how can a 4 wheeler best help an 18 wheeler?

I had a car drafting me so tight once that when the cops turned on the blues I thought they were for me! even when I got all of the way over I couldn't see him! the cop walked up laughing and says I didn't pull you over but you didn't know that did you. I say NO. he says you gotta see this! we walked back and there was about 8 inches between us. I said I lost him in my mirrors and thought he took the turn behind me! He said yeah that's where I saw him. he says get going while I help him lighten his wallet a little.

 

My dad gave me this rule of thumb: If you make somebody take evasive action, YOU have screwed up.

Evasive action is not "move over at an on-ramp". Evasive action is unplanned, generally emergency, action:

Jumping on the brakes as some )*&^#$% 4-wheeler uses REVERSE to back up to his exit (Seen 5 times so far in the Denver area, and never by a Big Rig)

Jumping on the brakes because you just HAVE to put your 4-wheeler in that motorcycle space in front of the big rig. The football field behind the truck just isn't suitable!

Sweeping the lanes for whatever reason (only thing I've not seen do this is a train)

Travel at the median speed of the traffic around you. If that's 90 on a 60MPH freeway, so be it. If it's 30 on a 75mph freeway, ditto. If you aren't comfortable at traffic speeds, get off that road.

Pick a lane and stick with it. Lane jumping almost never does anything but A) annoy everybody ELSE on the road - some of whom are probably armed and have less self-control than I do. B) make you SLOWER C) raise your blood pressure to really unhealthy levels and D) DRASTICALLY increase your chances of taking a ride in a vehicle with flashy lights.

Other items:

Remember, vehicles with flashing lights are NOT targets. Further, they have the right of way. If there's one behind you, get the frell out of the way! If my wife is driving that ambulance, odds are good you will NOT be happy. In fact, more and more emergency vehicles are mounting video cameras - and that video is being admitted in court.

Related to that, turn your darn music down! Sure, it's the greatest thing since Beethoven, but A) I think it sucks, B) you are breaking windows in the buildings along the highway, and C) you can't hear that nice ambulance rushing to your house to save your mother - the one that's been trying to get past you for the past 3 miles.

If other drivers are passing you in the lane to your right, move into it as soon as it's safe to do so. Failure to do so WILL result in a violation of the primary rule (emergency action), and MAY result in some momentarily inattentive driver putting scratches in your car's paint job. Or your brain.

Somebody farther up the thread pointed a finger at Cannukian truckers as good examples of tailgaters. I suggest that truckers around Atlanta are far, far, worse. I've seen 'trains' of 8 or 9 trucks flying along the big circle at full speed, with maybe a total distance between trucks of 100 feet (that's all the gaps added together). Utterly insane. Obviously, 4-wheeler-drivers do not have a corner on stupid.

There's been a lot of barking recently about texting while driving. I admit to guilt here. Though it generally takes me forever. I enter a letter, then drive - check my surroundings, etc.. enter a letter. As a consequence, my conversations take forever. As a further consequence, people tend to not text me when they know I'm on the road.

BUT... I've been pondering this for a while, actually, and I'm beginning to think that there's another item that's actually far more dangerous than texting on the phone. That dang GPS. For one thing, they are as accurate as a liberal. But the real issue here is that people tend to watch THEM instead of the road. It doesn't seem to matter that the darn things talk at you.. according to my observations, odds are good that if a driver has a GPS stuck to his dash, he's got at least one eye stuck to IT. Yup, that'll get you to your destination right quick. Just not the destination you were planning on.

Drafting. Yeah. I was in school, learning to DRIVE a truck. The trailer I was pulling clearly stated "this driver has no clue what he's doing" (that is, 'student') all over it. During a night-time drive a car came up behind me and hugged my car-bar (DOT-bar, etc). He was close enough that his headlights cast no shadow from the car-bar. Without the glow from those lights, I had no clue he was there at all. When he finally pulled around me, it was a local cop. (So, yeah, no group is perfect).

