I think this might be the right place to post this...
First of all, I am not a trucker and never have been. However I have always had great respect for you all. Im my experience most truckers are model drivers even though people are constantly cutting you off and getting all road ragey because your 80,000lb rig doesnt accelerate like a Corvette.

It seems that (at least in my area) some truckers are starting to have some really poor and dangerous driving habits. In the last year, I have been forced off the road twice by truckers. I also routinely get tailgated even though I am doing 5mph OVER the limit. Most truckers still drive well, so I do not intend this as a general insult/reprimand.

So here is my question: The other day, I came down to merge on a local highway, doing 55mph (50mph zone) down the ramp. This particular ramp has a very short merge area with poor visibility approaching it. Just as I got to the merge area I realized that a trucker was bombing up the lane I needed to merge into, probably doing 65-70mph. I floored to try and get in front before my lane ended, but he was already passing me before I even got my foot down. So now I have a long trailer passing me and a couple hundred feet before i get squashed into a guardrail because my lane has ended. It takes a long time for a double trailer to pass, even with a 20mph difference.... I had to brake so hard I nearly laid rubber down, scrub down to 20mph to keep from getting squashed. All he had to do was brake once (or not be doing 20mph over the speed limit in the first place), and I wouldnt have been put in the position of taking emergency action to avoid getting killed. When I got out behind him, I found out that the lane beside him had been wide open the whole time! All he needed to do was move over.

Well I got kinda road ragey, since it felt like he had just taken my life in his hands, and I sped out in front of him and braked down to the speed limit. Yes, that was stupid of me. To my surprise, he didn't tailgate me. Maybe he was kinda apologizing for putting me in that spot?
So, 1) what should I do when a trucker pushes me off the road? I feel bad to call 911 and report it, since it could have been an accident and he might lose his job over it. 2) Was this near-miss harder for the trucker to avoid than I am imagining? It seems like a little polite driving could have gone a long way.

Thanks, and no flaming please - I still respect truckers.

Well, without knowing the area that you're talking about, and without knowing all of the details, I can't really comment on your incident there...excpet to agree with you about your reaction being a stupid thing to do. Whether he did or didn't intentionally cut you off, you're lucky to not have had a "big truck enema". If he was running 65-70 pulling a set of doubles, and you decellerated 20 MPH right in front of him.....
Anyways, what should you do? Well, if you can see without a doubt that he pushed you off the road, you bet your arse I'd call in on him. But then again, it's your responsibility to safely merge with the flow of traffic. So, IMO, if you get run off the road, it's largely your own fault. You didn't see that 70' long 14' tall vehicle?
Was your incident harder to avoid than you imagined? I'd say yes, unless you had clear view of what was in the lane to the left of the truck, and possibly moving up on his left. Could he have slowed for you? Sure, but it's a lot easier to slow your car than his truck.
I'm not bashing you, and I don't mean to take sides either. But I certainly appreciate you caring enough to come on here and ask, rather than just bashing "that stupid trucker".

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What I just read was "why did this happen to me and what can I do next time someone doesn't do what I think was the most courteous action?"

am I right?

The answer is this: That truck didn't run you off the road, you failed to assess the situation and merge successfully. You drive that car, we'll drive the truck. There could have been 20 reasons he didn't brake... the least of which you didn't mention: whether or not someone was on his hiney making it a decision about braking and the safety of the person behind him. You are not our only variable on the road.

Please don't ever get in front of a truck and brake hard again just because you are angry. You could die. At the least, if we hit you, our career is OVER. At the worst, many people could die. DON'T DO IT!

Thanks for the replies. In defense of my stupid actions (hah), I braked quite gently. I only wanted him to slow down, not panic-brake.

Safely merging with traffic: Yes, I understand that it is the merger's responsibility to merge. I have blown past people who were trying to merge on a 55 mph highway when they were doing 35. Some stupidity isn't worth adjusting your driving to accomodate. So the accident would have been my fault.. except that there never would have been anything at all if he hadn't been speeding. Or so it seems, I don't really know.

How big is the blind spot on the right side of the truck? I drive a pretty low car, maybe he never saw me until it was too late. And yes, the way this onramp comes up you have almost no view of traffic until the last 50ish yards of the ramp, which only takes a couple seconds at 55mph. When I checked my blind spot, he was well behind me so I didn't think I needed to go any faster, since I was already over the limit.. when I re-checked, he was coming up behind me so close and fast that I couldn't safely merge in front of him.

So it seems like the answer is "You can't really know, so unless there was a clear traffic violation (such as right-of-way), don't bother wasting people's time over it."

I'll speak only for myself here...though I suspect 9 out of 10 truckers will agree with me...

The number one reason for this failed merger in all likelyhood, was due to too short of an entrance ramp. I see way to many of these. It's even worse for us truckers to get on the big road with such short entrance ramps, than for you 4 wheelers. Secondly, the truck who did not get over to the left for ya, probably had ANOTHER 4 wheeler to his left, meaning he could not get over.

I chalk these instances up to not enough pavement for the ever increasing amount of traffic out there these days. Myself, I ALWAYS move over to let merging traffic on, if there's room. But I can't always do it.

Also, keep in mind that the traffic already ON the road has the right of way over those trying to enter.

I believe the biggest reason truckers blame 4 wheelers and 4 wheelers blame truckers, is because there is simpley too much traffic for the available amount of pavement. Case in point, your qaundy is all to common durring rush hour, but rarely happens at 3 am.

I'll grant you your frustrations, we all have been there...but when I get passed by a 4 wheeler only to see brake lights once they get in front of me, and if there's no option for me to evaid, I will take out the guy in front of me who pulled that stunt before I move over and sideswipe inoccent drivers to my left/right. It has not happened yet, but trust me my decision has been pre made a long time ago for when/if it happens.

For the record, don't they teach this basic driving 101 type stuff in drivers ed anymore?

Next week when I go through Chitcago, I should take video, just to show how retarded things are.

Drive safe....

I think I understand where youre coming from. While Im not taking sides here, Id say it sounds like you should have done one thing different. You say the ramp was very short right? You also say it has poor visibility approaching it. Well my friend, why were you speeding down a short on ramp that has low visibility? Thats like running into a dark tunnel with your lights off! Not a wise thing to do IMO and if you were at a lower speed on this ramp, you would have had time to adjust your speed properly to merge safely. Im not chewing you out here(or dont mean to)...I am simpily stating my opinion. Good day and sta safe!

I am in utter disbelief at this statement. Do you really think if he braked once, he would have slowed down enough for you to get ahead of him? Do you know what it takes to stop or slow down 40 tons(or whatever fully loaded doubles weigh)? Now factor in his speed. I hope I mis-interpreted your statement. If not....WOW!

Pennsylvania turnpike comes to mind. Damn I hate that place.

You've also just illustrated the reason why a lot of truckers like the middle lane so much and why truckers like to merge so fast. We don't want to kill anybody when we're in the freeway, and we don't want to run out of space when we try to merge because we can't brake that fast.