Re: Truck stopping distances?

["David T. Marx" <dtmarx@SIU.EDU>]

Our university debate team coach advises his students driving a 15
passenger van to hit a deer in the road rather than to swerve (which
would likely roll the van over).  His advice came to reality a few
weeks ago, but he had to use it himself.  He was at the wheel doing
70 mph at around 2 AM with part of the team in the van and the
rest in a car following close behind.  Whe he spotted he deer, he
resisted turning the wheel to avoid the deer.  He also realized that
he couldn't slam on the brakes because the car behind would run
into the back of the van.  Also, if he did swerve, the car behind
wouldn't know there was a deer and would have struck it, making
for a much worse accident.  Fortunately, no humans were injured,
but the deer did not survive.

On 1 Mar 2002 at 11:14, Michael Edmiston wrote:

> Yes... Andy Graham is telling us what truck drivers I know have said many
> times.  People who only drive cars don't realize all the things truck
> drivers have to worry about when they need to stop in a hurry.  The best bet
> for them is not to have to stop in a hurry.  Hence, when crazy drivers force
> truckers into a situation where a fast stop is needed... look out.  Andy
> also points out that truck drivers or the companies they work for don't
> always use practices that are as safe as they should be.
>
> At least truck drivers typically get training have to have a special drivers
> license.  A bad situation where this is not true is ordinary folks driving
> 15-passenger vans.  The national TV news did a story on this last fall.
> Bluffton College was featured in this story because we (like many colleges)
> use 15-passenger vans for our athletic teams, and these vans are often
> driven by the students themselves.
>
> Nationally there have been a significant number of accidents because a fully
> loaded 15-passenger van is much more difficult to control than a regular van
> or car.  Roll-overs or rear-end-around or "loss of control" are quite common
> if the untrained driver has to do an emergency maneuver.
>
> The reason my college made the news is because our insurance company
> suggested we should train our student drivers.  We did indeed begin a
> program which requires all student drivers (acting in official capacity) to
> receive drivers training on the vehicle they will be driving.
>
> The original question was simply viewing coefficient of friction and mass.
> Although that might be a place to start, the situation gets complicated real
> fast when we also demand that the driver maintain control.  The weight
> distribution, the suspension, whether the load can shift, etc. all combine
> to make the actual situation pretty complicated.
>
>
> Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.              Phone/voice-mail:       419-358-3270
> Professor of Chemistry & Physics        FAX:                    419-358-3323
> Chairman, Science Department            E-Mail                  edmiston@bluffton.edu
> Bluffton College
> 280 West College Avenue
> Bluffton, OH 45817
>
>
>
> Old truck driver here,
>
> The larger truck/trailer (18 wheelers) have separate brakes for the
> trailer.  Stopping quickly in a straight line requires pulling the
> trailer brakes first, and with more pressure than the front brakes
> (obviously). When running winding roads truckers frequently use only the
> trailer brakes, to avoid having the trailer push the truck in a curve
> (or jack-knifing).  The most dangerous combination of truck and trailer
> is the empty dump truck pulling a trailer hauling heavy equipment, and
> no trailer brakes.  I was fired from my last truck driving job for
> refusing to continue driving said combination. One close call too many.
>
> andy graham