Seven motorcyclists are dead after colliding with a pickup truck in New Hampshire

bigprop said:
I've been driving heavy goods vehicles since 13yrs old around the same time i got my first motocross bike(paid for with me own hard earn't cash and a little help from me dad;)). Use to drive the old shunter in me dads scrap yard (before health and safety)loading frag then on to the weight bridge then tip on the quay ready to load the boats for export summer holidays easter and when ever job loved it.Have a UK heavy goods licence and in my younger days travelled most of Europe delivering various goods.I now work for a very large import export company which moves 70% of there goods by road all over Europe and UK even as far as Turkey.They employ mostly eastern European hauliers and drivers for this and the standard of driving is diabolical.Most gain there license when doing national service (test is some what guaranteed)Scary to think they drive on our roads where i ride my bike.Also that combination pick up truck and trailer all though it can pull it but can it control it? personally no and with that moron behind the wheel definitely not.Just angers me these morons get away with it and only get stopped when it's to late.In the UK that combination of vehicle and trailer would not be allowed.
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Born and raised in the UK and did not emigrate to the USA until I was 29, so seen both sides. Can't really compare driving in the USA to the UK, or anywhere in Western Europe. Far less traffic/population density. Just take a look at the CDL Class A/HGV truck types. In the USA mostly conventional, and in Europe mostly cabovers. Vehicles are longer and heavier in the USA as the distances of travel are far longer, and the roads larger (most of the time).
 
stollydriver said:
Thanks for posting that - we - on other shores would not otherwise see that bulletin. Sad times indeed.....
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+1. One cannot watch that video with a dry eye. I'm proud to have served with the Marines for two years with my CO, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Rayburn, being an LDO who received a battlefield commission during Vietnam's Operation Dewey Canyon. Jim could never understand why I rode a motorcycle so I always made a point to ride my bike, instead of cage it, when I visited him after he retired.
 
I am still waiting to hear the real cause; most of the speculation is texting while driving. If alcohol had been a factor, I think that would have been mentioned already. I have been following this since the beginning and feel great sorrow for those affected by this tragedy.
 
Makes me feel very ill

Truck driver in New Hampshire crash that killed 7 bikers was on drugs, report says

A Massachusetts truck driver who has been charged with negligent homicide in a June crash that killed seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire was on drugs and reaching for a beverage just before the tragedy, The Boston Globe reported Thursday.

The Globe, citing a report by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said that Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, tested positive for an unspecified drug when his pickup truck crossed the yellow center line of U.S. Route 2 and hit the motorcyclists on the evening of June 21 in Randolph, N.H. Zhukovskyy also admitted to reaching for a drink just before the crash, but did not specify what kind of beverage.

Zhukovskyy, of West Springfield, Mass. has pleaded not guilty and remains behind bars. The seven victims were members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, a New England group made up of Marines and their spouses.

More in link
 
The state auditor also found the driver (Zhukovsky) had been arrested for drunk driving in other states. Not surprising when you tally in they hadn't processed any out of state violations for drivers with a Mass license for almost 5 years. After the crash they yanked 1600 driver licenses. Check out USA Today's articles, it's enlightening.
 
atomsplitter said:
The state auditor also found the driver (Zhukovsky) had been arrested for drunk driving in other states. Not surprising when you tally in they hadn't processed any out of state violations for drivers with a Mass license for almost 5 years. After the crash they yanked 1600 driver licenses. Check out USA Today's articles, it's enlightening.
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My brother-in-law just returned late last night from a Postmaster's convention in CT. He is also an avid rider and told us this morning of the above mentioned audit and driver license cancellations. I had not read of this report in our western news. Like me, Rudy is also an avid rider and we have ridden many miles around the country together.

So many times it seems that it takes a horrific tragedy, like the deaths of our rider brothers and sisters, to uncover such a dangerous bureaucratic failing.
 
Just saw this in local forum
Article
Excerpt
Most of these facts have been reported before but the NTSB report puts the systems failures into a sad and worrisome summary. More than one person is to blame for the deaths and injuries.
The driver: In ascribing blame, you have to start with Zhukovskyy, who remains in jail awaiting trial. State Police said he admitted using heroin and cocaine the day of the crash but said he was still "OK to drive." Police said tests confirmed the presence of those drugs, plus morphine and fentanyl.
His employer: Westfield Transport hired Zhukovskyy just two days before the crash. They did not perform a background check or review his driving record before hiring him or they would been alerted to his history of drug abuse.
The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles: About five weeks before the crash, Zhukovskyy was arrested for DUI in Connecticut. Connecticut officials notified Massachusetts both electronically and by mail, and by state law, Zhukovskyy's Massachusetts license should have been suspended. But those out-of-state reports were never acted on by the MRMV. If they had, Zhukovskyy would not have had a valid commercial driver's license to get the job at Westfield. The head of the MRMV later resigned.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: Despite violations by Westfield, the FMCSA, which regulates the industry, did not take action against the company. The NTSB found that the problem wasn't that the FMCSA didn't follow its procedures, but that its procedures were inadequate.
 

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