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Construction Equipment is backing up half a mile away, why do I need to know about it?

Darthomas

Darthomas

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Must everyone in a mile radius be warned when equipment is backing up?
The equipment might suddenly appear in my kitchen, and I should be forewarned?
When was personal responsibilty on the part of equipment operators or bystanders ruled inadmissible, and therefore everyone in a mile radius be denied peaceful use of their property?
In a related vein, why do ambulances need sirens when they mostly travel at 15 miles per hour in the city, slowing to 5 mph at EVERY intersection?
Are they simply enjoying their ability to travel slower than a funeral procession while creating as much noise as possible?
 
I used to wish as a boy that I might be mildly injured, and taken to the hospital in a real Cadillac ambulance that went like a bat out of hell, now, I'd rather be dragged into any regular passenger vehicle and just follow the damn speed limits and traffic lights. Who needs a thousand dollar ride that's slower than a dude ranch pony ride?
 
I suppose there were "incidents" where some one or a family member was "run over" by a construction vehicle.
-Then a LAW Suit was initiated.

So, the builders of equipment have to comply with a Federal regulation.
 
It might make more sense to remove the mufflers from such equipment, and aim that noise behind the equipment.
A high powered blast of air shooting 20 feet behind the vehicle would also be hard to ignore, and not annoy everyone in a mile radius.
The most annoying solution is not necessarily the best.
 
In the 70's before those alarms were mandatory I lost a very dear friend on a construction site when a dozer backed over him. If you've ever been in a construction site with heavy equipment being operated the noise of those machines are deafening and they need an alarm that can rise above the clatter to keep people alive. Small price to pay for saving lives.
 
They are putting beeper on semi trucks now to. It is extremely annoying when one is backing in next to you at 2am when you've been sleeping for a while.
 
They finally put a back up beeper on the forklift at the shop where I worked but it was so loud, you could hear it 1/4 mile away pretty easily not to mention if you didn't use ear plugs while driving the damn thing, it was nearly painful. Complaining didn't help so one evening I taped the snot out of it but it was still plenty loud enough to alert anyone nearby but didn't deafen you either. Then someone took the tape off. Started to just pull it off but decided that might not be a good thing so it got taped again but better. Used to spend some time at the local pick and pull and they always had 3 big tire fork lifts going and if the ignition was on, so was the warning beepers. It was always refreshing to leave that place. Ear plugs helped but even then, all that beeping gets to ya. Don't see how anyone could put up with that crap 8 hours a day. There may be less injuries and deaths because of them but it's still happening. A lot of people can tune that crap out and they are the ones that are vulnerable.
 
Gotta bigger problem now, my son is missing and threatening suicide on FB, please pray we find him.
 
Darthomas said:
Gotta bigger problem now, my son is missing and threatening suicide on FB, please pray we find him.
Click to expand...
I hope all is well
I hope for yours & his sake...

Get him "some help" before he hurts either himself or someone else...

Family 1st is my motto, the other stuff is just daily life annoyances
& doesn't really matter in the scheme of things...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

On subject not to sound too callous...

When I was still building dealerships, a lot of tilt-ups, lots of equipment...
I had to take probably 20+ calls a day
by someone that was pissed about the noise...
Usually really disrespectful to me too, I kind of understood also,
but them bitching & moaning at me was a waste of my & their time...
BUT;
I'd usually try to reply nicely too,
only after having to be listening to them "insult & talk down to me"
I'd try & respond accurately & nice as possible, sometimes I'd had enough too...
"Sorry people there's nothing I can do about it,
we're required to have all that nonsense on the equipment...
Call your senator or congressman, OSHA or whom ever,
that make US comply, calling here everyday doesn't help anyone"...

They'd usually shut up & not call back...
 
I hope all ends well for you and your son Thomas FAMILY IS ALWAYS FIRST.
 
Wow! I hope your son gets well soon for his sake and you and your family.
 
Darthomas said:
Must everyone in a mile radius be warned when equipment is backing up?
The equipment might suddenly appear in my kitchen, and I should be forewarned?
When was personal responsibilty on the part of equipment operators or bystanders ruled inadmissible, and therefore everyone in a mile radius be denied peaceful use of their property?
In a related vein, why do ambulances need sirens when they mostly travel at 15 miles per hour in the city, slowing to 5 mph at EVERY intersection?
Are they simply enjoying their ability to travel slower than a funeral procession while creating as much noise as possible?[/QUOTE

All acts of John Q public that has never been in the military. There you actually learn to move over for emergency vehicles or you get ran over. They do not pay for damages to your property or your medical bills. You do pay for damages to their equipment and personnel.
If this concept applied to civilian life they would not have to drive below the speed limit or stop at intersections to avoid those whom feel they do not have to obey the law.
Click to expand...
 
First off glad your son is home safe!

Secondly I was a on the road mechanic for a road construction crew those beepers are extremely annoying but save lives . All of our equipment has beepers but one a hole decided to disconnect his one day because it bothered him we guess what he ran over one of the other workers. Yes there annoying but they do there jobs when I left the company the beeper company came out with quite beepers they are low ton till it hears noise behind it then it got extremely loud. I put one of those on every truck and when we did the road work in the neighborhoods we didn't get any complaints besides the Jack hammers and saws . I've been on a ton of job sites it gets hectic out there and very loud it's very easy to get ran over .
 
Glad to hear your son is home OK. As others said, family first. Everything else is just white noise.

I have to comment on your original post. OSHA requires the back up alarms. Even if they didn't, our company would use some sort of warning device. A construction site is a congested noisy place. Many pieces of equipment have large blind spots and it is difficult to see what is behind them. Workers get complacent and forget about their surroundings and what is really going on. The back up alarms are a result of tragic accidents and do save lives, period.

I don't care for Jake brakes or Harley's in the middle of the night, but realize they are a function of the equipment and there is nothing that can be done about it. My point is, don't get wound up about the little things in life. Worry about the big rocks, like family.

D
 
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