I run hazmat tanker so if they run into me it may do more than a little damage . Back in January my stepson was in an accident over 400 miles from home . I was in Canada when my wife got the call . She drove to the hospital alone . Luckily , I was able to get a dedicated load within 40 miles of the hospital the day before she was planning on coming home . I followed her home and all I can say is it's a good thing for the truckers that cut in and tailgated her I don't carry a gun .

Tailgaters are beyond a doubt the most dangerous, inconsiderate pieces of s#$# on our highways.
If I was a LEO I would get my quota every month just tagging talgaters. This applies to all vehicles.

Yup. Tailgating is a bad thing. I have a question though. When I'm easing toward an off ramp with plenty of room between me and the next vehicle, what the blank do I do as 9 "4 inch wheelers" run up and cut in to get off the ramp? Usually one to three of them make it before I close the gap. Close it very tightly indeed. Of course this situation isn't what you were talking about, sorry. This is something I see all the time and it chaps my but almost as much as truckers tailgating for no reason. I run US and state back roads a lot. Just back off a little guys. All this takes is a little thought. Think fault and chargeable. If we hit someone in the rear we are at fault. A couple of chargeables or even one flagrant one means no job. DUHHH.. Back The BLEEP OFF.
Dave

Don't you know they expect you to stop and let them in ? For a while last year there was construction on I-94 in MI and trucks had to use the right lane . Cars would come off the ramp and cut a foot in front of you . Toronto is the worst I've seen . I hit the horn when one tried it and he backed of when he realized I wasn't going to brake . At the next off ramp he sped up to get along side me then came to a dead stop while he got a pencil out to write my truck number down . Never heard anything of it .

Let em. Granted it will be sad when they roll right over that Festiva packed with 4-5 family members, but i say, 'let them'. Their career and LIFE is over from that point on. If a driver is dumb enough to act that careless, and drive in a safe and PROFESSIONAL manner, then the faster they get into wrecks and are carted off the road, the better.

Survival of the fittest.

My instructor said in school if you hit someone make sure you kill them or they will sue you.
But here is the other problem you kill them then the family sue you.
It is a loose loose situation

Yeah, I hate that, too. Sometimes it seems like they are about to just start pushing you, before they get over.
But, another thing I don't like, is drivers that 'flash' you to come over, and when I look in my mirror, it seems like I'm not far enough in front of them. I prefer a good cushion.
And some drivers don't. If they get back over in front of me, before I 'flash' them, I will get over in the left lane (if it is clear), until they are far enough ahead of me that I feel is safe enough to move back to the right.

Don't wait too long or you'll have another 4-wheeler sneaking around you on the right.

I had one good panic stop (fully loaded) that showed me just how long it takes to stop a big truck. Roehl teaches you to stay back for a reason.

Also had a 4-wheeler try to sneak around me at a tollbooth in Chicago. The lanes narrowed from 3 into 1, and I had the 1 lane available. This moron comes charging up til he's even with my drives, concrete barrier 6 inches to his right and getting narrower. Then he woke up and backed off in a hurry. I'm surprised I didn't run over him with the trailer.

__________________
He ain't wrong, he's just different, but his pride won't let him do things to make you think he's right.

Tailgating is just plain stupid no matter what vehicle you are in. The one I love is when you are in rush hour traffic, keeping a nice cushion in front of your truck as you creep along at 20 - 30 mph, and idiot in a 4 wheelers keep cutting into that cushion. The other one I love is the idiot 4 wheeler who pushes the 'lane ends' as far as they can. When I was a dispatcher for a local company several years ago, we had that happen with one of our drivers going into a construction zone - the 4 wheeler got the ticket along with a banged up car!

I really think that there needs to be more in the manual for getting a drivers license for a car about sharing the road with big trucks. I looked at the one for Wisconsin, and there were about two sentences about it, and those weren't very useful sentences. My two oldest boys, who both have their driver's licenses know how to share the road though. They both got drilled on that stuff by me even before they got their permits. My 13 year old just spent almost two weeks out with dad on the road (they'll be home later today or tomorrow), so he got to see all kinds of stupid! He will be getting the same education from me. He's already heard it all, but I get into it even more when they are close to being of age to get the permit.

__________________
I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was going to blame you.

Dynamite comes in small packages, Nitro comes in smaller ones, take your pick!

Earlier today I’m driving through Oregon. Up from behind comes this cab-over about two feet from my bumper. Speed limit for trucks is 55 and I’m doing 59 according to my GPS. There is more than enough room to pass me however, this jerk decides to sit on my bumper for whatever reason. I decide to slow down in hopes that he’ll go around. Still no one else on the road but us.

I’m now doing about 50 and he still doesn’t pass. I get over into the passing lane as there is no one else on the road as I keep mentioning, just to set the scene clearly. He finally passes me on the right and looks over at me, shrugs his shoulders with his hand open as to gesture, “what’s up with you?”

I have had others get close behind me only a few feet away off my bumper. Many drivers will deny that the following distance of just a few feet is tailgating. Others believe that it is simply OK and don’t see any harm in it at all. Several drivers who ride another vehicles bumper are simply not paying attention. I think that cell phone usage is becoming yet another problem within the so-called professional driving vocation.

I was taught to always drive ahead of the traffic, not physically, but visually. In other words, way before you approach the traffic ahead of you, you should be looking for ways to maneuver in and around vehicles way in advance. If this is not something that can be easily done for instance, due to traffic becoming more congested as you enter city limits, than it’s as simple as backing off entirely while maintaining a safe distance between all side of your vehicle. I call it “geometric vision”. It is the same type of planning that would take place while playing billiards but of course at a much faster pace. Once you start practicing this type of “geometric vision” driving which also means you’re driving with your eyes set farther up the road instead of 3 feet in front of you, than the better you become at it and the more professional you’ll be at your job.

Lets face it… it’s a problem that will not go away simply because only 7 out of 10 drivers give a crap about anyone else on the roads but themselves. My favorite is when I’m empty. I’ll have some big truck come up and ride my bumper and even though he has an opening to get around me, he instead just stays right there. I wait till I have him on an incline and then slow him down so he has to grab another gear, then hammer down and pull away from him while he crawls up the hill ever so slowly. Hey, it’s not like I’m out to screw with anyone however, when you have the chance to pass than take it… don’t just sit there on my behind not paying attention while you’re talking on your cell phone and somehow forgot what you were doing or why you’re in the position you’re in. It’s a passing lane and you should have had a plan as to how or when to use way before you got that close to me. Use it or lose it!