Accident caused by forklift forks left up - GIF

[Jon]

Accident caused by forklift forks left up.




Previously:

Forklift turns around street pole barrier - GIF
Forklift for lowering boats into water - GIF
Forklift moves burning van from riots - GIF
Double forklift lift - photo
Forklift driver collapses entire warehouse of racks - GIF
People used as forklift counterweight - GIF

[mklotz]

When people in motion collide with stationary objects in plain sight I tend to blame the people and not the inanimate object.

[Frank S]

It is safe to say that both are at fault here the forklift operator for not having his forks on the ground while the lift was parked where as the girl would have ran over them on her little motor scooter which at the speed she was traveling would have launched like the General Lee jumping a bridge with its short wheel base by the time the front wheel had left the ground the rear wheel would have struct the fork with all of the weight firmly planted on the rear wheel it would have bucked with the force of the hind legs of a 3 year old bronc driving the front end back to the ground just beyond the 2nd fork she would have been fighting the handle bars and by this time the rear wheel would have hit the second fork bucking once again only now the front wheel would have been skidding sideways since she would have lost any control that she may have once thought she had the scooter and the girl would wind up in a twisted pile of metal plastic and female flesh but probably not sustaining near as severe an injury as striking face chin or neck first on a solid steel bar.
had the forklift operator seen the girl approaching in time all he would have had to do would to have raised the forks a few more inches and she would have sailed right under never knowing she was in danger.
The girl obviously had no awareness of where she was riding and probably didn't even notice there was a forklift sitting near her path of travel or she would have ridden around to the rear of it. Or maybe she did see it and did not correlate that such a machine has long protrusions sticking out in front of it which may or may not be on the ground or if raised not be high enough to ride under.
People drive into and under things like the backs of Semi trailers every day and never even know they are about to do so.

[Made Home]

When people in motion collide with stationary objects in plain sight I tend to blame the people and not the inanimate object.

100%. Agreed. What's she doing there, and if she is allowed to be there, what the heck is she looking at? Driver Error.

[olderdan]

I think this is wrongly titled, accident caused by stupid woman not looking where she is going would be more accurate. to be fair the operator was working at the time and not left it parked, at least she saved her handbag from a nasty fall.

[Crusty]

Situational awareness when operating heavy equipment is mandatory. If I operate my equipment such that it could lead to someone being injured then I'm at fault because part of my responsibility is to protect others who aren't as aware. Yes the woman wasn't paying enough attention but operators are required to anticipate that lack of awareness and take protective measures. A common forklift safety practice is to keep the forks as close to the ground as possible and a jury would find that the operator was at fault in that incident because equipment operators are held to a higher standard of safety than the general public.

[IntheGroove]

So many things wrong here. Forklift operator not paying attention is the most distressing part. The forks would have caused trouble even if they were on the ground. The person on the scooter missed the forks that were right near eye level. Rider was hit in the chin but fell back and hit their head. A helmet might have helped but I suspect that person was seriously hurt.

I had been a forklift operator for 15 years, forks ranging from two feet to eighteen feet and never had an injury...

[trigger]

I see a operator playing with his cell phone,and that dear Watson is the start of it all

[Hoosiersmoker]

If you are not lifting or lowering a load your forks must be 4" - 6" off the ground, loaded or not. I don't see a load anywhere in the picture that he might have moved and he certainly isn't about to engage a load. That being said, it's obviously not in the US and there may be not be much of a safety environment in the country where this person works. I guess the thing that strikes me is that he looked up and saw what was about to happen and didn't move a muscle or yell to warn the girl. Just as Crusty said, responsibility falls on the operator, often time even more than people in the area. Also mentioned that there might have been an incident even if he had lowered his forks but likely MUCH less sever outcome. A few bumps as she passed over the forks, maybe wiped out but with time to react to the fall. Being horizontal the forks were probably lined up with something beyond the forklift and therefore invisible to the scooter rider. She would likely also have seen them if they were on the ground.

[mlochala]

Primarily, IF HE HAS BEEN TRAINED PROPERLY, the forklift operator is at fault. However, not every company or country has the same standards for equipment training. Where I work, the standard is that forks are never off the ground more than 4" unless absolutely necessary. It makes me cringe to see someone driving through a facility and around corners with their forks at knee level or higher. It is also careless to leave a forklift parked without the forks all the way on the ground.

Beyond, that, the unfortunate girl on the bicycle is as much responsible for the accident as the forklift operator. To begin with, she never should have been riding that close to a manned piece of equipment and she should have been fully aware of where she was going.

The only argument I could make on her case is that often forklift forks are dull and discolored from heavy use and they do often tend to blend in with the background when in a raised position. This girl is not the first person I have seen bump into or trip over forks that were not in the correct position.