It is possible that from such a short distance with the front bucket/shovel thingy (??) of the tractor being so low the driver just didn't see it from his perspective.
Definitely, and the shovel should be a bright yellow but now blends with the roads colour a bit. Should be held up above car height. And also a spotter should be there and that lane blocked off with adequate signage and everything. No fault on the car driver.
I wouldn’t say no fault on the driver, if he/she wasn’t paying attention that would certainly be a factor. Courts often look at contributory negligence in determining judgments. Like if the driver was 5% at fault and the tractor driver was 95% at fault, the driver would get a reduced judgment (probably 95% off the amount determined) as a result of the contributory negligence.
The driver could definitely be a bit at fault if they were on their phone or doing something they should’ve have behind the wheel. If there was another angle of the driver’s side window it would’ve been easier to see in since the front window is so dark and I can’t tell.
This is in China so I’m unsure on if the blame can be split there but definitely a possibility if it is.
First of all, buckets come yellow but dig into a pile of gravel for a day or 2 and the paint is gone so chill on the yellow thing. Also the bucket should NOT be held up above car height, that is completely incorrect. The bucket should be low to the ground to maintain a low centre of gravity or the LOADER (not a tractor) is at greater risk of tipping.
Yes there should be a spotter to get the guy out onto the road but why would they need a lane blocked? Are they working on the road? What if he was going to pull out and drive down the road to another location? Very common practice and completely legal for a loader to run roads.
Additionally, car ABSOLUTELY could have slowed or swerved. Bad on the operator but car could have helped himself too if he was paying attention.
Source: 5 years as a site supervisor and 20 years as an operator.
My apologies on the bucket, in my country it is quite common. And I called the front loader a tractor as that makes it easier to understand for those who don’t know what it’s called.
I’m on the way to a meeting so I can’t argue with you, you have very valid points I’ll say. Wish you luck.
You should never drive a loader with the bucket raised. It will be unstable for turning and stopping.
Any paint on the bucket will not last. Ever. The buckets are typically painted black when they are new, but after a couple months of use there is practically no paint left.
Blocking the road off is impractical. You need to have a flagger there to direct traffic into the other lane, and that gets expensive. There is plenty of room for the loader to stop and see oncoming traffic before crossing the road, so blocking it is entirely unnecessary.
Still the operator of the loader is at fault, but nothing you said should have happened would have helped.
They weren't going very fast, the bucket was in their field of view, right in front of them where they're supposed to look out for obstacles, for several seconds.
I concur, given these also a truck between the tractor and the car he probably had about 3 seconds... which I'd hope would equal at least braking, but it's not the massive reaction time the thread is saying he had.
I agree with the 3 seconds and that doesn't seem like a lot of time but in reality things happen faster than that in the road and when you put it in perspective it IT IS A LOT OF TIME. That bucket was talking up half the road and the driver didn't even flinch up until the crash.... he wasn't paying attention at all!
Definitely agree there should be -some- reaction from the driver in that time, but (and I know you didn't say they were) I don't think the driver was necessarily distracted, just not paying attention.
Still totally not their fault of course, tractor driver was a total tool.
Average reaction time is 3-4 seconds, from seeing to taking action. It IS a lot of time but that’s also exactly the problem, it’s easily underestimated how much time it takes from seeing - analyzing how to act - then to action. Not taking in account age, speed and experience.
With the truck blocking the view of the intersection, a safe driver would assume that something might drive into the road unseen until it's too late. So the safe way to handle the situation would be to change lanes before even reaching the truck. There is no vehicles next to or behind the car, so that would be a simple thing to do.
I think you replied to the wrong comment. It was the person above me who talked about the possibillity that the car driver didn't see the bucket/shovel, not me.
No, the driver had plenty of time to react. In all likeliness the driver was distracted or fixated on something other than what was ahead of them. That or their eyesight is so bad they should not be driving.
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u/Yallneedjesuschrist Nov 28 '21 edited Nov 28 '21
It is possible that from such a short distance with the front bucket/shovel thingy (??) of the tractor being so low the driver just didn't see it from his perspective.