Althouse: "We don't really know exactly how it happened."

August 17, 2011

"We don't really know exactly how it happened."

Hmm.

ADDED: The picture at the link reminds me of this famous old photograph:

46 comments:

Chip S. said...: I didn't know Toyota made garbage trucks.; 8/17/11, 2:33 PM
bagoh20 said...: WEED; 8/17/11, 2:38 PM
Michael K said...: Breathalyzer.; 8/17/11, 2:41 PM
Synova said...: Slammed on the break and hit the gas. It might not have actually taken much to break through the wall.; 8/17/11, 2:46 PM
Carol_Herman said...: Okay. Let me guess. A foot that got stuck on the gas pedal, instead of the brake.

And, a dummy driver who only turned his head to face the rear ... while the truck "tumbled" forward.

Was the rescue done by pulling the truck backwards first? Or did the NYFD put up a ladder to the front driver's door ... so the driver ... could come out ... and walk down?; 8/17/11, 2:46 PM
Lincolntf said...: Someone has to produce the "shovel ready" jobs. That guy will be running the Local within 5 years.; 8/17/11, 2:47 PM
jus zis guy y'know said...: 1st rule of auto repair: fix the brakes first!; 8/17/11, 2:47 PM
traditionalguy said...: He forgot to put it in park and set the emergency brake.

What is amazing is how often the drivers get away with that.; 8/17/11, 2:49 PM
Dustin said...: Always look for the union label.

And then reject it.; 8/17/11, 2:51 PM
The Dude said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/17/11, 2:59 PM
StoughtonSconnie said...: FDNY sent 25 units and 106 firefighters?! For a truck hanging out of a building? Even if it fell and exploded, you'd have a dead guy and a fire that two hose lines would be able to handle. Their union must be friggin' awesome!; 8/17/11, 3:06 PM
garage mahal said...: UNIONS!; 8/17/11, 3:11 PM
ricpic said...: Sometimes you just gotta BUST OUT!; 8/17/11, 3:15 PM
traditionalguy said...: You know the Insurance Industry exists because of accidental casualties.

Some are "acts of God."

And some are acts of imperfect humans.

The key is to identify the "accident prone humans" and fire them.

The Feds recently went after an employer who offered a jib subject to a drug test. The dude failed the test with a high level of methadone.

He was not hired.

So the Americans with Disability Act is being Federally enforced to mandate hiring and damages be paid.

Maybe Rick Perry has a point calling the current crop of Governmental bureaucrats Traitors.; 8/17/11, 3:16 PM
edutcher said...: I think we just saw the trailer for the next Owen Wilson/Adam Sandler (or Ben Stiller) action buddy flick.

WV "dentsiz" The dimension of the impression made by the 18 wheeler on your Mini Cooper.; 8/17/11, 3:18 PM
LordSomber said...: The truck slipped on a banana peel.; 8/17/11, 3:26 PM
shake-and-bake said...: Texting while driving. does Weiner have an alibi?; 8/17/11, 3:28 PM
bagoh20 said...: 106 firefighters? Were they gonna try and catch it if it fell? Imagine the coffee bill.; 8/17/11, 3:31 PM
Lincolntf said...: My b-i-l is an air traffic controller. After that spate of controllers falling asleep on the job I asked him if he thought anyone would be fired. He laughed out loud and told me how the Union is using the publicity to negotiate for longer breaks. They work eight hour shifts.; 8/17/11, 3:33 PM
A. Shmendrik said...: It's the new iconic image for the Obama Administration. Forget that ancient photo of the locomotive that crashed through the French train station.; 8/17/11, 3:36 PM
Matt said...: Res ipsa loquitur?; 8/17/11, 3:40 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: The driver was quotes as saying that he managed to get the truck out of the ditch, but then had some bad luck.; 8/17/11, 3:43 PM
Irene said...: It may be a salt truck, eh? Perhaps the driver was distracted because he had been steering around the garage in circles and honking in support of the union workers.; 8/17/11, 3:44 PM
Rumpletweezer said...: Are they sure Al Sharpton wasn't driving?; 8/17/11, 4:01 PM
Chip S. said...: Is this new photo intended to turn this into another Rick Perry thread?; 8/17/11, 4:02 PM
Anonymous said...: My dad used to call for trash pickup to his store in Greenwich village, and no matter who he called, he was always referred to the same trash hauler.

