Almost Bought The Farm This Morning

[TwoBallScrewBall]

Below email was sent to the copmany who's logo was on the truck that almost killed me this morning:

Name: Stephen Huminski

Phone: 215-4xx-2xxx

I Am Interested In: Not Dying On My Way To Work




Good Morning,

I was commuting to work through Hammonton this morning as I do every day. As I traveled west bound on S. 1st Road I came to a green light at Rt 54. Just as I, and the vehicle in front of me, were about to pass through our green light (which was green for a good while, not just changed) a silver Ford Explorer with a yellow light bar on the roof and your business name prominently displayed on the side came flying through the intersection heading south on rt 54. The driver did not even slow down, let alone stop for his red light, and passed at full speed BETWEEN the vehicle in front of me and myself, a gap of about 2 to 3 car lengths. Another fraction of a second in either direction and there would have been a catastrophic collision. I made my left onto rt 54 to go to the expressway, and noticed that the explorer entered the Citgo gas station. I followed him in to determine the full name of the business that employs this fine driver. The driver, a hispanic gentleman, got out of the vehicle and began filling cans of diesel. The individual saw me come into the gas station and literally laughed when he recognized the vehicle he almost collided with.

I hope you will at the very least address this issue with the driver. This individual is not someone you want driving your company vehicle. This happened this morning, 7/9/08, at 6:55am.

Please email me or call me with any questions at the number provided. I truly hope this issue is brought to someone's attention, if I had my 5 year old daughter in the car he would have collided with the side of the car she sits in.

Thank you.

Stephen Huminski.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Almost Bought The Farm This Morning

Good email. I like it. But I was waiting for it to say, "If you would like to find your employee, he is now buried behind the Citgo station." Or at the very least, "He is now residing in Saint Joseph's Memorial Hospital's Intensive Care Unit."

You are a good man, Steve, for not doing bodily harm to the driver that has no apparent value for human life ... his own, or others.

 

[obezag]

Re: Almost Bought The Farm This Morning

A formal complaint to the local authorities wouldn't hurt either. Better if you can do so without giving your name etc. Who knows? There may be other complaints about him and yours gets something done.

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: Almost Bought The Farm This Morning

yo no hablo ni le? engilsh

 

[triumphrick]

Re: Almost Bought The Farm This Morning

Wow..great composure and effective response. Please give us a follow up to see if this company even cares about your contacting them. I was working as a service technician for a lot of years, driving 4ok a year and regularly calledthe 1-800 numbers plastered all over the vehicles for "how's my driving". Rarely did I get anyone who seemed to really care. Thank God the accident did not occur.

 

[cheburashka]

Re: Almost Bought The Farm This Morning

yo no hablo ni le? engilsh

Yep. Only people who drive poorly are Mexicans. Everyone else is perfect.

Seriously--what does his being Hispanic have to do with his driving? How do you even know he speaks Spanish?

Bad drivers are bad drivers because they're bad drivers, not because of where their parents came from.

 

[Turin]

Re: Almost Bought The Farm This Morning

In Holland we have company cars who have this written on the back what do you think of my driving call my boss and than a phone number.

 

[triumphrick]

Re: Almost Bought The Farm This Morning

Damn LT, it would appear someone has his feelings hurt. God forbid the driver was wearing a turban, or a yarmulke. Another disparaging remark may have been made and the ACLU would be moderating this forum. Just can't call a spade a spade nowadays..

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: Almost Bought The Farm This Morning

"The driver, a Hispanic gentleman, got out of the vehicle and began filling cans of diesel. The individual saw me come into the gas station and literally laughed when he recognized the vehicle he almost collided with."

I'm sure that's the way every every upstanding citizen would respond to an honest mistake............... Maybe I should have stayed here http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=262157 .............Sorry for the unintended hijack, huminski :redface:

 

[Shizzy]

Re: Almost Bought The Farm This Morning

I once was almost run off the road by a guy driving a yellow Stanley Steamer van. Bright yellow 1 ton van with 1-800-STEAMER down the side and a truck number as well. DUH!!

the lady on the phone sounded very interested when I called her and told her what her driver was doing in her van....

 

[TwoBallScrewBall]

Re: Almost Bought The Farm This Morning

Two responses, first one 20 minutes after my email:

I am extremely disturbed about this as I have a 6 month old and will forward this email to my boss (V.P). Thank you for the detailed information because we have quite a few of hispanic employees that drive our company vehicles.

Regards,
Brittany

Then this one about an hour later:

I just passed it on to Mr. Tallman (V.P) and he read the email printed it out and going to speak with Rodolfo (driver) now.

Thanks again!

Sounds like it has been properly addressed by the company.

 

[jasonh]

Re: Almost Bought The Farm This Morning

No company wants their name associated with an idiot driver. On lake Lewisville last year my father, 5 year old son, and myself were almost run over by a 40ft cruiser exiting the marina at half throttle in a no-wake zone.

I noticed the boat shared the same name of a local ski shop, so I went to the website and found the owner's email address. Turns out he sold his boat through a broker and after hearing about what happened he truly made having the new owner answer for that a priority. He copied me on some interesting emails to his attorney and broker. Long story short, he was given until the weekend to remove that name from the boat or face a lawsuit since his conduct was potentially harming business. It felt good to see such quick action being taken.

 

[cheburashka]

Re: Almost Bought The Farm This Morning

Damn LT, it would appear someone has his feelings hurt. God forbid the driver was wearing a turban, or a yarmulke. Another disparaging remark may have been made and the ACLU would be moderating this forum. Just can't call a spade a spade nowadays..

I don't care what he was wearing, what color his skin was, etc. The thing is, he was a bad driver. If he was wearing a yarmulke and he cut you off, and someone chimed in saying "Oy vey, I vas counting my money and I didn't see you" that person would be a racist. Same with any generalization. LT took a bad driving incident and made it into a racist generalization. Maybe his "standards, morals and ideals" allow for racist generalizations, but I'm going to rock the boat when this kind of crap pops up. The driver's race and the language he speaks have nothing to do with how he drives. He's drives badly because he's a jerk. Jerks speak many different languages and have many different skin colors.

Calling a spade a spade? Hardly. There was no reason to bring language into this discussion, and I think it was a cheap shot at the expense of Spanish speakers.

LT, I read your second post, but I still don't see what it has to do with his possibly speaking Spanish. He laughed at Huminski. He didn't start singing "Cielito Lindo" or doing the Mexican Hat Dance. He spoke in the universal language of jerks worldwide. Again, I say his being Hispanic had nothing to do with his running that light.

Back to the topic, it sounds like you accomplished something with that email. I think it's great that the company is interested enough in their public image to actually take some action. Hopefully, the guy will get fired.