Had my first minor accident today

Flint1 · May 16, 2021

Yes it does.
As for the op rebuttal of " I didn't see him over there until he was sitting next to me", that was the error.

SteveScott · May 16, 2021

LOL, okay. I'll let the armchair quarterbacks have this thread now. I'm done with it.

PoleCrusher · May 16, 2021

SteveScott said: ↑

LOL, okay. I'll let the armchair quarterbacks have this thread now. I'm done with it.
Click to expand...

Unteachable.

A very stupid way to be, in any profession or life circumstance.

pagan22 · May 16, 2021

T.Rucker said: ↑

Don’t even know what to say. Unbelievable. You handled it like a pro but jeez...5 weeks driving with a paper license as an o/o? Wow. Just. Wow.
Click to expand...

I love how it is easier for foreigners to start a business than a bona-fide American.

REO6205 · May 16, 2021

pagan22 said: ↑

I love how it is easier for foreigners to start a business than a bona-fide American.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Darn foreigners.

WildTiger1990 · May 16, 2021

SteveScott said: ↑

I was driving across Hwy 12 near Rio Vista about an hour ago, and it's a 2 lane highway with passing lanes every few miles. Truck driver in front of me was going the speed limit, and as the passing lane ended on the right, I moved left to allow him to come over in front of me. Well the truck in back of me wasn't happy with that at all, so with the big white arrows on the road pointing left to merge, and the big yellow sign that says "LANE ENDING, MERGE LEFT" on the shoulder, this guy decides he wants to be in front of me. He was literally driving about 60 mph on a narrow shoulder full of debris, and expected me to brake or move over into oncoming traffic so he could get in front of me. Then the shoulder got more narrow, and he had to brake hard or slide off the road, and as he backed off, he knocked the chrome cover off of my passenger side mirror. After about I mile I found a place that was safe enough for us both to pull over, and he comes charging back at me yelling in very broken English that I was going too slow. I simply told him to keep quiet, and I have it all on dash cam. He shut right up and I took pictures of his truck and got his license info. Turns out he is also an O/O with his own authority, and has only been driving commercially for 5 weeks. He handed me his paper temporary license that was issued in early April.

I already ordered a new chrome cover from Amazon for $200 (set price) and sent him a text to send me a check. I'm going to file an accident report with the CHP just in case this joker says that I hit him and left.
Click to expand...

Maybe what you did was right thing to do ,but I am always keeping in mind one simply rule, give stupid the road, yeah yeah I might reach my destination 10-15 minutes late, big deal... But I know I don't need to deal with any kind of stupidity involving insurance, police etc...

Moosetek13 · May 16, 2021

SteveScott said: ↑

LOL, okay. I'll let the armchair quarterbacks have this thread now. I'm done with it.
Click to expand...

So many drivers complain that everyone is out to get truckers, that they are trying to blame the truck driver.
And here we have truckers blaming the truck driver in a situation that was not his fault.

I had a similar situation in the Salt Lake City area a few years back when all that construction was going on.
It was with a car coming in from an on ramp, and I had nowhere to go, and hitting the brakes would have been even more dangerous.
That car ended up hitting the barrier on the right as his lane ended, because the driver would not slow down to merge correctly.

We can not always give 'stupid' the road. Sometimes that puts even more people at risk.

SteveScott · May 16, 2021

WildTiger1990 said: ↑

Maybe what you did was right thing to do ,but I am always keeping in mind one simply rule, give stupid the road, yeah yeah I might reach my destination 10-15 minutes late, big deal... But I know I don't need to deal with any kind of stupidity involving insurance, police etc...
Click to expand...

Moosetek13 said: ↑

So many drivers complain that everyone is out to get truckers, that they are trying to blame the truck driver.
And here we have truckers blaming the truck driver in a situation that was not his fault.

I had a similar situation in the Salt Lake City area a few years back when all that construction was going on.
It was with a car coming in from an on ramp, and I had nowhere to go, and hitting the brakes would have been even more dangerous.
That car ended up hitting the barrier on the right as his lane ended, because the driver would not slow down to merge correctly.

We can not always give 'stupid' the road. Sometimes that puts even more people at risk.
Click to expand...

