saying because my wife maps my route today, if I hit an overpass with my lifted truck with truck nuts and deployed rooftop tent, then it's her fault because she mapped the route and she should bear the legal consequences of it.  

 

As the operator of the vehicle, I'm responsible for making sure that wherever I drive I can do so safely, or come up with an alternate route that allows me to do so.  Offloading that responsibility onto a third party without eyes on the road is naive at best, and criminally negligent at worst.

Well if you’re going to compare you and your wife to a commercial transport regulated by Transport Canada then I guess your point is made. That’s not how it works though.

 

I agree that it’s negligent on the driver’s part though and I wish my drivers did a better job with due diligence and tell the dispatcher “uhh this seams high, can you double check” but they just don’t and it’s kinda frustrating. In my years of working in transportation, drivers are really only good at driving and unreliable at anything else outside of that scope.

 

But back to my point. First off, I don’t know anything about this particular case, I haven’t read any news or tweets about it, so far all I know this isn’t even a commercial transport or is a sole proprietor, or the driver disobeyed the route he was given to save time (drivers do that all the time), yes he’ll be at fault. But if he’s a driver who works for someone, who has a dispatcher and a coordinator on this load, the company will held liable, not the driver. Anything deemed over height needs a day permit from the BC permits office, which is the white collar’s job to get. 
 

I’m interested to see what happens now, but when these things occur please don’t immediately witch hunt the driver. There’s a lot that goes into transporting something and things like this go through many hands and eyeballs before being executed.

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

6 minutes ago, Bounce000 said:

Well if you’re going to compare you and your wife to a commercial transport regulated by Transport Canada then I guess your point is made. That’s not how it works though.

 

I agree that it’s negligent on the driver’s part though and I wish my drivers did a better job with due diligence and tell the dispatcher “uhh this seams high, can you double check” but they just don’t and it’s kinda frustrating. In my years of working in transportation, drivers are really only good at driving and unreliable at anything else outside of that scope.

 

But back to my point. First off, I don’t know anything about this particular case, I haven’t read any news or tweets about it, so far all I know this isn’t even a commercial transport or is a sole proprietor, or the driver disobeyed the route he was given to save time (drivers do that all the time), yes he’ll be at fault. But if he’s a driver who works for someone, who has a dispatcher and a coordinator on this load, the company will held liable, not the driver. Anything deemed over height needs a day permit from the BC permits office, which is the white collar’s job to get. 
 

I’m interested to see what happens now, but when these things occur please don’t immediately witch hunt the driver. There’s a lot that goes into transporting something and things like this go through many hands and eyeballs before being executed.

 

I think excusing the driver is the wrong way to go.  The driver is the last line of defence.  They're the only ones who know what the road conditions are as they encounter them, they're the ones tasked with the decision making at drive time.

 

A quick search rendered this from the ICBC website on commercial driving (their guide for commercial drivers).

 

 

It is incumbent upon the driver to know what their load is, how high/wide/heavy it is, and make the decision while driving whether or not they have sufficient ability to traverse underpasses/narrow lanes/bridges safely.  So it's not a witch hunt on the driver, it's the law that they should have followed but didn't when these incidents happen, and therefore the responsibility is all theirs to bear the consequences.

[Bounce000]

12 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

I think excusing the driver is the wrong way to go.  The driver is the last line of defence.  They're the only ones who know what the road conditions are as they encounter them, they're the ones tasked with the decision making at drive time.

 

A quick search rendered this from the ICBC website on commercial driving (their guide for commercial drivers).

 

 

It is incumbent upon the driver to know what their load is, how high/wide/heavy it is, and make the decision while driving whether or not they have sufficient ability to traverse underpasses/narrow lanes/bridges safely.  So it's not a witch hunt on the driver, it's the law that they should have followed but didn't when these incidents happen, and therefore the responsibility is all theirs to bear the consequences.

You’re absolutely correct that any job is on the driver’s discretion and they have every right to refuse a trip they deem unsafe. Road conditions isn’t a factor here but I see your point.

 

I just pulled up an article about this incident and apparently the driver fled the scene, so there will indeed be a criminal investigation, and they’re auditing the trucking company, as well as suspending every licence in the fleet.  
 

Only 21 trucks in the fleet (small fleet) and a driver who flees the scene after an incident tells me theres likely a hiring/ training issue with the company.

