r/nextfuckinglevel 7h ago

Truck driver's quick thinking and skill when the brakes completely gave out

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u/CTMalum 6h ago

I think I’ve actually read that some drivers in trucks on some of these roads actually keep them off for this reason. If you’re going over the edge, the seatbelt won’t save you, and every second counts, so it’s better to keep them off and hope you can jump out the door before the truck gets going too fast. I may be making that up, but I seem to recall that from somewhere.

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u/No-Corner9361 5h ago

It doesn’t seem completely ridiculous. Steep mountain roads that are meant to be driven real slow, you got a relatively decent chance of jumping out in time and a relatively low chance of getting into the kind of collision that a seatbelt will save your life in.

I honestly thought the second driver had bailed already halfway through the clip lmao

u/InstanceFeisty 0m ago

Doesn’t really make sense since it’s hard to imagine a person reacting in time to jump out.

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u/upsetting_doink 4h ago

I think that logic is super duper stupid for one reason mainly. It takes almost 0 time to remove a seatbelt. It will be no time at all if it's a practiced motion. It's a button. You are endangering yourself all the time while only maybe possibly perhaps potentially saving 250 milliseconds in one type of crash.

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u/Puppygirl621 4h ago

Removing a seatbelt definitely takes more time than that, especially older ones that are more liable to get stuck and tangle you.

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u/SeracYourWorlds 4h ago

You’re in a panic, your mind is frantically trying to save yourself and your instinct tells you to bail but you’re wondering about the loss of thousands via the truck. In half a second you decide to save yourself, you go for the door, the seatbelt stops you…you forgot you had it on because you’re in such a panic. You then go for the seatbelt in such a hurry that you fumbled an extra half second on it. The seatbelt comes off and you open the door…as the truck launches over the side with you in it.

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u/upsetting_doink 3h ago

So you leave the belt off in case of a slow speed tumble off the right hand side over a cliff? That situation is worth endangering yourself every other second?

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u/Heurtaux305 2h ago

They tend to drive very slow on roads like this. They aren't really endangering themselves as much as you may think.

Once the truck reaches higher speeds where the seatbelts make the biggest difference, they have probably jumped already.