The city was divided up, and he was in one guy's territory, and nobody else would touch him.; 8/17/11, 4:06 PM
Michael K said...: When I was a teenager, a car did that in a parking garage on Randolph Street in Chicago. It turned out that the car belonged to a traveling salesman who drove a lot. That was before cruise control so he had the car equipped with a left foot accelerator. He neglected to tell the kid parking cars in the garage about the two accelerators.

I had just walked by when the car came out of the third floor wall like a bazooka.; 8/17/11, 4:12 PM
george said...: Where is the Obama stimulus project sign?; 8/17/11, 4:15 PM
Dustin said...: These are the same idiots who drove around honking instead of doing their jobs. They failed their employers, as all unions in today's society are prone to do, with unbelievable hostility to the idea of doing an honest day's work for an honest day's wage.

It was extortion.

So no surprise these people lack the pride necessary to avoid dangerous accidents, too.

Garage can cry that the point 'unions suck' came up, but the fact is that they do suck. We don't need them at all unless we're reforming sweatshops.

Especially in the public sector. The truck slamming through the wall is a good example of Union Pride.; 8/17/11, 4:15 PM
Jason said...: "Mistakes were made."; 8/17/11, 4:38 PM
dbp said...: That very picture graced the cover of the Introduction To Error Analysis text book, which was part of Physics back when I took it. I think their idea was to focus the student's attention on the importance of those "boring" numbers--which we had to crunch in the days before Excel had been invented.; 8/17/11, 4:48 PM
Amartel said...: Shovel.
Ready.; 8/17/11, 5:38 PM
mrs whatsit said...: Quayle, it's not just NYC. I worked for a business in Westchester County that briefly considered changing to a different trash removal contractor. The boss got a late-night visit from two big guys who explained to him that he wasn't going to change the contract. He didn't.; 8/17/11, 6:38 PM
exhelodrvr1 said...: The driver stepped into the driving booth, and calmly, rationally shut his eyes and pulled one of the driving levers. And would do it all over again.; 8/17/11, 7:29 PM
galdosiana said...: And the driver says he was backing out...????? Umm...; 8/17/11, 8:36 PM
David said...: A scene from Transformers, but without the hot chick.; 8/17/11, 8:59 PM
Anonymous said...: Guaranteed, the driver's wife is hairless. God damn it.

Peter; 8/17/11, 10:39 PM
Heart_Collector said...: The train is america, the buildings are the world stage.

Obama was driving. (His ass shoulda been shovelin the coal).; 8/17/11, 10:56 PM
Will said...: Patrick wrote:
FDNY sent 25 units and 106 firefighters?! [...] Their union must be friggin' awesome!
The city's paying the FDNY whether they're playing canasta at the station or whether they're out on a call. Might as well send them, providing it's a slow day.; 8/17/11, 11:19 PM
Anonymous said...: The city's paying the FDNY whether they're playing canasta at the station or whether they're out on a call. Might as well send them, providing it's a slow day.

Mind you, the city could downsize the FDNY by at least one-third without any risk whatsoever to the public safety,* but the unions would thrown a s*** fit and it'll never happen.

* = seriously, how many big fires ever happen anymore? Exactly.

Peter; 8/17/11, 11:33 PM
Alistair Murray said...: Our physics lab at school has this picture on the wall. With it is the caption: "take care with your measurements." It makes me chortle.; 8/17/11, 11:59 PM
Anonymous said...: I have a copy of that photo with several 'engineer type' men standing about, scratching their heads and saying "OH Shit".; 8/18/11, 7:01 AM
Big Mike said...: Same thing happened in Washington, DC's Union Station in 1953. A high speed "name train" from the Pennsylvania RR lost its brakes 2 miles out and crashed through the wall of the terminal and down through the floor into the basement. A picture of the electric locomotive and dazed engineer is here.; 8/18/11, 7:56 AM
Mitch said...: Mistakes were made...; 8/18/11, 9:19 AM
Anonymous said...: Given a choice between "R" and "D" he chose "D." Bad choice.; 8/18/11, 9:19 AM
Trooper York said...: Hey where did you get the photo of the economy?; 8/18/11, 10:07 AM