What the Lowe's Truck Crash Dashcam Video Can Teach Us
Posted by The Dashcam Store on Jul 31, 2017
Have you seen this viral dashcam video of a Lowe's truck run a red light?
Bob Miller with Southeast Missourian reports:
Cape Girardeau resident Robert Orr was stopped in the left-turn lane of Highway 74 at Kings highway on his way to pick up an insurance card, and later to look for fossils, when the wreck unfolded before him.
His dashcam captured the accident, showing the truck apparently running a red light and a red vehicle slamming into the truck broadside, sending the truck onto its side and careening into vehicles waiting in the left-turn lane on Highway 74.
Miraculously, Southeast Missourian reports that no serious injuries resulted from this multiple car accident.
What Can We Learn From This Dashcam Video?
Keep Your Distance
[W]hen the accident occurred, time slowed while [Orr's] mind processed whether to try to put his vehicle in reverse to avoid the truck. But in a split second, he decided against it because he didn’t have time to look behind him. He said the crash, on video, seemed to happen much faster.
This dashcam footage shows exactly how fast the domino effect of the Lowe's truck running a red light unfolds. Orr's
first reaction to reverse his car to avoid the oncoming truck is a great one. Although this may have done some more
cosmetic damage to his vehicle and would have included more vehicles in this accident, the risk of minor damage to
more vehicles would be worth the reward of saving your life.
What really saves Orr in this accident is the distance he keeps between himself and the car in front of him. Can you
imagine how this accident could have changed if Orr was a foot or two closer to the vehicle in front of
him?
This dashcam footage is a scary reminder that keeping your distance shouldn't only be applied to highway driving.
Take Your Time at Green Lights
Rob Stumpf with The Drive sums up our thoughts perfectly:
Remember to be safe on the roads to avoid accidents like this. Clearly the commercial vehicle is at fault for running a red light, but by slowing down at an intersection if your light turns from red to green could help to prevent this from happening to you.
Need more proof to stop running reds and stop racing through greens? Check out our recent interview with CBS Austin.
Dashcams Keep Businesses Accountable, for Better or Worse
Wrapping your company's logo on your truck can be a great marketing tool... unless the driver does something
off-brand and it's caught on camera. The internet's reaction to this dashcam footage is unanimously that the Lowe's
driver was in the wrong. With YouTube views of over 400,000 at the time of writing, this video demonstrates the
power of viral videos for brands.
Businesses should reinforce and reward safe driving practices for their fleet drivers first and foremost for the
safety of their drivers and all drivers on the road, but also to maintain a positive brand image. Installing
dashcams in your fleet is a great way to keep your drivers accountable, check-in with your fleet in real-time, use
as a training tool, monitor driver behavior, reward safe driving habits, and correct unsafe driving
habits.
Even if your business doesn't have dashcams installed in your fleet yet, remember that someone else's car on the
road does.
Get Yourself a Dashcam
Take it from Robert Orr, the man who captured this accident on his dashcam:
Orr said he always drives with the dashcam after seeing videos online of scam artists trying to cause accidents in which proof of fault can’t be presented without video.
"I recommend everybody get a dashcam,” he said. “But not because a video can go viral, but for your own protection about what might happen."