Unintended Acceleration Tragedy in New Haven

Re: Unintended Accelleration Tragedy in New Haven

when you see a rental truck, you usually see an inexperienced truck driver. get out the way!

 

Re: Unintended Accelleration Tragedy in New Haven

I can agree with that. Rental truck = disaster... People usually in a hurry cause they do not plan, and wait till the last minute. I have paced rental trucks doing 85+ on the highways. If they had a blow out at those speeds it would almost be certain serious injury for them and any small cars they hit... Is why I stay away. Heck is bad enough with the 18 wheeler drivers dozing off and swerving from lane to lane.. Is why whenever I come up to one I slow down, observe for a couple minutes, and when it looks like it will stay tracking straight I zoom by as fast as I can on the open lane then slow back to the posted limit.

 

Re: Unintended Accelleration Tragedy in New Haven

Not necessarily. I've driven rental trucks four times:

The first was one time I moved. It was a heck of a lot cheaper than hiring movers and my friends could help me load/unload. Everything was planned out about a month in advance, including getting a reservation with uHaul.

The second was helping my sister move (about an hour and a half drive). She had just graduated college and obviously didn't have the money to hire movers. We planned everything out several months in advance so I could get plane tickets to fly out there and back on the appropriate days.

The third time was moving some heavy equipment for a high school robotics team I work with. Large cast-iron equipment that probably weighed 1000lbs. We needed a truck with an adjustable lift in the back so we could wheel the items on and off with a pallet jack. Again, we planned everything out about a month in advance.

The last time was helping my sister move again - this time across country. Everything (including route and a hotel stop along the way) was planned out several months in advance so I could arrange plane tickets for the long weekend.

None of the times I've used them have been last minute or in a rush - all were fully planned and thought out, and the decision to use a rental truck was based on either the requirements of the trip or on the price of the alternatives.

 

Re: Unintended Accelleration Tragedy in New Haven

Difference is, the New Haven tragedy was Feddy Frat Rat hauling a truck full of beer and booze to a tailgate party.

 

Re: Unintended Accelleration Tragedy in New Haven

OK, so we have Harvard, Yale, Football, Frats, Party and Alcohol. The Lawyers will sue the Victims and the Rental Co.

 

Re: Unintended Accelleration Tragedy in New Haven

There is too much truth in what you said.

 

looks like he was going too fast on the grass and couldn't stop in time

 

And what was the driver's blood alcohol level? When it comes to college students, that's the main constant for culpability when it comes to grave mistakes such as this (not how much of a speed demon a rental truck could be, or how wet the grass was).

 

Sometimes, believe it or not, machines malfunction. Not necessarily because of some design flaw or maintenance issue, just because they do.

 

When you hear hoof beats, think horse, not zebra.

 

Except when fully engineered not to. If you look at the reliability levels of commercial passenger aircraft, those are truly impressive numbers. I've read volumes of aircraft accident and incident reports. Not a single case of "required arbitrary malfunction" was ever found to be the problem.

 

Malfunction of left seat actuator here perhaps?

 

Plus, the few times I've driven a U-haul, I never felt that accidentally hitting the gas pedal would have "unintended acceleration"...quite the oposite, I've found I've had to really push the pedal to have any acceleration (weighed down with furniture granted...depends on the number of kegs as far as equivalent or even exceeding).

 

This isn't a commercial aircraft.

 

No, but peoples lives depend on it just the same as it were a commercial aircraft.

 

So your point is...?

Excuse me, I'm taking my car in for its annual.

 

The statement "machines malfunction" is not a universal truth.

 

+1

I have rented many trucks from U-Haul and Penske. The U-Haul's are typically high mileage and very worn. You just have to know this and be extra cautious when driving. I have never had an issue while driving these on the highway or around town. You just have to be aware of the equipment you are driving and your surroundings and leave plenty of room between you and other vehicles.

Now frat boys and rental equipment I can see as a problem waiting to happen