[Optimist Prime]

We have an overpass in our little village to accomodate what was once a Victoria to Comox Train line on Vancouver Island: our overpass is in the country, with no real reason any truck other than the rare construction materials delivery or movers would ever need to go, and it is hit like every 3 weeks and blocks the passage for anyone for hours at a time, I am sure drivers are getting more dumb every year, signs say exactly how tall the overhead clearanc is and people who drive for a living are supposed to know how tall their vehicles are, yet like clockwork this thing is crunched by a Van, Truck or Camper more often than I think there are houses on the other side of it to get to. 

[Ryan Strome]

On 9/20/2023 at 3:37 AM, Ds4quality said:

Probably overworked and underpaid to care.

Probably overworked. Is it possibility underpaid not at all. Truck drivers are pulling in 100 grand a year. Easy

On 9/20/2023 at 8:43 AM, Bob Long said:

I do. I drive the sea to sky 2-3 times per week, and I've lost count of the number of semis and dump trucks doing 110-120 on an 80km/hr road with many blind curves. These guys are nuts and don't give a rats hiney about the risks they are creating. One even lost control and took out the sign for Furry Creek this summer. 

If you're going to be a professional driver, then act like it. 

Yeah this is nothing but a complete generalization. The bigger problem is is how easy it is to put anybody behind the wheel of a big rig in this country. There isn't enough qualified drivers so they end up having people slip through the cracks and this is the result among other things we have seen in recent years.

3 hours ago, PhillipBlunt said:

That's ludicrous. Any driver, regardless of where they're from, has to be able to understand the capabilities of whatever vehicle they're driving. The onus is on the driver completely.

This is just it. This is why experience and competence matters. A driver has to know the weight of their unit, the height, the width. If they don't know those things, they should not be driving one inch.

[Rook]

2 hours ago, Optimist Prime said:

We have an overpass in our little village to accomodate what was once a Victoria to Comox Train line on Vancouver Island: our overpass is in the country, with no real reason any truck other than the rare construction materials delivery or movers would ever need to go, and it is hit like every 3 weeks and blocks the passage for anyone for hours at a time, I am sure drivers are getting more dumb every year, signs say exactly how tall the overhead clearanc is and people who drive for a living are supposed to know how tall their vehicles are, yet like clockwork this thing is crunched by a Van, Truck or Camper more often than I think there are houses on the other side of it to get to. 

My old man used to get out there with a tape measure on anything other than C Cans

[Sharpshooter]

Just me, sometimes, here. 
 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

24 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

Just me, sometimes, here. 
 

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get away with posting something like that on the old site, given that's kind of how I got the 2nd point that resulted in me enjoying two days away from the site (Admin-enforced vacation).  

[Sharpshooter]

12 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get away with posting something like that on the old site, given that's kind of how I got the 2nd point that resulted in me enjoying two days away from the site (Admin-enforced vacation).  

Join the head bash. 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

2 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

Join the head bash. 

 

Can I stick with headbanging instead?  

[Alflives]

5 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

Join the head bash. 

 

[Bob Long]

On 10/3/2023 at 12:04 PM, Ryan Strome said:

Probably overworked. Is it possibility underpaid not at all. Truck drivers are pulling in 100 grand a year. Easy

Yeah this is nothing but a complete generalization. The bigger problem is is how easy it is to put anybody behind the wheel of a big rig in this country. There isn't enough qualified drivers so they end up having people slip through the cracks and this is the result among other things we have seen in recent years.

This is just it. This is why experience and competence matters. A driver has to know the weight of their unit, the height, the width. If they don't know those things, they should not be driving one inch.

 

nope, its our actual experience on the 99. The number of drivers that don't gaf and drive dangerously is something you can go see daily. 

 

I do agree training is a big part of it. But when you have moron's like Scott Moe against national training programs its not going to go away. 

[Ryan Strome]

3 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

nope, its our actual experience on the 99. The number of drivers that don't gaf and drive dangerously is something you can go see daily. 

 

I do agree training is a big part of it. But when you have moron's like Scott Moe against national training programs its not going to go away. 

I mean I better tread lightly here. I believe years back You told me you are from Saskatchewan? That being said, training and education isn't exactly something that stands out in that province..