Truck driver pulling a van trailer full of flammables bumped into the rear of a tanker full of diesel this afternoon in Walcott, Iowa. Two small cars alongside wound up in the tangle.
Tanker had a little damage, but no rupture, no loss, no issue.
Van trailer caught on fire, burned it, and the tractor, to the ground:
It should be very obvious that substantial distractions, lack of patience, and bad habits are the three most detrimental circumstances of road travel. Poor driving skills, substance abuse, and fatigue make all these things worse.
A substantial amount can be learned of a person's driving by a simple walk-around of their vehicle. A vehicle that has lots of brake dust on the wheels and very worn tires advises that there's a habit of excessive-force to the pedals.
Tiny chips on the front edge of the hood, and chips and/or a sand-blasted windshield identify habitual tailgating.
Abrasion to the outside edges of the side mirrors, chunks and scars on the sidewalls of the tires, and mismatched tires on the right rear corner, tells of poor depth perception and lack of attention to curbs in turns.
I've operated everything from an 11lb carbon-fiber olympic track-racing bicycle, up to a 3100-ton 4-engine river towboat, and in every case, I've found that impatience and inattention yield disasterous results.
There are bad drivers everywhere, operating everything. As I travel the country, I see very bad decisions made, in droves... over and over again... yet they survive by virtue of sheer luck. Yesterday, I saw a man, in a 16ft boat with 4 kids, drive right over a submerged concrete wall not once, but THREE TIMES... two of which AFTER I'd hailed him, and advised him of which way to go to avoid the obstacle. His response- One finger salute... then full throttle into same wall... clearly marked on every Mississippi River navigation chart since 1916... apparently not worth his time to investigate, and irrelevant to the safety of his craft and passengers.
Not all people are ignorant, rude, impatient, or lacking in skill, but those that are worst, expose those who are almost as bad. The rest exercise patience at both, and act sensibly, to arrive alive.
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Yes it was about 100 but with the windows down it did not kill me.
A old gal pulled in front and left the engine run to keep cool as she just sat there. Then got out still running,them I see a teen still inside. The old gal come back and does a circle or 2 before she can find here car.
But she managed to back and did not hit my car.
