When I was working in Ely, NV, I was still an EMT. I stopped for gas on my way to Reno one evening and they brought these cowboys in who'd rolled a pickup in an effort to turn onto the highway from a gravel road. They'd been imbibing. One guy just had cuts and bruises, but the other one had hurt his head and neck. And, they'd lost their dog out of the bed of the truck. I cleaned the cuts and butterflied them shut and jerry-rigged a collar for the other guy's neck out of a folded up bath towel. One of the guys that worked at the restaurant/bar/gas station put the two in his truck to drive them 40 miles to the nearest hospital (less time than waiting for an ambulance) along with my admonition not to let the guy with the head injury go to sleep. I waited while some of the other guys went to look for the dog. The dog had some scrapes which I cleaned up, but I think that when he sensed the truck going over he jumped and missed the worst of it. What did I get out of it? Free gas.
Louise From: [email protected] To: [email protected] List-Post: [email protected] Date: Thu, 1 Oct 2009 13:47:05 -0600 Subject: RE: [Texascavers] RE: new Texas laws Many people complain about laws against people riding in the back of open pick-up trucks. There is a good reason for those laws. Having worked 8 years as a paramedic driving ambulances long ago, I can tell you that sudden braking can send people flying out of a truck’s bed, over the cab, in front of the truck, where they get run over by the truck as it comes to a halt. It ain’t pretty. George From: Mark Minton [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 1:28 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Texascavers] RE: new Texas laws Louise Power said: >In Oregon it would be a moot point. It's against the law (unless you're a dog) >to ride in the bed of a pickup. I think several states have laws against riding in an open pickup bed, but I don't know that those laws apply to someone riding inside a camper shell in/on a pickup bed. Inside a camper ought to be about as safe as riding in the back of a van or station wagon, and maybe safer than riding in a convertible, at least if the camper had seat belts. Of course logic never stopped legislators from passing stupid laws... Mark
