Accidents ...what's the Truth?

Keep telling yourself that but I'd wager if you are making that assertion you have never had anything come to a screeching, crashing halt in front of you at 65 mph.

How many feet do you think it takes to stop? There is no way......NO WAY you leave enough following distance to come to stop in NJ, NY, PA, MD etc. If you do, the gap gets filled. Prove I'm wrong and I'll edit out the NO WAY.

 

The chances of a teacher being overpaid is 4248 times that of a trucker being overpaid.

 

So . . . .

How about this:

Trucking is dangerous. We have stats and apps for all that. Is it as DEADLY as some? Who knows for sure. But stats show you are very likely to be injured for a WIDE variety of reasons so . . .

You do whatever you can to avoid being a statistic on the negative side.

That's ANY profession. It's a LOT about choices and SOME about things none of us can do anything about.

 

I've driven in NJ the entire time I've known how to drive. In a truck, that first year I barely touched the state, now I'm local in NJ. I don't leave the state, my entire shift is here. Yeah, that gap is going to get filled, at the flow of traffic. In heavy stopped traffic, you're typically going to be close to the guy in front of you, but stopping a truck from 10mph isn't exactly hard. At 65, hold your speed, if someone pulls in front just come off your gas for a second and problem solved. Long as you're in the right lane here, everyone going faster tends to just stay in the left or middle and not cut back over when they pass you. The only time you really have that problem here, is back to the middle lane thread, when you're hogging the middle lane, driving slow, and they're weaving through traffic to get in front of you.

As a NJ driver, I can tell you that it's nowhere near as hard as you're making it sound to keep a safe distance in these states. If I can do it here, in the most densely populated state in the country (which has a side effect of denser traffic, not counting NYC traffic) and I've only been driving a year, any driver with a brain can do it. Driving in NJ isn't this constant stream of cars filling every lane at 65mph. If you're that packed, you're not moving. If you're moving that fast, the only way to not keep a safe distance is to be going faster than the guy in front of you.

We also tend to do 80+ in 65s in our cars around here... If a car going 80 in front of you is an obstacle when you're going 65, your speedometer is broken.

 

So how many truck lengths is your typical following distance?
How many feet does it take to stop a truck?

I don't think you've never had to stop a truck from 65.

 

I think the dearth of rear-end crashes committed by trucks does that, apparently the vast majority are able to stop.

You can't maintain a huge following distance, but you can leave plenty of space so traffic that passes and tries to fill in the gap has plenty of room to continue pulling away.

Rear-end crashes "at speed" are among the rarest of crashes, they occur almost exclusively when traffic is slowed or stopped "for cause".

Objects approaching/approached "head-on" offer only an apparent change in size as an indicator of rate of closure, and the rate of change in size is not linear. It will sneak up on an unsuspecting/insufficiently attentive motorist, as we all have experienced. "There's a wall of traffic ahead... oops, it's stopped and I'm right on top of it!"

 

I don't think so. The vast majority of truck drivers obviously aren't doing even half of the job of "truck driver", and the important half at that.

Speeding and following too closely are the rule, they drive no differently than the typical 4-wheeler whose habits they so often say they deplore.

 

How heavy are you? How hard are you braking? How are you braking, like you're taught in school, to downshift through every gear, or holding firm pressie on the brake, only downshifting to let the engine slow the truck down, or clutch and brake until you stop? Are your brakes new or near the end of their life?

All of this affects how you're going to stop. It ranges anywhere from about 100 feet (about 1.5 truck lengths) to around 300. But I'm sure you know your truck by now and know how long you usually need to stop, know that point where your load stops giving momentum and starts giving resistance...

You're asking me for a concrete answer that had way to much to factor in.

 

It is pretty concrete actually. 80,000 gross. 65 mph and you MUST stop ASAP. Downshifting? There is no downshifting in this situation. LOL I am talking about either you go from 65 to 0 in a loaded truck or someone dies.

1.5 truck lengths to stop a loaded truck form 65 mph is quite amusing if it wasn't so appalling. Even 300 ft is a joke. Heck you have traveled 95 ft in the time it took you read, react and cover the brake. Just like I thought though. You THINK you can stop if that vehicle ahead of you stops. But you can't and you don't know you can't. It's OK. You are in the majority.

When you are tailgating that minivan today, who is tailgating that truck, ask yourself "If that minivan was a brick wall, would I hit it?" 98% of the time the answer will be yes.

 

I'll answer for rockstar...since he don't have a clue rank....I hope this is close....

The most common truck following distance formula, recommended by the National Safety Council, and
most state commercial drivers’ license manuals, is based on truck length and speed. It recommends
one second for each 10 feet of vehicle length at speeds under 40 miles per hour. For speeds above 40
miles per hour, one second is added for the additional speed.
For example, a 70-foot tractor-trailer would require
seven seconds under 40 miles per hour and eight
seconds above 40 miles per hour. This formula is
based on ideal driving conditions. Additional seconds
are added for reduced visibility, rain, ice, snow, or
other inclement weather

No way he does that in heavy traffic , in NJ or anywhere else...it's good that he tries though...he seems to have safety on his mind , just don't know as much as he thinks he does.