For whatever reason, some here seem to think I was being an a-hole and not backing off to let the driver in. As I said before, had this been a lane ending in a construction zone or for an accident, I have no problem at all backing off and letting the more aggressive driver merge over. But that's not what happened here, and I wasn't racing the guy to stay in front of him. Someone mentioned that I lack situational awareness. Well, I was fully concentrating on the driver in front of me and adjusting my speed downward because he had just merged over. The guy who attempted to pass me was at least 3 truck lengths behind me when the lane was ending, and I merged left in front of him. He didn't like that, and maintained his speed and came around my right side very quickly. And no, I wasn't checking my right mirror at that point because there wasn't anything between me and cow pasture but a 6 foot shoulder. Anybody who says they constantly check their right mirror when there isn't a lane to their right is full of BS. So I had a slowing truck in front of me, and an a hole to my right that was going at least 65 while I was doing 50-55. The pavement was wet, and I was empty. Perhaps some of the super truckers here could have done a hard brake without jack knifing into to oncoming lane or into the ####### on my right, but in the 2 seconds I had to think about it, I decided to concentrate on the guy in front of me and hope the guy on my right came to his senses and backed off before he crashed. Losing a mirror cover seemed like a small price to pay compared to what could have happened.

Unteachable? Yeah, some DB's just have all the answers.

Flint1 · May 16, 2021

You are misinterpreting the problem. Was the other guy at fault. Yes. Could you have done something to prevent it yes. There is no way a truck could have suddenly appeared there. Didn't happen. You claiming none of us keep an eye on that mirror is false too. Especially with a lane ending. This time it was a truck. Could've been a motorcycle. That truck was there and you simply didn't see it or recognize it as a hazard for some unknown reason. That is the error. If upset over someone pointing that out. Ts.
You are lucky it was minor, it could have been a lot worse. One day it might not be.
I'm out.

Moosetek13 · May 16, 2021

SteveScott said: ↑

For whatever reason, some here seem to think I was being an a-hole and not backing off to let the driver in. As I said before, had this been a lane ending in a construction zone or for an accident, I have no problem at all backing off and letting the more aggressive driver merge over. But that's not what happened here, and I wasn't racing the guy to stay in front of him. Someone mentioned that I lack situational awareness. Well, I was fully concentrating on the driver in front of me and adjusting my speed downward because he had just merged over. The guy who attempted to pass me was at least 3 truck lengths behind me when the lane was ending, and I merged left in front of him. He didn't like that, and maintained his speed and came around my right side very quickly. And no, I wasn't checking my right mirror at that point because there wasn't anything between me and cow pasture but a 6 foot shoulder. Anybody who says they constantly check their right mirror when there isn't a lane to their right is full of BS. So I had a slowing truck in front of me, and an a hole to my right that was going at least 65 while I was doing 50-55. The pavement was wet, and I was empty. Perhaps some of the super truckers here could have done a hard brake without jack knifing into to oncoming lane or into the ####### on my right, but in the 2 seconds I had to think about it, I decided to concentrate on the guy in front of me and hope the guy on my right came to his senses and backed off before he crashed. Losing a mirror cover seemed like a small price to pay compared to what could have happened.

Unteachable? Yeah, some DB's just have all the answers.
Click to expand...

You are hard at work defending a defensible position.
And as many drivers here have attested to (in other threads), it is the person that is merging in that has the responsibility to merge in safely and correctly.

You did nothing wrong!

Log in or Sign up

Forums

Find Trucking Jobs

Had my first minor accident today

Flint1 Road Train Member

Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

Wait, employers can't reach you!

SteveScott Road Train Member

PoleCrusher Road Train Member

pagan22 Light Load Member

REO6205 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

WildTiger1990 Heavy Load Member

Moosetek13 Road Train Member

SteveScott Road Train Member

Flint1 Road Train Member

Moosetek13 Road Train Member

Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

Wait, employers can't reach you!

Log in or Sign up

Useful Searches

Find Trucking Jobs

Had my first minor accident today

Flint1 Road Train Member

Wait, employers can't reach you!

SteveScott Road Train Member

PoleCrusher Road Train Member

pagan22 Light Load Member

REO6205 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

WildTiger1990 Heavy Load Member

Moosetek13 Road Train Member

SteveScott Road Train Member

Flint1 Road Train Member

Moosetek13 Road Train Member

Wait, employers can't reach you!