Truck sheds load on local highway
(CNS): A trailer truck belonging to Precision Trucking Services overturned in the vicinity of Linford Pierson Highway at around 6:30 pm this evening. One CNS reader was on the scene to talk with the driver Lamar Shakes, who was heading into George Town when, he said, he began to gear down in order to take the roundabout by the Lions Centre and suddenly the RPM became stuck. The driver explained that the RPM is the gear indicator that gives the rate of revolution of the truck and once stuck it disoriented the traction of the truck, shifting the trucks load of rocks, causing it to overturn. (Photo by Anthony Ricardo)
Shakes, who was the only person in the truck, was a bit shaken up but unhurt. No other vehicle was involved in the incident and RCIPS traffic officers as well as those from the Cayman Islands Fire Service attended the scene.
Another CNS reader also reported that the local cadet cops had turned up at the accident scene to help with traffic direction.
Category: Local News
I actually watched as he cut off a lady (an employee at the NRA, nonetheless!) who was about to turn down Old Crewe Rd to head in to the church parking lot. Then he proceeded to SPEED around the roundabout, and the truck overturned.
His excuse is ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong; it’s perfectly feasible that it *could* have happened. However, the fact of the matter is that it *didn’t* happen. He was at fault, not the truck. If he had not been driving recklessly, this would not have occurred.
I just hope that the NRA lady spoke up when the police arrived.
Nice to see that as usual, lots of ‘experts’ are making comments on what they don’t know or (obviously) understand. Read and learn from someone who has been in the business for + 25 years.
MANY factors here, excessive speed WASN’T one of them, or the load would have been spread all over the roadway. How do I know this? Physics, more precisely, Mass & Momentum. The ‘scene’ was too contained for high-speed to have been a factor.
And NO, the wall at Silver Oaks isn’t that strong. The fact that it is still standing is a testament to my analysis.
The MAJOR factor is the road itself. What? Yes, the ROAD SURFACE.
The CAMBER of the ROAD is often incorrect here for the given corner. The Camber SHOULD be inclined towards the direction of the corner, but because of our reliance on ‘Deep-wells’ for road drainage, the camber is often the OPPOSITE of what it should be.
With this particular round-a-bout, the camber of the road actually CHANGES on this particular corner, as the ‘lean’ TOWARDS the round-a-bout transitions to the opposite side towards the Silver Oaks fence when crossing ‘lanes’.
This results in a dramatic shift in the Center of Gravity (CoG) in a high load such as this was, resulting in what happened.
Also, the ‘Entrance speed’ to the round-a-bout should be governed, signs would be helpful, but proper design would have addressed this by FORCING inbound traffic to slow down. It is painfully obvious that whoever did the design doesn’t understand the function, or how to achieve it.
Accidents are usually the result of COMPOUNDING factors, not just one single factor. Don’t be quick to pass Judgement on an assumption, get the Facts first.
This was the case of a Distracted driver being ‘caught-out’ by a shifting CoG while changing lanes on a Improperly Constructed Round-a-bout.
Just thank GOD that no-one was hurt.
Yesterday on my way home from town to Newlands I came across 5 dump trucks who were heading into town. NONE of them was going at or below the speed limit. Clearly nothing unusual about it, but perhaps it istime for the public to call in with the license plate info if they observe reckless driving. Perhaps if the police gets swamped with complaints and calls, they are finally stepping it up and keep a closer eye on the commercial vehicles (INCLUDING TAXIS AND BUSSES)!
The RCIPS need to pay closer attention to the speed at which many of these dump trucks travel on our roads. Thank God no one was hurt but it makes one shiver at the thought of what could have happened to innocent travellers in close proximity at that time of the evening.
XXXXX
What about a driver’s license amnesty for idiotic moronic drivers – taxis included… If they don’t give it up during the amnesty, they hit them hard like unna do the gunmen.
Does ANYONE remember the Flowers block truck that killed a tourist many years ago? Dangerous load and deadly driving…
So – hit these XXX (saved you the time CNS) hard and get them off the roads. Big trucks, taxis, ANYONE making a living in transportation should be held to a higher standard – they hold the lives of others in their (frequently dubious) hands…
I tend to agree with your statement except the part about the Flowers block truck.I think that is incorrect.Maybe it should read a truck carrying Flowers blocks instead.In fairness to Flowers they seem to have a pretty good safety record.
listen to me alot of you dont know truck driving and what happen was the accelarator stuck so the RPM he needed to shift down at was not there they do not use the clutch except to move off or when at a complete stop i know i am a truck driver in the states read and understand it is not garbage he can happen to even you in a automatic car as@holes when it happens to u what are going to do what happen also these guys do not do proper mechanical checks on there trucks here like we do every eight to nine hours in the states so keep your mouth shut because all you doing is talking s@@ listen to people that know what they talking about
Were you driving your truck whilst you wrote this comment?
