Accidents

A few months back I had just about finished studying for the permit test and was about to join Prime Inc. schooling program and then get on the road with them. But I had an accident involving a motorcyclist who was killed as a result.

I was really shaken up for the first month or two so I didn't even think about schooling. The police took my statement and sent me home saying they probably wouldn't contact me again. They assured me it was an accident and that fatalities were fairly common when involving motorcycles and to take it easy on myself. Its been almost 4 months now and Id really like to get back on track. In fact I need to because my car was totaled in the accident and I've been working 50 hours a week at a minimum wage job just to stay afloat. My problem is that the police report still isnt finished and I cant get a straight answer from my insurance agency. The police pass the buck saying they are done with it and its being reviewed by some other agency of law. And the insurance companies wont reimburse me until they can settle the dispute which they cant do without the finished police report. Just to be as accurate as possible I live in a state where all parties in an accident can share a percentage of the blame. My insurance rep assured me that I'd most certainly be taking some of the blame because I was making a left turn at a stop sign even though there was a steep hill to my left(I couldn't see him till it was too late) and the motorcyclist was speeding. To my knowledge there were no witnesses except a woman who ran over the cyclists leg and left the scene.

Now that you guys understand my situation hopefully you can help with my questions.

1. Is my trucking career over before its begun?
2. If not, can I apply to a school now or do I have to wait until the police report is finished?
3. If I can start before the police report is finished, how much information should I give the company/school?
4. When driving over the road how do drivers take advantage of their medical coverage? Do they get days off for doctor and dental visits or do they have to schedule these visits on the few days they have off each month?

Im not sure how relevant this is in light of the accident, but I have close to 8 years of commercial driving experience despite not having a CDL. Ive driven for FedEx, delivered pizza, ect. and Ive never had a serious accident. My driving record overall is very clean. Im really hoping for some good news because at 35 y.o. I feel like Im too old to be making minimum wage or having to start over from scratch since most of my experience is in commercial driving. Thanks in advance everyone.

A few months back I had just about finished studying for the permit test and was about to join Prime Inc. schooling program and then get on the road with them. But I had an accident involving a motocyclist who was killed as a result.

I was really shaken up for the first month or two so I didnt even think about schooling. The police took my statement and sent me home saying they probably wouldnt contact me again. They assured me it was an accident and that fatalities were fairly common when involving motorcycles and to take it easy on myself. Its been almost 4 months now and Id really like to get back on track. In fact I need to because my car was totaled in the accident and I've been working 50 hours a week at a minimum wage job just to stay afloat. My problem is that the police report still isnt finished and I cant get a straight answer from my insurance agency. The police pass the buck saying they are done with it and its being reviewed by some other agency of law. And the insurance companies wont reimburse me until they can settle the dispute which they cant do without the finished police report. Just to be as accurate as possible I live in a state where all parties in an accident can share a percentage of the blame. My insurance rep assured me that I'd most certainly be taking some of the blame because I was making a left turn at a stop sign even though there was a steep hill to my left(I couldnt see him till it was too late) and the motorcyclist was speeding. To my knowledge there were no witnesses except a woman who ran over the cyclists leg and left the scene.

Now that you guys understand my situation hopefully you can help with my questions.

1. Is my trucking career over before its begun? 2. If not, can I apply to a school now or do I have to wait until the police report is finished? 3. If I can start before the police report is finished, how much information should I give the company/school? 4. When driving over the road how do drivers take advantage of their medical coverage? Do they get days off for doctor and dental visits or do they have to schedule these visits on the few days they have off each month?

Im not sure how relevant this is in light of the accident, but I have close to 8 years of commercial driving experience despite not having a CDL. Ive driven for FedEx, delivered pizza, ect. and Ive never had a serious accident. My driving record overall is very clean. Im really hoping for some good news because at 35 y.o. I feel like Im too old to be making minimum wage or having to start over from scratch since most of my experience is in commercial driving. Thanks in advance everyone.

Chris, I don't know for sure but it doesn't look hopeful to me, at least in the near future. I had a fender bender in 2008 where I was ticketed for a failure to maintain assured cleared distance, and had it not been over 5 years since it happened, I would have had trouble getting a prehire letter from some of the companies that I did. That being said, it depends on the companies you apply to and what standards they set. The fact that someone died as a result of the accident may be the biggest issue you have. I hope some experienced drivers jump in here to give you more advice. Best of luck to you.

Damn Chris, that is a terrible thing to happen. I would be shaken up too if I was involved in a fatal accident.

You are probably going to want to see how it shakes out. Can you get a copy of the police report? Maybe also pull your driving record to see what, if anything, is on it before applying for school. Don`t give up until you have exhausted every option.

Good luck to ya man.

The report isnt finished so I cant get a copy yet. If it matters at all, I didnt get a ticket for the accident, not yet anyway and its been almost 4 months. Also, to my knowledge I wont need a prehire letter since prime will school me for free as long as I drive for them for 1 year, but Im not sure if they will agree to school me for free anymore given the accident. Prime was my first choice because no one else can seem to compete with what they are offering new drivers, but Im open to any options that will help me get started asap.

Chris, regardless of how this turns out your trucking career is not over before it started. Even if the result of the investigation puts the blame on you, at some point the trucking companies will put it behind you. It might be a few years, but it certainly won't be forever. I would guess you won't have much luck landing a job until this matter is completely settled and it's hard to say what challenges you'll face until we know the outcome. But rest assured you will have an opportunity to get into trucking at some point. It might be the day after the investigation concludes, it might be 5 years - there's no way to know right now. But this will not keep you out of trucking permanently.

Thanks a lot Brett!! Just hearing something good even if it is 5 years off gives me hope which in turn makes everything a little easier. I'll definitely keep everyone posted on changes to my situation. Also I'd still like to hear everyone's comments, especially those with some experience or understanding of what I'll have to deal with. This is an amazing forum. The truckers that find their way here are some of the nicest people anyone could hope to meet. And the advice you all give is much more than info on trucking. Perhaps because trucking is a career and a lifestyle and is so intimately linked to a persons life, your advice is more. Its advice on life in general, advice largely based on experience. What Im trying to say is, what you take the time here is helping people with life as well as trucking. Thanks again everyone. Love and Truth!