Bad driving - Fire these idiots

[mobey]

Oh, and as for the MVA vs MVC rhetoric, its utter bullshit. No matter what it is called the outcome is the same.

Clearly some idiot in an office with a complex had to make a name for himself.

I was driving to work when I smoked a deer in the night fog..... well I guess I could have been going slower? (60km/h)

I guess I should have taken another highway.... clearly not an accident, it was definatly avoidable.

[irlemt]

I remember going to a meeting with a staff member from the Risk Dept. When we said our biggest risk was driving she said that there was very little that you could do to eliminate risk when driving. When we then asked about driving in bad weather ( specifically icy road conditions) she said that if the roads were too bad she would like to see us not driving at all, clearly not going to work. Now consider this, we get very hot and heavy over scene safety, i.e not putting ourselves at risk, but if you are asked to drive in extreme weather conditions are you not, potentially, putting yourself, your partner and other road users at risk, and so, would you ever refuse to travel because it was too dangerous? Now I only ask this as Devils advocate because I know what the answer would be, but Pilots often refuse to fly because of the weather.

[spenac]

I remember going to a meeting with a staff member from the Risk Dept. When we said our biggest risk was driving she said that there was very little that you could do to eliminate risk when driving. When we then asked about driving in bad weather ( specifically icy road conditions) she said that if the roads were too bad she would like to see us not driving at all, clearly not going to work. Now consider this, we get very hot and heavy over scene safety, i.e not putting ourselves at risk, but if you are asked to drive in extreme weather conditions are you not, potentially, putting yourself, your partner and other road users at risk, and so, would you ever refuse to travel because it was too dangerous? Now I only ask this as Devils advocate because I know what the answer would be, but Pilots often refuse to fly because of the weather.

Actually in my area there are places we can not go during some types of weather. And at times we can not transport the 90 miles to the nearest hospital. We will go check them and even do some treatments but then we have to leave them. We even sometimes have to advise if they are real bad to cross the bridge and seek care in Mexico. So yes if unsafe we do not go. We have had people wreck and wait hours till it was where highway department could safely get us to the scene. We are not superman. If the roads caused them to wreck and it aint safe sorry they should not have gone out.

[Christopher.Collins]

I remember going to a meeting with a staff member from the Risk Dept. When we said our biggest risk was driving she said that there was very little that you could do to eliminate risk when driving. When we then asked about driving in bad weather ( specifically icy road conditions) she said that if the roads were too bad she would like to see us not driving at all, clearly not going to work. Now consider this, we get very hot and heavy over scene safety, i.e not putting ourselves at risk, but if you are asked to drive in extreme weather conditions are you not, potentially, putting yourself, your partner and other road users at risk, and so, would you ever refuse to travel because it was too dangerous? Now I only ask this as Devils advocate because I know what the answer would be, but Pilots often refuse to fly because of the weather.

irlemt I couldnt possibly agree more with your statement. Your no devils advocate, its just the unfortunate truth that there are many times we just shouldnt be on the road. Im sure that Richardb and some other fellow New Englanders can agree with me on that. This winter season has been the worst recorded in at least 3 years... not nessecarilly due to snow accumulation but tempuratures. They have been maintaining at or below freezing almost this entire season. Does this mean we should stay off the roads? Not nessecarilly, but the unpredictability of weather and road conditions are an ongoing danger we will always face. At least untill flying cars are affordable and mass produced.

The first snow storm of the season was just about a week before Christmas. It was quite accuratley predicted too, and kudos to the weather people for that. I responded to a medical at a local state prison (it hadnt even started to snow) and between the time we left for the hospital and the time we left the hospital itself (maybe 20 minutes) there was already 2 inches on the roads and still falling heavy with close to white out conditions. Traffic was backed up almost a mile from one bottom of a hill stoplight onwards. We got our next call (a smoke investigation) on our way back to quarters and the road conditions were so bad that once on scene we cancled all responding fire apparatus, donned our SCBAs and investigated the scene ourselves.

