Almost dropped a load on a ute driver this morning

Guy in a Ford Ranger pulled right under my boom at a job site in Portland. Had to brake hard at 60 feet up. Signalman was yelling, I was yelling. Do these drivers not see the tag lines or what?

2 comments

2 Comments

allen.quinn29d ago

Hold on though, are we sure the guy in the Ranger is the only one to blame here? Portland has some of the tightest job sites I've ever seen, and if you were booming out over a public street without a proper lane closure or flagger, that's kind of on you too. I've worked with outfits that put their tag lines way too low, basically invisible against a grey sky until you're right under them. Maybe the signalman wasn't paying attention and let him roll through. If I'm driving a ute and see a crane but no clear signage or cones telling me to stop, I'm gonna assume the operator sees me and is being careful.

jamieburns28d ago

Seems like everyone these days just assumes someone else is watching out for them, whether it's a crane operator or the guy merging lanes. Same thing happens at crosswalks or in parking lots, people just trust that the other person will stop because they can't be bothered to look up.