Mustering causes accident

[Guest ozzie]

Wonder how legal this was. Past last light or just a bad call pushing cattle across a road at this time of evening.

 

 

 

[Bruce Tuncks]

I have heard that aerial mustering is becoming less effective as the cattle that learn to NOT be spooked by a plane get to stay home and breed instead of being turned into meat.

 

But wow that plane was up late . And did the truck hit some cattle? It looks like it.

 

 

[ev17ifly2]

I would say that the plane and then vehicle with high beam tried to alert the driver. Having watched it twice I'm not on the truckers side.

 

 

[turboplanner]

Killed about 10, shows you the poor standard of droving around. Also shows that even with good lights you can get caught up in a series of events - distracted by a low flying aircraft, dust, masking by oncoming headlights.....

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

A high beam warning is a couple of flashes. The vehicle using high beam was a long way from the cattle even further than the truck. I'd say high beam helped preventing the seeing of the cattle. watch again.

 

 

[turboplanner]

No cattle signs out was the start of it. The standard signs are easy to see; I've passed a few of them in the last two weeks, and you know there will be stock on the road ahead. The aircraft must have been tying to push the mob across the road, but all too late in the day, decision to quit for the day would have been obvious a couple of hours before. Cattle value around $8,000.00, truck damage around $30,000.00.

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

Yarding up at Newry Station on the Victoria Highway in the East Kimberley. Sad outcome, quite a few head killed and/or would have to be put down. They'll be eating their own beef on Newry for a while (on some stations when it's time to get a 'killer' for meat for the kitchen coldroom you try and get one of the neighbours that's strayed ... ).

 

When pushing a mob across a highway like that they usually have someone on a trailbike 500m or so each way up the road to warn traffic, the plane would have seen the approaching headlights and should have had comms to those on the ground. Monumental stuff-up all round.

 

 

[kaz3g]

I've lived and worked on a station where we used fixed wing aircraft for mustering, but my sympathy is with the cattle.

 

The musterers were at it too late and both the pilot and the horsemen were at heightened risk because of the poor light. And the lack of any form of traffic warning or control. The truckie should have realised what was going on when he saw the aeroplane cross the road at low level at least twice in a short time frame and should have stopped or at least drastically slowed. And the car driver on high beam should have been....!

 

Kaz

 

 

[jetjr]

Id read neither car was with the mistering team

 

You see dust and lights slow down or stop

 

Id doubt too much damage to truck, few dead cattle though but only young uns

 

 

[ev17ifly2]

A high beam warning is a couple of flashes. The vehicle using high beam was a long way from the cattle even further than the truck. I'd say high beam helped preventing the seeing of the cattle. watch again.

I would say the Truckee may have had "pushonitis" because regardless of whether lights were flashed or not he should have slowed until he figured out what was going on. I concur with Kaz on this one

 

 

[turboplanner]

I would say the Truckee may have had "pushonitis" because regardless of whether lights were flashed or not he should have slowed until he figured out what was going on. I concur with Kaz on this one

Have a look at a full screen video, it's not really certain whether dust was visible early because of the glaring oncoming lights. The truckie was well down in speed - note the very short stopping distance once he hits the cattle; it's not clear whether this is a road train, or whether he is loaded, but that's a short stopping distance. In any case, the company will have better information, the camera has a gps so speed can be calculated.

 

 

[kaz3g]

Almost certain to have been a road train in that locale but I thought he seemed to be right on them before I could hear the air come on. No exhaust brake either.

 

Kaz

 

 

[old man emu]

I think that what seems to be high beam from the on-coming vehicles is actually flare in the camera. Seems the camera was 'stopped' up due t the low ambient light. Also, those approaching vehicles were over 500 metres away, and around a curve.

 

I'll back the truckie this time.

 

OME

 

 

[rankamateur]

Driving into dust is just a tiny bit smarter than driving into smoke.

 

 

[turboplanner]

Almost certain to have been a road train in that locale but I thought he seemed to be right on them before I could hear the air come on. No exhaust brake either.Kaz

I don't think he was going that fast, we more or less can see when he saw the cows and they were blanketed. The very short stopping distance indicates relatively slow speed.

Here's a link to a single cow hit at highway speed - around $50,000 damage out of that one.

 

 

 

[turboplanner]

You can hear the engine going down through the gears at about .28, may have been a road train.

 

 

[turboplanner]

No exhaust brake either.Kaz

Only City truckies use jake brakes - when they're empty as often as their loaded.

 

They are designed to retard a loaded truck on a steep grade, which allows the brake drums to run cooler and with less wear.

 

The brake system has ample capacity to stop a fully loaded truck at maximum tyre performance without using the jake brake.

 

But they sound soooo manly!

 

 

[kaz3g]

I dunno Turbs. He was way over the double lines even well before the bend and had a bit of speed on before trying to "straighten" it. He did seem to pull up pretty quickly even though there didn't appear to be any gear changes or Jake.

 

The first car was almost hidden in the glare of the high beam from the second one.

 

Clearly, however, the principal responsibility rests with the mustering team.

 

The meat will probably be bruised!

 

Kaz

 

 

[turboplanner]

Yes he goes over the lines just after seeing the aircraft, probably wondering what the hell is going on, may have gone out to try to see further round the corner.

