Amazed He Got As Far As He Did Without Being Stopped!

I guess it could be a couple of things. Either the trainer didn't teach how to properly plan a trip and utilize all available means to verify the route while emphasizing the reason to not rely on gps. Or, the driver chose to ignore everything they were taught and managed to drive over 2 miles on a single lane wood plank structure surrounded by benches before realizing maybe just maybe there was a problem.

I guess I was just surprised when you threw the training program under the bus. We've had quite a few drivers in here over the years that started at CRST, and went on to be very successful drivers. My first reaction was, "What kind of doofus even gets on a boardwalk like that? I don't care what the stupid GPS is saying, I'm backing out of that situation!"

To me it was clearly a bad case of irresponsibility on the driver's part.

I should have been more specific and said his trainer. Being that the trainer is essentially the training program and a driver goes solo based on those reviews, if the trailer failed, the program failed.

Don't know about everyone else, but I find this totally embarrassing.

Here's a thought,...this driver somehow squeeked through the system when frankly it's reasonable to conclude, they lack basic common sense and the rudimentary cognition skills required to stay out of trouble. Yes the driver is ultimately responsible (sucks for them cause this was an expensive detour), however a colossal failure all around of the vetting, qualification and training processes are at the root cause of the problem. Idiots should not be driving 80,000 pound trucks. Idiots cannot be taught. Who is the true idiot for believing otherwise? Why are they allowed to "pass go" and collect $200?

NOT throwing CRST under the bus, this could have been a truck from any of the TL carriers that train entry level drivers. Any of them...

Training is far too subjective and loose. Wish I knew the end-all answer...it starts by fixing the system. Hate to see sh** like this.

Don't know about everyone else, but I find this totally embarrassing.

Here's a thought,...this driver somehow squeeked through the system when frankly it's reasonable to conclude, they lack basic common sense and the rudimentary cognition skills required to stay out of trouble. Yes the driver is ultimately responsible (sucks for them cause this was an expensive detour), however a colossal failure all around of the vetting, qualification and training processes are at the root cause of the problem. Idiots should not be driving 80,000 pound trucks. Idiots cannot be taught. Who is the true idiot for believing otherwise? Why are they allowed to "pass go" and collect $200?

NOT throwing CRST under the bus, this could have been a truck from any of the TL carriers that train entry level drivers. Any of them...

Training is far too subjective and loose. Wish I knew the end-all answer...it starts by fixing the system. Hate to see sh** like this.

THANK you!!

I mean seriously, making the initial turn is a mistake, a rookie move, brain fart or whatever you want to call it. Continuing another 2+ miles, tearing up objects on both sides is just flat out stupidity. Someone was responsible for training this person and failed miserably. Even worse, someone above that trainer, signed off and said this "driver" was ready to be out on the road. CRST has had and will continue to have success stories but the ones that people will remember are things like this and things like the police officer who was killed which led to CRST paying a massive settlement. They aren't the only ones having problems either, it's an industry wide issue which constantly gets ignored because companies have to fill those seats. At some point, there will have to be an intervention with strict training policies put in place for both students, the trainers and the companies sponsoring that training.

So for those of you looking to get into, are in school or are just starting to spread your wings, please please please pay attention. Use everything at your disposal to plan your trips. Don't rely on the dang gps (personally, I think somebody brand new should avoid them until they can confidently prepare a trip without it) and if you find yourself in a predicament, STOP before you make it worse.

Well, I can't throw the trainer to the wolves based solely on the actions of this driver. I was a flight instructor for several years. Generally speaking, my students did better than most when it came time for their checkrides. The thing is, you can't train for every situation. Who would ever think they would have to tell any driver "you don't drive on the boardwalk".

I instructed out of a small private airport that had only one paved runway. The owner of the airport maintained the grass by rolling it every spring with a large construction roller to make it possible for aircraft to taxi on the grass.....as that was the majority of the surface area of the airport.

I had a student doing a cross country flight. Upon his landing at a rather large airport, he landed long and missed the midfield taxiway exit. My student, who up to this point was exemplary, decided to hang a right turn through the grass instead of taxiing to the end of the runway where the paved taxiway was. He ended up in a ditch, significantly damaging the propeller.

Bad judgement is a hard thing to "fix"....especially if it has never presented itself prior to the event in question.

There is some truth to that saying, "experience is that thing you gain just after the moment in which you needed it".

If I have read it once on this site, I've read it a hundred times from seasoned drivers saying that we will be learning this job for at least a year, probably more........it is possible that this driver received the best training by the best instructors and never once gave them any reasons to fear he would make such a monumental mistake.

And this, boys and girls, is why you don't blindly follow your GPS. Use common sense, look at the turns, read signs, and make judgement calls and this won't happen.

I can't tell you how many times I've had my GPS tell me to make a turn that was a bad idea. Guess what, I didn't make the turn and things worked out fine!

Same here. I always try to stay out of trouble.

Deke wrote:

more........it is possible that this driver received the best training by the best instructors and never once gave them any reasons to fear he would make such a monumental mistake.

Highly doubtful!

If everyone responsible to train and evaluate the offending driver had done their collective jobs, the level of poor judgement required to perpetuate this mistake would have revealed itself.

I am very familiar with the boards of the Jersey Shore, the entrances are all clearly and conspicuously marked prohibiting motor vehicles. Once the driver missed the signs, most of the entrances have a steep incline leading up to the boardwalk. Once on the surface, the ride is like a giant washboard. The level of bad judgement required to drive for a couple of miles on a surface like this would be difficult to hide from an instructor or trainer.

My point previously; the system as a whole, not an individual failure is at the root of this incident.

Why are they allowed to "pass go" and collect $200?

Ha ha! G-Town threw in a freebie! Atlantic City is the basis for the game Monopoly, and the boardwalk the guy drove down is the same one that will give you all that rent if you put a hotel on it and another player lands there.

If you look at Google maps, the driver had to go through a parking lot at the end of the highway to get to the boardwalk. The boardwalk is twice as wide in that stretch as the rest of it.

I can't understand 1) why he didn't notice he was driving on boards instead of pavement, and 2) if he did, why he didn't back up a little ways past where he got on to the boardwalk and make a right turn back onto the street he'd come from. It was very early in the morning, and dark, but dang. Just stop and think! And if you can't figure it out yourself, call the cops for some help! Sure it's embarrassing, but the embarrassment is even greater after making the decision to just keep going down the boardwalk three miles.

Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200.

Seriously? A boardwalk? For 2 miles?

"The Gold Standard"......?