What evidence do we have presented to us over the internet?
- a dash cam video showing 3 seconds of out of control Landcruiser and caravan.
- an obviously wet road
- a number of commentators saying they know the particular section of road and comments of the near misses they have had
- a truck that doesn't appear to slow or deviate at all (yes I know there appears to be a car approaching that probably meant he couldn't move to his left, and the truck does appear to have spun. This could of been caused by the truck driver taking some evasive action that can't be picked up by the dash cam, but in my opinion probably more likely to be the resultant drag caused by the impact on the LHS of the truck and trailer)
- a seemingly very detailed explanation offered by the supposed Landcruiser driver
Not a lot of detail to draw to many conclusions from.
Some of my thoughts -
- it would of been nice to hear the truck back off a bit when the Landcruiser appeared, particularly in light of the other comments regarding this being a notorious intersection.
- I have attended numerous accidents where diesel/oil has leaked onto the bitumen (sometimes before the accident, sometimes the result of). When the road is wet (from rain or when trying to wash the oil off the road) you sometimes have trouble standing up let alone trying to slow a vehicle on it.
- the Landcruiser driver appears to have started the turn to the left right as he appears on video. A very smart move as it turns out, effectively reducing the length of the combination by about 6m and hitting the side of the truck instead of being T boned. I doubt whether someone that wasn't concentrated would be able to do that. Most of the "panic" scenarios I have seen involve the driver smashing the brake pedal and that is all, with nil or negligable evasive action.
- oil on the road? I would think so. Nothing seems to stop quicker than a vehicle going sideways. But in this video the Landcruiser is not slowing at all, no matter which direction it is pointing. Lack of traction would also explain why the Landcruiser hasn't been able to veer to the left. ABS is only going to allow the steer wheels to vary the trajectory of the vehicle if they have traction.
From all the truck vs car crashes I have seen over the years it isn't often I will not be blaming the car driver (recently in my local area over the period of 4 weeks we have had 3 truck vs car crashes resulting in 4 fatalities. All the evidence appears to suggest the causes have been the car drivers being distracted).
In this case, with the evidence at hand (which isn't much!) I will still be blaming the Landcruiser driver (we have to blame someone right?). The Landcruiser just happened to strike a lot heavier patch of oil than he was expecting. Oil at the intersection could also explain why the truck has spun so easily. It isn't often I have seen a light vehicle manage to affect the stability of a heavy vehicle. Usually only the result of a head on (not side impact), with the change in trajectory of the truck started by the the truck drivers evasive action (which doesn't appear to have happened in this case).
How many of us would drive along in the wet thinking "Gee, the roads a bit slippery today. Must be something on it. I better double (triple, quadruple..........) my stopping distance at the next intersection because it is bound to be a lot worse there!"
Peter