Last night I was on a highway in Florida with 55mph speed limit. I was approaching an intersection with a traffic light. I was in the right hand lane, the person ahead of me was crawling as if they were lost or not sure if they were turning.
I looked in my rear view mirror and saw semi truck headlights in the left lane. It appeared that the truck was 200 to 300 feet behind me.

I put on my left turn signal, got in the left lane. Light turned yellow before I entered intersection. I stopped at red light.

To my surprise that semi truck went in the left turn lane and blew through that red light doing 70-75 mph.

If he had not went in the turn lane, he would of slammed into me from behind, and I would be dead.

I know semi trucks can not stop on a dime but Like I said, I had checked in my rear view mirror before making the lane change, and that trucks headlights were 200 to 300 feet behind me.

It is frightening to think he could of killed me or anyone in that intersection when he went through the red light that had been red for at least 5 seconds.

Is this common practice in the trucking industry to endanger people's lives, so that the shipment arrives on time?

Thanks!

Hi there,
Unfortunately I see more drivers doing crazy things out there. IF he was really going that fast in a 55 he/she was very dangerous, the only thing I can suggest is to get a company name and if possible a truck or trailer number. Call either the company or the highway patrol and report them. It is sad to see that some drivers are behaving in an unsafe and unprofessional manner. Please remember that we are not all like that, there are still good drivers out there who care about their job, and put safety above an on time delivery!

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FunnyFarm04

Probably had his head in his butt, doing something else or looking down. Didn't notice the light until it was too late. But I wasn't there or in the truck so no one could tell you for sure what he was doing besides the driver of the truck. I've had to run a couple lights, brakes locked the whole way through. It happends. At least I made an effort to get stopped though.

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not taking either side, an observation. if he was 200-300 ft away, and most mirrors, objects appear farther than they seem. with speed of 70 mph, probably could have not stopped loaded or empty, taking in reaction time, from seeing your turn signal and move left, he would have most surely ran over you if not for the turn lane. never trust your life on someone else making a good decision or right manuver, or simply be observant at the right time, it could cost ya dearly.

I won't say much, either. But I know enough about physics to give truckers plenty of space. You don't stop a rolling 80,000 pounds on a dime.

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Yup, like the cube van that HAD to get by me only to turn right in front of me immediately... shake my head in amazement...

I have a friend that lives in central FL and he talks about the idiot drivers there all the time. And the many many wrecks they get into. Most but not all of the time its minority drivers that for what ever reason seem to not be paying any attention to what they are doing.

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DUCKS can't land on one either!

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The Truckers Report Merchandise

Without knowing who or where it was, I can attest to several companies having drivers like that in Fl.

Much of what you get in central & southern Fl is the fruit trucks going from plant to plant & grove to plant.
These are open top trailers.

At certain times of the yr, ships come to port from Brazil & Mexico carrying their version of orange juice.

Each of the tanker outfits dedicate several of their drivers to unloading those ships.

These guys are running against the clock in a big way.
They have only so much time to get the juice off the ships.
These guys run 24 hrs a day & they run hard.

It is not outside the realm of probability that these guys don't stop for lights that they "know" won't turn red before they get thru or just don't care to stop because there's no one coming from the other directions to give reason for the light turning red.

It's also quite possible that the driver was tired & not paying attention.

Running the boonies in Fl at night means you need to be real observant of these local running guys.

Im sure these companies have grove drivers who were not born here & may not belong here.

Well DW200, lets examine the situation a little closer.
But first, let me ask you this, ...... if you had it to do all over again, knowing what you know NOW, would you have done anything any differently?

Perhaps the Big truck driver was in the wrong. But, two wrongs don't make a right.
Right?

An abrupt and unexpected lane change, especially when it isn't totally necessary, can create a situation like you've described. To pull in front of a large vehicle traveling at the speed you estimate, only to come to a complete stop, ISN'T the wisest choice. Big truck drivers are told to BE PREPAIRED for the unexpected. SOMEtimes, they're not. That's where a 4-wheeler's better judgment comes into play. Perhaps, under the circumstances, you should have gone through the yellow light, just to be on the safer side of a potential encounter.
If the traffic light surprised YOU, imagine what it did to the Big truck driver, especially when a portion of their stopping distance has now been eliminated by the presence of your vehicle.

Maybe the Big truck driver COULD have stopped in time, maybe not. But, under the circumstances, what the Big truck driver wound up doing was far better that what MIGHT have been. Not to condone being ill attentive to the surroundings, but, like you said, you could have been killed.
Thank God you weren't.
And, possibly that Big truck driver, --- for NOT taking you out and making you a statistic.
Ya reckon.