Cameras In Tractors?

A previous thread said a Swift driver was fired for eating a salad while driving and caught on camera

Out of curiosity, was this ever confirmed or was this just one of those "I heard one time a driver was fired for......." rumors?

So Brett, what about eating while driving??

Excellent question.

Well naturally anything you do that isn't driving is going to distract you from driving, so it's a concern at least and could be incredibly dangerous. Depends on what you're doing and how you're doing it. So eating and driving is definitely more dangerous than not eating and driving. That's safe to say. But the TruckingTruth research arm has looked into this and here's what we have right now......

Everyone is familiar with 392.80: Prohibition against texting:

Prohibition. No driver shall engage in texting while driving

...and 392.82: Using a hand-held mobile telephone:

(a)(1) No driver shall use a hand-held mobile telephone while driving a CMV

Those appear to be the only two specific activities that are written into the laws at the moment.

However, the FMCSA has a page called CMV Driving Tips - Driver Distraction and it states at the top:

Driver distraction is the diversion of attention from activities critical for safe driving to a competing activity

Ok so that's pretty clear. Any activity that competes with your attention driving is a distraction.

They go on to list several tips for distracted driving. Note #6 and the information that follows it:

• TIP #1: Do Not Let Objects Outside of Your Truck Distract You
• TIP #2: Do Not Text While Driving
• TIP #3: Do Not Use a Dispatching Device While Driving
• TIP #4: Do Not Dial a Handheld Phone While Driving
• TIP #5: Do Not Read, Write, or Use Paper Maps While Driving
• TIP #6: Avoid Eating and Drinking When Driving

Sometimes you may feel like driving is the only time you have to eat or drink. But you may not realize that eating while driving can be dangerous. Eating while driving can take your eyes off the road. It always takes at least one of your hands off the wheel. Always try to eat or drink before getting behind the wheel or leave time to pull over and eat.

Did You Know? A survey of all types of drivers found that 49 percent of drivers believed eating or drinking while driving could be a distraction.

Did You Know? A recent study found that eating while driving was riskier than talking on a cell phone.

So there is such a thing as "distracted driving" but the law at this point only specifies two activities - texting and using the phone without a hands-free device.

Could you get a ticket for distracted driving because an officer saw you eating? We're not sure. It's ambiguous at this point.

Could you get fired from your company for distracted driving because you were eating a sandwich? Yes, a company can fire you for any reason they like. Now would that reasoning hold up in a court of law if you sued that company for firing you without cause? Again we're not sure. It seems pretty ambiguous at this point.

We have a ton of information about distracted driving in our wiki and we're going to be adding a lot more to that page very soon.

Interestingly enough, I once was given a ticket for "too fast for conditions" in Kentucky for driving 50 mph on the Interstate while it was snowing. I was in complete control of the vehicle and could have safely gone considerably faster but was taking it easy because people in front of me were just easing along. Now I'm from Buffalo where we get more snow in June than Kentucky gets in a decade so I'm comfortable in it, Kentuckians are not.

I asked the officer when he said he was giving me a ticket, "How you can say I was driving too fast for conditions if I was in complete control of the vehicle and safely holding my lane? If I was sitting off in a corn field I would understand. But what evidence is there that I was driving too fast for conditions? I was 100% in control of the vehicle at all times and I was safely going down the road."

He said that it's a judgment call on his part and that I shouldn't be driving that fast when it was snowing. I explained I was from Buffalo and 50 mph is more than adequately safe for these conditions, but he disagreed. For him I'm sure it wouldn't have been as safe because he doesn't have the experience I do so snow probably scares the cr*p out of him.

Well turns out the judge sided with the officer. Apparently Kentuckians know more about what's safe to do in the snow than someone who grew up in it. And apparently even if you have a career-long safe driving record they know more about how you should be driving your vehicle than you do.

My point is that even if you aren't demonstrating any signs of erratic driving it's possible you could be ticketed or fired from your job for distracted driving because of something you were doing behind the wheel. So be aware of that.

Brett queries:

A previous thread said a Swift driver was fired for eating a salad while driving and caught on camera

Out of curiosity, was this ever confirmed or was this just one of those "I heard one time a driver was fired for......." rumors?

The Salad Incident is from a Swift Video starring Richard Stocking (Swift President/CEO). A STOP event triggered the recording, and the driver was eating a salad at that moment. My post about 4 months ago.

Belluavir believes:

here are plenty of companies that indulge this preference ....

They might "indulge" - until the insurance company, or the State, tell them to quit indulging and get the cameras installed already.

And besides, just what are you doing that you don't want your boss to see you do just before your accident? I thought "observant driver" would be a good thing to be doing just before the fender bender.

Who said we had to be doing anything that we don't want our boss to see? I just don't want a camera stuck in my face all day long while I'm working. If they can't figure out what happened with witness statements, nearby cameras (freeway, businesses, etc.), my forward facing camera, the ECM, and whatever else they have at their disposal, then they (the investigators) should probably look for another line of work.

This is the way it always starts. The government slaps some small law down that doesn't really matter that much and everybody is saying, "What's the big deal?" Then, after the dust settles, they add another small law that by itself really isn't much, but when you add it on to the first law it's a little bit bigger deal. Then they keep adding all these small laws that when combined start gaining momentum and turns into one big law that leaves everyone standing around scratching their heads wondering what just happened. I know this sound like paranoia to some, but mark my words, this WILL eventually come back to bite us in the ol' keister.