(as an aside, my instructor got the cops unit number and called the guy's supervisor. Dunno if anything happened, but we felt better)

It all boils down to two things: Advance planning and courtesy. Look ahead and plan your moves. Communicate your desires to the drivers around you, and leave room for them to safely reach their destinarions.

 

I don't wine driver, I prefer a well aged bourbon.



(at least,,, off duty anyway)

 

The only way to go!

 

I like the 4 wheelers in Cali. Zooooom right by ya, then GET ON THE BRAKES!!! Why do they get on the brakes? Simple, their exit is here, and they don't know how to de-acclerate to a slowwww enough speed. Almost had an old guy, hit me yesterday, why? He failed to see that i was merging into the center lane, as i merge, he decides he is gonna take that lane. What does he do then? Gets in front of me, slams on his brakes, and does a center lane exit. I have NEVER seen a big truck do that. I don't reckon i will either.

 

The truck drivers' choice of words is a clue to their mentality, caused by the pressures of being an OTR driver. Most truckers have tight deadline schedules to meet, which forces them to drink excess amount of caffeine. Besides coffee, a lot of truckstops sell "energy drinks" right next to the register to remind drivers to load up on their caffeine needs to maintain their alertness. This excess consumption of caffeine intake is resulting to a more aggressive mental frame and attitude, which you perceive as "arrogance."

 

Oddly enough, I get asked this quite a bit lately, and it's a good thing. As of yet, I never tire of answering this one...

1) Do not assume I know what you are doing, or for what reason, or that I will respond accordingly. I have a number of talents, but mind reading is definitely not one of them.

2) Assume every driver, regardless of the vehicle they are driving, has had both a frontal and temporal lobotomy, and therefore is likely to do something remarkably stupid and incredibly dangerous.

3) Assume every big rig is equipped with video cameras (I have three), and that the video of what you just did will go first on YouTube, and then from there to you insurance company.

4) Signal your intent to change lanes, merge, exit, turn, etc, and then do so only when safe to.

5) Hang up and drive, and don't text while driving (or read a book, change cloths, put on makeup, shave, check your stock quotes online, argue with passengers, the list goes on).

6) Don't hang out around big rigs. If passing, do so as quickly as legally and safely allowed, and keep pulling away when done passing. Don't tailgate, and definitely don't hang out in front of us.

7) Merge and exit behind big rigs, not in front of one, whenever possible.

8) Don't drive below the posted speed limit for your vehicle in the second from right through lane on freeways, that is more often than not the only lane big rigs are allowed to use to pass slow traffic.

9) Don't pass big rigs using merge/exit lanes or in lanes that are closing within a mile, nor in construction zones or near accident sites.

10) Don't use the "Truck Only" lane, and please avoid being in the adjacent lane to one.

11) If all the big rigs are slowing down for what seems like no apparent reason, follow their example, there's always a really good reason.

12) Never EVER drive impaired or tired, and please report those who do.

13) In bad, windy, or foggy weather, stay away from the big rigs, including avoiding passing them.

14) Never cross the path of a backing big rig. Be patient, they'll be finished sooner than you think.

15) Don't park in a designated truck parking space or area, not even "for just a minute."

I could go on like this for hours, but these are the most common.

 

Would that be like the Trucker who passed me and another big truck in the right lane,. Then he got to close to traffic in front of his truck and signaled to move into the 2nd lane. When I could not move over due to a whole line of cars passing on the left, he rolls down his window and starts to wave his arms wildly....and when I did get the chance to move over I did, and got the !##$ away from that ####### steering wheel holder.

Ladies and gentlemen of the road.
Please try to start and practice what you preach.
obey the speed limits.
do not tail gate (remember you said a 4 wheeler can stop faster than you)
You usually have the two right lanes to use, why not use them and give the car a break. The law does not state trucks can only use the center lane, hi speed lane.
Don't cut off 4 wheelers
Stay off the cell phone, or at least find a place to pull over and stop when useing the phone, or texting.
If your tired, STOP and get some rest. Is your life, your truck and others
lifes more important than driving tired??
Oh Yea can ya'll clean up the language on the CB? As I was taught, if you dont have anything nice to say then dont say a thing. there are children and women who do listen to the cb.