 

 

[kaz3g]

Only City truckies use jake brakes - when they're empty as often as their loaded.They are designed to retard a loaded truck on a steep grade, which allows the brake drums to run cooler and with less wear.

The brake system has ample capacity to stop a fully loaded truck at maximum tyre performance without using the jake brake.

 

But they sound soooo manly!

They must have been City truckies going through Euroa past my bedroom window when the Hume ran straight through the town.

 

Kaz

 

(I have a heavy combination licence and the road trains that carted our cattle may possibly not have had such effective braking capability that other assistance, especially that gained by just a flick of the Jake switch, to supplement that brought into play by brake pedal and hand piece, would be ignored).

 

 

[turboplanner]

I have to make an exception for them, the Hume Highway was known as Sesami Street.

 

The brakes all changed with ADR35, you don't have a hand piece now, just the foot brake and park brake. DECA trains drivers to look ahead and come down in speed in the higher gears over a longer period to save fuel.

 

I can remember using the hand piece to pull a semi straight after the drive axles locked up, and the modulation was terrible - you either had nothing or full lock up. I was driving an Atkinson once, and a Mini flicked past and dived in front of me as I was slowing for a red light. Despite all I could do the Mini completely disappeared under the windscreen, and I thought it would be squashed, but there was no bang. must have missed it by a millimetre. Today the Prime Mover would probably outbrake the Mini.

 

 

[OzBirdy]

Wot a stuffup, on the part of the pilot/ground crew.

 

Iv dun plenty of mustering across highways, and im always on uhf40 coz the rubbernecks and trucks are on same.

 

Wen you see traffic comen, warn your crew if you have any, the driver will usualy hear and respond without even talkn to them.

 

If you have no crew, try talkn to the driver, if theres no responce and its likely they are go,n to collide, buzz the basterd till he does.

 

And that time of day you see their lights comn for miles.

 

Visability in the air is much better than on the ground, specialy with the dust and on comen lights.

 

The truck had no chance, down hill, no warning and buggerall visability. ( the rate the comp break was slown him, id say it was an unladen train.)

 

The clown in the air is the one who should have called, and his crew,( FWs always need a crew) shoulda been on the road both sides.

 

Obviously not a cattleman run,n that show.

 

No wunder the rest of the population think we are just a bunch o whingers. :(

 

 

[old man emu]

Yes he goes over the lines just after seeing the aircraft, probably wondering what the hell is going on, may have gone out to try to see further round the corner.

I had the feeling that the camera was being operated from the passenger's side. At the end of the clip you can hear two people talking, and no one from anywhere else could have got there quickly enough to join a conversation with a lone driver.

 

OME

 

 

[SDQDI]

I had the feeling that the camera was being operated from the passenger's side. At the end of the clip you can hear two people talking, and no one from anywhere else could have got there quickly enough to join a conversation with a lone driver.OME

I would've said it was a dash cam as the second person had no idea what had happened nearly like he had been asleep.

I've never been up to the territory but someone more in the know would know, how much highway up there is unfenced? When we used to muster in paddocks with unfenced roads through them signs were never put out as there were permanent signs on the grids at each side of the paddocks.

 

I would guess that the lighting is a bit deceptive. I would guess that it wasn't too long after sunset and the lights cause the camera to show the surroundings a bit darker than they actually were. To start with you can see a fair distance out to the side quite clearly and the trucks lights aren't showing up as much as they would if it were darker. I also think that the far car having his high beam on for a smidge too long didn't help things. (It doesn't matter if you are well outside your legal dipping distance, even on a 10 or 20 k straight stretch high beam at the other end can be a nuisance.)

 

I would say that blame could be pointed all round (including the mustering crew). And IMO it is a perfect example of how little things add up to cause stuff ups.

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

I would've said it was a dash cam as the second person had no idea what had happened nearly like he had been asleep.I've never been up to the territory but someone more in the know would know, how much highway up there is unfenced? When we used to muster in paddocks with unfenced roads through them signs were never put out as there were permanent signs on the grids at each side of the paddocks.

 

I would guess that the lighting is a bit deceptive. I would guess that it wasn't too long after sunset and the lights cause the camera to show the surroundings a bit darker than they actually were. To start with you can see a fair distance out to the side quite clearly and the trucks lights aren't showing up as much as they would if it were darker. I also think that the far car having his high beam on for a smidge too long didn't help things. (It doesn't matter if you are well outside your legal dipping distance, even on a 10 or 20 k straight stretch high beam at the other end can be a nuisance.)

 

I would say that blame could be pointed all round (including the mustering crew). And IMO it is a perfect example of how little things add up to cause stuff ups.

The Victoria Highway is fully fenced all the way from Kununurra to Katherine.

 

Using the co-ordinates on the dash-cam you can see on Google earth exactly where they were and without further information it looks pretty clear what happened. It seems they were pushing what look like some weaners across the road from a close-in paddock to the yards at the homestead, using their main driveway - so they had let them through a gate on the south side to cross the road and should have had warning signs and/or people up the road each way warning traffic.

 

I wouldn't be blaming the traffic at all, the mustering looks like the culprit IMHO - running too late but trying to yard and water them before dark for an early start on the yard-work and with a quieter mob in the morning.

 

But - it's quite possible I have it completely wrong and a mob had got onto the road through a damaged fence and they were trying to get them off the road and back into a paddock before dark ...