You’re contradicting yourself sir. On the one hand it is nice to know a few details about truck driving which you have provided. On the other hand, however, you have stated that you, as a truck driver, check your truck every 8-9 hours…that’s good but I am more than positive these guys don’t do that down here. IF they did they would know something was wrong right?
Glad no-one was hurt at least.
Stick to truck driving buddy – because apparently your spelling & grammar are not going to get you anywhere…
apparently Joe knows everything except how to spell properly and punctuate…
Put it in Neutral….??
" suddenly the RPM became stuck. The driver explained that the RPM is the gear indicator that gives the rate of revolution of the truck and once stuck it disoriented the traction of the truck, shifting the trucks load of rocks, causing it to overturn."
That is the biggest pile of garbage excuse i have ever heard! LOL…Bad driving is the reason partner!!
I agree! Way toooooo much speed at the roundabouts these days. If we put speed camera’s before all round abouts we may be able to pay off our national debt much sooner.
A LOT of these big truck drivers speed up and down on the road. They are like road bullies. They have NO respect for other vehicles on the road.
I am not saying this is the case with this specific driver and maybe it is but these big truck drivers definatley should be given a speed limit to go by or only drive on certain roads at certain times.
A round about is definately tricky to cruise on with a ton load of anything.
The drivers of these dump trucks feel that once they can blow there horns that everything is ok. I live in west bay and theres a development going on in this district by Governement and these trucks goes thru my road like a race track blowing there horns like a bunch of mad men and to make things worst thye dont have no sort of covers over the back of these trucks. We have to be lock up in our house like a bunch of prisoners becasue of the dust flying off these truck my questions is where is the police officers shouldnt they be pulling these drivers over and giving them a tickes because they are good at that why dont you give these people tickets thats putting other people lives at danger for driving reckless.
You also got to hold the employers of these drivers accountable, because these drivers are paid to drive from point A to point B at a fast speed; or else, lose their jobs or take a salary cut. The Police should go after the boss and fine him!
"The driver explained that the RPM is the gear indicator that gives the rate of revolution of the truck and once stuck it disoriented the traction of the truck, shifting the trucks load of rocks, causing it to overturn."
Sorry, but I have never heard such stupid drivel in my life…this was a clear case of too much speed and not enough caution on the part of the driver..thankfully there was not a pedestrain or cyclist at that spot or this would have been a real tragedy..as many others on this forum have pointed out, these large truck are almost always overloaded, have their loads poorly balanced and usually drive much faster than is even safe for a regular automobile, much less a vehicle that can weigh in excess of 40 TONS, yes that’s right..40 TONS….to put that in perspective, a 737 aircraft weighs 35 TONS.
"The RPM became stuck", or expressed another way, "trailing clutch overstear" = dangerous driving.
Lucky no one was hurt,the 4 female cadets did an outsanding job they were tht first on the sence,i heard one young lady ask the gentleman if he’s ok and that she’s First Aid certified.I’m a strong supporter of the Cadet Corps and Im goin to keep on supporting
Mr. Shakes must have been in shakes; this was a close call – someone could have got killed or seriously injured. I use to recall mack trucks having on them a speed limit sign on how fast they suppose to be driving, and the times they should be driving where there is a lesser volume of traffic on the road. Like the cargo containers are driven from the dock at nights and weekends – so why can’t they designate certain hours for these trucks to be on the road. I don’t see such signs on them anymore. A mack truck should be trucking less than 10 miles a given speed limit. They should not be overloaded where you can have rocks falling out behind it. Moreover, they should always have their tarp coverings on.
Boy, this could have been a major tragedy if the truck and rocks would have fallen on other vehicles. Based on my observations in the past, these dump trucks are just flying down the roads and into the round-abouts.
Another thing is that Crewe Road should be closed for dump trucks and the like for through traffic. After all, we spend millions of dollars to build a by-pass so commercial vehicles who have now business on Crewe Road should be forced to use it.
I have seen many of these truckers recklessly speed around the roundabouts so many times that I have predicted this would happen, a loaded truck cant go as fast as a car and yet they push the envelop. Its scary and some one will get hurt eventually, I think its time for the police to watch out and give tickets for this infraction. Thank heavens no one was hurt this time.
XXXXXX A lot of these truck drivers have no respect for the rules of the road or the safety of the rest of us sharing the road. The route to/from the eastern districts is a virtual racetrack to get as many trips in as possible. See it everyday.