Since the cab of my truck is my home, workplace, dining facility, etc., I just think this crosses the line and opens way too many doors in the future for the government to build on. The next thing you know they will want to put a camera in every room of your home. Are you okay with that, too? Because besides, what would you possibly be doing that you wouldn't want big brother to see? How about your personal vehicle(s)? Or maybe just the personal vehicle(s) of truck drivers just because we have a CDL and "we should be held to a higher standard." You okay with that, too? Where does it stop? How about the bathrooms, or the shower rooms because Lord knows us crazy truck drivers might be building a weapon of mass destruction in there since we can't do it in our trucks anymore because of the cameras there.

Brett,

Same thing happened to me years ago in Wisconsin. I had been stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska so I was used to driving in snow. I was going through Madison, WI on the interstate and got stopped. It was snowing, but not much IMO. I mean visibility was not reduced any more than if it was raining and there was only, at most, a quarter inch of accumulation on the roadway. Anyway the trooper stops me. He asks me, "Do you want my gun?" What? I reply, "I'm sorry?" Then he repeats himself and says, "I said, 'Do you want my gun?!" I think of, but don't actually say, a number of smart-a** responses but I refrain and simply tell him that I don't understand what he means. Then he says, "Well, you could kill yourself just as easy with my gun as you could with the way you're driving." I again reply that I don't understand and then he gives me the speech about how I was driving too fast for conditions. As I recall I was going 63 in a 65 zone. So, I told him that I was from Alaska and I did not consider the conditions bad and was used to driving in much worse. That did not impress him and he was still acting like a compete ass toward me. So I decided to kiss up and in a very contrite voice asked him, "So officer, what would you recommend for a safe speed in these conditions?" Then he told me, "I would not be driving more than 50 mph in these conditions." I told him okay. That seemed to placate him and he let me off with a warning after he had me stopped for at least 15 minutes.

Rayzer rants:

Who said we had to be doing anything that we don't want our boss to see? I just don't want a camera stuck in my face all day long while I'm working. If they can't figure out what happened with witness statements, nearby cameras (freeway, businesses, etc.), my forward facing camera, the ECM, and whatever else they have at their disposal, then they (the investigators) should probably look for another line of work.

The all-powerful player here is the insurance companies. They don't want to go digging around for evidence when a simple installed camera get-up will answer all their questions. If they say "cameras!" the truck companies will answer "Color or black/white?" And the cameras are about as intrusive at the Pre-pass on the windshield.

Not to worry about watching you change your underwear - they only record & store those 10 seconds before & after an "event".

Since the cab of my truck is my home, workplace, dining facility, etc., I just think this crosses the line and opens way too many doors in the future for the government to build on. The next thing you know they will want to put a camera in every room of your home. Are you okay with that, too?

I understand what you're getting at, but......

The truck is your workplace. It is owned by your employer and you're paid to drive it. If you would like to get a hotel you have the option of living your private life outside of the truck. That's your prerogative and that's more than likely what they would say if you tried to use this argument. I've worked in factories where I went to the restroom, ate meals, changed clothes, and had personal phone conversations with people but in the end I was in a place of business as an employee and I was on camera at all times.

Again, I understand your sentiment here and everyone has the right to their opinion. Unfortunately your opinion about the truck being your home isn't going to work in this case and I'm sure you already knew that.

Brett,

Same thing happened to me years ago in Wisconsin.

Sucks, doesn't it? At least he let you go.

I mean, if you see me sliding around or I go off into a ditch or something then you have me dead to rights. I obviously wasn't in control of my vehicle. But to claim that someone is going too fast for conditions and actually getting a conviction for it when it was strictly a judgment call with no evidence whatsoever to back that opinion was rather frustrating. But hey, that's life. It happens.

I brought that up though to help people understand that you can get in trouble for doing something even if there is no evidence it was causing any problems of any sort. So you can't use the argument, "But I was fine. I was under control and nothing happened." That doesn't necessarily matter.

The Salad Incident is from a Swift Video starring Richard Stocking (Swift President/CEO). A STOP event triggered the recording, and the driver was eating a salad at that moment. My post about 4 months ago.

And this is EXACTLY why I don't want a camera in my truck. If there's an incident and I'm in the wrong, by all means I'll accept the consequences, even if it's termination. I fully understand that the video may have to made accessible to people within the company, law enforcement officials, lawyers, etc. etc.

However, whether I'm at fault or not, I absolutely do not want video taken of me shown publicly to any group of people for any reason.

And yes, the argument is that you're on camera all day every day, everywhere you go. Which is true. But there's a big difference between being on surveillance cameras in stores and on the roads and having a camera pointed directly at your face eleven hours a day. I'm a safe driver. I don't eat while driving and I put my phone on Airplane mode so I won't be distracted by a call or a text or anything else popping up on the screen. But hey, sometimes I talk to myself while driving. Sometimes I sing. Sometimes I pick my nose. I'm a private person, and these are things I simply do not want to take the chance of being recorded and shown to anyone else.

Not trying to start an argument here (the last thread on this subject did not go well) just my personal opinion. You're certainly welcome to your own.

I'm a private person, and these are things I simply do not want to take the chance of being recorded and shown to anyone else.

I think anyone can understand that sentiment also. I'm a private person and I'd rather not have the world watching me every second of my life either.