On a sunny Friday afternoon, John Doe was maneuvering his straight truck down a one-way thoroughfare in Bear Paw, S.D., daydreaming about his impending weekend visit to the Harley-Davidson dealership where he planned to buy an “almost-new” bike from Billy Bob, the shop’s mechanic.
Doe had just passed some parked cars, on his right, and was cautiously approaching the intersection with Main Street, keeping an eye on the traffic signal that, for the moment, remained encouragingly green. At that instant, Mrs. Mattie Crowly-Bubkis, who was stuck behind Doe, decided that the nasty ol’ truck was moving too slowly.
Fearing that she’d be caught at the intersection by a red light, Crowly-Bubkis became impatient and accelerated her 2004 performance-tuned purple Porsche around the right side of Doe’s rig and, losing control, ended up sideways, right in front of poor Doe’s bumper! The Porsche then was stopped dead in its tracks – after impacting the right front fender of a rusty Chevy van piloted by Gramps Grumbley, who’d been pacing Doe in the left lane! Next, Doe’s truck slammed into the side of the stationary luckless sports car.
After Doe contested the preventable-accident warning letter from his safety director, the National Safety Council’s Accident Review Committee was asked to render a final decision. NSC immediately upheld the preventable judgment, noting that Doe should have kept an eye on his right-side mirror. Had he done so, he could have avoided smashing into the maniacal Crowly-Bubkis.
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