I remember a particular run when I worked for a transport service where we were called out for a vent transport in the middle of a blizzard. We covered (between base the requesting hospital and the receving hospital) 47 miles with a total of 88 miles ( including receving hospital to base) in weather I wouldnt send a snow plow in. Oh and yea the state DOT usually dosnt plow during heavy snow fall untill after the peak of the storm, generally the state just gets shut down and non-essential persons are pulled over and warned to go home. So I ask this... while a hospital is able to maintain a persons stability but they are unable to provide needed care is it worth risking life to transport them to a place that can give them what they need? The patients life is already in danger, but again on the flip side they are in a hospital and in stable (but critical) condition. Would it be negligent to deny them better and needed care because of weather? I dont think so... because then anyone who met critera for medevac in adverse weather would be in the same position.

But how does that differ? In a hospital a patient can be maintained to the best of their abilities. But what if someone is sitting at home and have a sudden onset MI or CVA or any other potentially life threataning condition? What if outside that persons home and throughout the city theres a foot of snow falling mixed with freezing rain? Ehtically it would be political and career suicide to not respond... but to actually respond it may be real physical suicide.

[CTXMEDIC]

the camera car was following at a safe distance. he had time to react and avodied t-boning the truck even on ice. cameras dont offer an adequate visual depth to the viewer so it may appear he was closer than he actually was. IMO, truck was lucky, car was doing the right thing.

[spenac]

I still feel the follow car was to close. This becomes obvious as he has to go off the road not to hit the ambulance. I have also found in my lifetime that when a second ambulance, car, etc with L&S going is close as even a block apart often has to hit breaks as other cars pull out thinking first ambulance was only one there. So even when cops offer escorts I stay way behind. Again we in EMS use L&S way to much and use them to excuse what in all honesty is dangerous driving.

Heres proof of the above.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6225626.html

"Police say the SUV driver was headed west when he stopped to let an ambulance pass through the intersection. The driver, however, did not see the HFD squad unit following the ambulance and struck it, causing it to flip upside down."

[web:e0e1015cf0]http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6225626.html[/web:e0e1015cf0]

[Richard B the EMT]

1) I have been in a POV with snow and ice on the ground, stopped for several moments waiting for the light to change to green, when we were struck from behind. The driver that ran into us complained we stopped too quickly. Too quickly? The light was one that stays red for a full 60 seconds, and we had been stopped for over a half minute.

2) In my Mustang, I was on a downslope at the light (different year, different car), with a steady drizzle rain falling for at least an hour prior. The light turned green, I started up, was perhaps up to 10 MPH and moved 25 feet, when, as best I recall, the 'Stang just spun out the 360 degrees of a circle and and another 180 degrees in one smooth flat spin, ending up facing back at the oncoming traffic.

I turned on my dash beacon, saw all the other drivers looking at me, and all stopped waiting for whatever move I might make. I turned the 'Stang back to the traffic lane direction, and pulled over for at least 5 minutes waiting for my breathing and heart rate to go back to some semblance of normal.

I had not been hit, had not jazzed the gas pedal, and truly had no warning that I was going to lose control, until I started spinning.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Heres proof of the above.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6225626.html

"Police say the SUV driver was headed west when he stopped to let an ambulance pass through the intersection. The driver, however, did not see the HFD squad unit following the ambulance and struck it, causing it to flip upside down."

[web]http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6225626.html[/web]

My question to that follower of the ambulance with his lights activated ----- what the heck did you need to be going emergency behind the ambulance when they were responding to the hospital . There was no reason the unit following the ambulance was going hot. The patient was in the ambulance so he was being taken care of. Or did the follower think he was Johnny Gage and he was in squad 51? Remember when they responded emergency to the hospital behind the ambulance? I remember that show.

It seems to me that the suv driver should not have been cited but the following fire vehicle needed to be cited.

just my opinion.

[Richard B the EMT]

Has anyone confirmed if the chase vehicle was another ambulance, a fire department vehicle, a LEO vehicle with a dash cam, or some independent news videographer looking to sell a video of whatever the spin-out truck was initially responding to?

[Dustdevil]

Am I the only one here who is fed the fark up with all these gaywads trying to be all artistic by editing $hitty "music" (using the term loosely) into their lame videos? :roll: